Agree, he sounds like a legit rapper when he puts emphasis on the syllables. The deep emo rap "flow" was awkward and was never really rhythmic, especially on songs like Somewhere I Belong, where he sounds like an amateur.
God I hope not. LITE pumped me up when they started it and I'm pissed they fucking ended the stream right after. Regarding Good Goodbye though, I think it sounded pretty good. I really liked the way Mike rapped both verses, especially the second verse, which was pretty good. Even though Pusha T's is probably my favorite on the studio version, I enjoyed how this one builds on the first one, keeping the most exciting part of the song between verse 2 and chorus 2 (IMO). Chester sounded pretty good on the first chorus but a bit muted on the second, but that's probably because the band plays louder and uses more instruments on the second chorus (I think? if not it could be the camera guy being too close).
Honestly I have to disagree. To me, his newer raps are far more rhythmically repetitive (GG, AFN, etc.). I agree that they are also definitely more lively/animated and I get why people dig that, but personally I'm not a huge fan of the style (for example, the way he raps "done", "fun" and "from" at the end of the verse is really annoying IMO). I still enjoy his rapping, don't get me wrong, but it's the only element of the band that I personally think has gotten worse over the years.
Fair enough. I'd say topically he's more limited than ever, but to me, his rapping back in the day was more stagnant and repetitive to me. On Hybrid Theory is was cool thanks to his rhyming structure but 2003-2005 will always be the worst rapping from Mike imo. Every verse seemed so trite in LP, and there was (besides Nobody's Listening and Figure .09) very little internal rhyming. Even the shittiest rapper can put intentional internal rhymes. Fort Minor was a bit better (best subject matter Shinoda has ever covered too) and he has some great verses. (Spraypaint and Ink Pens) But once again fell into the same trap he did on Meteora for most of his verses. On a studio album release, his best rapping comes from HT, MTM and LT, I think.
Actually, if you look at the rhyme structures of his newer stuff, I think his rapping really improved. Eg. "SIB" which has been mentioned in this thread is really weak: I had nothing to SAY And I get lost in the nothingness inside of ME (I was confused) And I let it all out to FIND That I'm not the only person with these things in MIND (Inside of me) But all that they can see the words reVEALED Is the only real thing that I've got left to FEEL (Nothing to lose) Just stuck, hollow and aLONE And the fault is my own, and the fault is my OWN There is just one syllable rhmying at the end of each line, while the rhymes themselves are very generic and there is only a single rhyme for each word. Good Goodbye is superior: LIVE from the RHYTHM IT'S Something WILD, VENOMOUS Enemies trying to read me You're all looking HIGHLY ILLITERATE BLINDLY forgetting if I'M IN THE MIX You won't FIND an EQUIVALENT I'VE BEEN here KILLING IT Longer than you've been aLIVE, you IDIOT And it makes you so mad Somebody else could be stepping in FRONT OF YOU And it makes you so mad that you're not the only one There's more than ONE OF YOU And you can't understand the fact That it's OVER AND DONE, HOPE you HAD FUN You've got a lot to disCUSS on the BUS Headed back where YOU'RE FROM The rhymes have more syllables, plus he he's not only rhyming the last syllables of the lines. With the first lines he keeps rhyming to "rhythm it's" until "idiot" but also keeps the rhyme to "live" and "wild" which is pretty nice. He also keeps These rhymes for the second verse and picks up on that rhyming "Genesis", "emphasis" etc. on the first lines of the first verse. There is similar stuff on THP while on HT and Meteora it's more or less like with SIB. I like the fact that he is aiming for more complex rapping like with High Voltage in the past although a lot of fans are not aware of that. That being said, I do not like the song but I love the rapping in it.
My dream is to hear the flow like Part of Me or The Hard Way had. These rhymes are the best ones Mike ever delivered IMO.
Not saying Somwhere I Belong has world-class rhyming in it (it's actually my least favourite song on Meteora), but you missed a lot of rhyming (although a lot of it comes from repeating words which is lazy, I'll admit). Even still, ignoring the lyrics themselves and just looking at the rhyming and flow, it all contributes. There are a lot of subtle rhymes in there that I actually quite like (lost/all, see/veal/real/feel, just/stuck, hollow/alone). Anyway: I had NOTHING to SAY And I GET LOST in the NOTHINGness inSIDE of ME (I was confused) And I LET it ALL out to FIND That I'M not the only person with these THINGS in MIND (Inside of me) But all THAT they can SEE the words reVEALed Is the only REAL thing THAT I've got left to FEEL (Nothing to lose) JUst STUck, holLOW and aLONE And the FAUlt is my OWN, and the FAUlt is my OWN Glancing through GG though you missed a few rhymes as well, so I'm not saying SIB has better rhyming, just saying it has more rhyming than you let on.
I mean not to be rude but they absolutely are rhymes, and they're without a doubt not there by accident. Half rhymes matter, I'd even argue that subtle and clever slant rhyming takes a lot more skill and sounds a hell of a lot better than coming up with 5 words that rhyme with "Genesis".