Favorite Imagery/Punchlines/Wordplay/References from Mike

Yeah, Kenji is definitely a piece of art. Just well constructed overall and while I personally think this was Mike's weakest rapping was around this era (2003-2006) this song really is impressive.

Also another reference
Wretches and Kings- "To save face/ how low can you go?" Reference to Chuck D's Bring The Noise line "Bass! How low can you go?"

Also I love these bars from the Wretches And Kings Remix:
"But you don't really have an option, shouting at the top of your lungs, please stop it
My woodstock mixed with some '88 Compton, Lucy in the sky with a sawed-off shotgun."

 

Love this line. As well as all the song but this line always make me smirk, in combination with the blueprint line, as it's Mike saying Linkin Park is not the same nu metal band from 2000 and emphasizing that they're not writing those songs like Points of Authority again because they've changed. But in such an under-the-radar way. It's honestly really clever.

AFAIK Points was a fan favorite off Hybrid Theory (and still is), on the same level as the singles and A Place for My Head. So that line packs a wallop.

 

Some of my favorites from the top of my head: "The memory now is like the picture was then, When the paper's crumpled up it can't be perfect again"

"You're like a high-school dropout, no class."

The entire second verse of "I Have not Begun" is pretty dope too.

Grudgematch, as a whole (heh theres only one verse) is pretty dope too.

 

Bringing this back.

Good Goodbye: "Enemies trying to read me, you're all looking highly illterate"


Also some weird shit I noticed because I'm just observant.

One of my favorite verses from Mike is his first verse of the Visionaries track. I'm pretty sure all of the syllables/words rhyme there. He also comes close to rhyming entire verses but misses a syllable. For example, both the first verse of Nobody's Listening and his verse on Like Riding A Bike pretty much rhyme every syllable but both miss rhyming one vowel. The "ay" sound. The word "basement" in NL and "game" in LRAB are the only words that don't rhyme. Though the suffix of "-ment" does rhyme, so technically you could argue that all words do rhyme. However it may be debatable since Mike doesn't always use perfect rhyme (like most emcees).

"... style and the kids checking for it
.." question is how could you ignore it"
Now obviously "question" and "checking" are rhymes. And we know "for it" and "ignore it" rhyme too. However, I will include "Style" and "How" as rhymes as Mike stretches the "yle" and "o" sound in their respective words giving an "a" sound. This is assonance. Now you could say "Del, you're reaching hard here," and that may be true but let's look at another verse.

This is an example from the first verse of "Standing in the Middle."

"Where every word from your face comes across as fake and I can hardly take..."
Mike stresses the "o" sound of "cross" and does the same for the "ar" sound in "hardly" on purpose, so Mike isn't oblivious to stretching syllables.

Back to Nobody's Listening's opening bars, I would also make the argument that "kids" and "could" are rhymes too. Both start off with the same sound and end with the same sound. Not to mention if we include "style" and "how" as imperfect yet stressed vowel sounds, we can argue that "kids" and "could" are meant to be rhymes, especially how they are structured.

Just some thoughts.

 

This is my favorite lyric of the year so far tbh

 

Not like me to bump a thread, but this should really be updated. Mike's writing on Post Traumatic was absolutely amazing. I'll be sure to post some new favorites on here

 

"You're the opposite of stars like rats spelled backwards"

A fun little punchline. Nothing extraordinary but damn, does it make me crack a smile.

"A huge act man like I'm known for being Logan, X-23 I'm keen to leave them with a femur broken"

Admit it. This is the hardest bar on this album.

" '81 Reagan with that nonsense miss me,
Father like Francis, Anakin, or John Misty"

That Reagan line is too raw and I'll give Mike some points for giving a shout to my favorite Star Wars character.

Also Mike's demo rap verse for Sorry For Now is phenomenal. The rhyme scheme and the imagery is sooo nice.

"You have gotta be kidding,
It's a hobby we're living,
We were sloppily spitting to some wobbly rhythm
Popping off in the kitchen at parties properly hidden
I was nervous, but still gotta forget 'em
Jacket possibly referencing some army division
And camoflauge-like images, all my idols within them
Trying to avoid kids my mom strongly forbidden
So I was probably skipping out to do robbery with them
Good kid, lived in a bubble and barely knew it
Probably couldn't recognize trouble to get into it
Trying to find like-minded rhymers to make a crew with
But nobody liked the same type of music, I'm used to it
Thing is, new opportunities I didn't know what to do with
Sitting there on a sofa, with smokers, gamers, and users
Knowing I'm not stupid but too unsteady to prove it
Maybe I'm running to it
But maybe I'm running through it"

 

What the fuuuuck that verse is amazing, should've been on the song

 

it felt like Halfway Right-ish for me, since HR is about Chester's childhood/teenage years and influences.

 

I think Mike is great in Lift Off, but I will not let anyone tell me that "you're the opposite of a star like rats spelled backwards" is a good line. It's one of the biggest reaches in a bar ever

 

I like his rapping the most in Over Again.

 

I gotta draw more attention to this bar:

"Drop right back in the cut, over basement tracks with raps that got you backing us up like-rewind that"

Just an underrated triple entendre.

1. Your backing up/rewinding the track because it's so good.
2. Backing us up means your support for them
3. Mike is remembering the days of making rap tracks in his basement/home and is "rewinding" back to those days.


Ya know, let's look at internal rhyming in songs that are less obvious. How about some Chester lyrics?

Every step that I take is another mistake to you
(Caught in the undertow, just caught in the undertow)
And every second I waste is more than I can take

Should've played it safer from the start
Love you like a house of cards
And let it fall apart

 

Do I SIT here and try to STAND it?

 

Raindrops put the rhythm on the pavement
And drip from the blacktop into the basement
Traces of the rain pervade this
To erase your hate and take this from the fakeness

 

The greatest Mike Shinoda verse never officially released:

You have got to be kidding, it's a hobby we're living
We we're sloppily spitting to some wobbly rhythm
Popping off in the kitchen at parties properly hidden

Great storytelling imagery and a consistent 5-syllable rhyme scheme.

 

A little red cover with a broken SPINE
On the BACK

Kenji heaven sent to represent the next level

(The next level is heaven but he is next level in skill)

 

What the hell

 

I rate this post a Jesse/10 in overall confusion

 

Don't quite know if it was worth the double post