Why Is Every Rapper Rhyming…Like Drake? Posted by Nathan S. on 02/24/10 | Filed under Top Stories, Features, Drake

I couldn't help but notice a rap trend that's become more widespread than herpes on the Jersey Shore, the elongated pause. Here's how it works. You start your line...wait a second to build the suspense...and then finish it off with a related term of no more than two words. You know, like "Swimming in the money come and find me..Nemo." Speaking of which, after hours of deep research, I've tracked down the origins of this now aggravating rhyme disease to, you guessed it, Drake. Follow along...

Although I'm sure he didn't completely invent it, the first example of the elongated pause I could track down was Kanye West's guest verse on Keri Hilson's "Knock You Down". Great, as if his ego wasn't big enough.

"This is bad, real bad...Michael Jackson
Now I'm mad, real mad...Joe Jackson."
It's important to note here that while Kanye clearly introduces the concept of the elongated pause, and does so hilariously, the cadence with which he delivers it isn't what we're hearing today .

The first time I heard Kanye's work on "Knock You Down" the elongated pause definitely caught my attention, and it apparently caught Drake's attention too, because he used it as the basis of his verse on his uber-breakthrough single "Forever".

"In your city faded off the brown...Nino
She insists she got more class...we know
Swimming in the money come and find me...Nemo
If I was at the club you know I balled...chemo
Not only does Drake take Kanye's two-line concept and turn it into a full 16 bars, but he develops that exact elongated pause cadence that we're hearing today. Given how enormously popular "Forever" was, I think it's safe to say that this is the track that started it all. Now it's important to note that I don't blame Drake at all - when he did it it was still pretty original, and it's not his fault so many emcees decided to sweat his style, but just like how they tracked down the ebola virus to this one monkey in "Outbreak", I don't think there's any doubt that "Forever" was the catalyst that cemented the elongated pause's place in the game.

Since then, it's been a complete onslaught of rhymes...like Drake's. Here's a couple quick examples:

Lil Wayne "Bedrock" - "I keep her runnin back and forth...soccer team."
Tyga "I'm On It" - "She lyin [lion]...Leo / pedigree swag so cold...zero / grillin me you better breakfast...McGriddle."

I know there's about 4,000 other examples out there right now, leave more in the comments.

Like all fads, I'm sure the latest rhyme style will eventually fade into a distant memory, but as of right now, we're still very much in the full throes of the elongated pause. Personally, I can't wait for it to finally disappear...Yung Berg's career.

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