Tell whoever's champ that next year, name the place and time And warn that motherf****r I'm coming for the chain that's minePeter Morris, battle rapper
Peter Morris, also known as Thesaurus, is one of my favorite battle rappers in the game. I like his style a lot because I can hear a lot of poetry influences in his bars.
Let's take a glimpse of his poetic genius by analyzing some of his music.
This is the beginning of the end
Although Thesaurus is mostly known for his legendary battle rap performances, he has released a couple songs on YouTube. One that stood out to me is a song called This is the beginning of the end on his album, All I Know Is That.
All the poetic devices masterfully used by Thesaurus are worth analyzing, but let's focus on the rhythm and rhyme.
First verse snippet
In the first four bars of the first verse, Thesaurus kicks off with some smooth rhymes:
I'm speaking languages more lethal than you may assume A secret play they have to keep in a containment room I'm the seed of Satan sleeping in an ancient tomb Once the beast awakens you'll be meeting with your maker soon
Beautifully constructed verse. Let's break it down.
The rhythm
The rhythm used by Thesaurus is a common meter in poetry, so common that the meter is literally called common meter. Common meter is a popular rhythm used in poetry (thus the name) called a iambic heptameter, or a fourteener. This rhythm is defined by having 7 (hepta-) iambs per line. An iamb is a weak syllable and a strong syllable in succession, kind of like a heart beat (the da-DUM sound). 7 iambs totals up to 14 syllables per line.
Let's break down the rhythm into weak and strong beats:
I'm speaking languages more lethal than you may assume A secret play they have to keep in a containment room I'm the seed of Satan sleeping in an ancient tomb Once the beast awakens you'll be meeting with your maker soon
As displayed, the rhythm is regular and the bars scan well (a little too well if you ask me).
A lot of poets (like Emily Dickinson) used this meter. It's also called the hymnal meter because it was frequently used in hymns. Thesaurus masterfully repurposes the meter to craft an elegant verse.
Let's look at the rhyme next.
The rhyme
I'm speaking languages more lethal than you may assume A secret play they have to keep in a containment room I'm the seed of Satan sleeping in an ancient tomb Once the beast awakens you'll be meeting with your maker soon
In this quatrain, you can see how Thesaurus cleverly gets each line to rhyme at multiple spots, and not just relying on the end rhyme. This makes his bars tight and more pronounced.
Second verse snippet
Thesaurus doesn't stop there. He continues to spit flames in the second verse.
Here's a quatrain embedded somewhere in the second verse:
I've redefined the standards that were set before me 'Cause my predecessors exercised their methods poorly I'm just the guy to execute a plan I'll always get the best of you unless you prove I can't
Once again, let's break it down.
The rhythm
As you can see, Thesaurus grabs reach of common meter once more, keeping each line about 14 syllables in length:
I've redefined the standards that were set before me 'Cause my predecessors exercised their methods poorly I'm just the guy to execute a plan I'll always get the best of you unless you prove I can't
There is a break in the normal line length on line 3, where he uses an iambic pentameter instead, another typical poetic meter. This variation revitalizes the quatrain.
The rhyme
Thesaurus has a way with rhyme and this song is an example of flawless execution:
I've redefined the standards that were set before me 'Cause my predecessors exercised their methods poorly I'm just the guy to execute a plan I'll always get the best of you unless you prove I can't
As you can see, he once again uses a lot of internal rhyme and assonance.
The bottom line
Poetry has a heavy influence on the battle rap community and it is nice to see people like Thesaurus who know how to use them in new and exciting ways.