Rakim’s Math Takes the Cake!

Here I took a look at three rappers’ ability to incorporate the systematic language of Mathematics into their flow. Although some of these guys’ attempt is a bit more simplistic than other, let’s take a step back and remember these dudes are wordsmiths and may be so because of numerical impairments. I took some lines from notable songs such as My Melody by Rakim, Mathematics by Mos Def, and Two Words by Kanye West in which the MC’s analyze their assigned topic in verse using numbers. After examining the songs in questioned, I thought it was pretty fair to say that Rakim took the cake. Kanye and Mos had their go at some creative formatting, but Rakim eliminates the most whack MCs. How many cats can eliminate 21 MCs in a fews lines?

Honorable Mention or Better Champion?

Although I only examined three rappers and three songs, there are a few other rappers I felt could have competed in this rappers’ math-off. I seriously considered Biggie’s line from Come On when he says, “I Got 7-Mac-11, 8 -.38’s, 9-nines, 10- Mac-ten the *ish never ends.” Moreover, Biggie doesn’t develop any more numerical imagery in the song. Who do you think might beat out Rakim and stand taller than most MCs when it comes to evaluating numbers as a lyricist?