Here’s a song to study, examine, and dissect.  Real hip-hop from one of the best MC’s ever.

Erik B. and Rakim:  Don’t Sweat the Technique

If every artist would listen to this song before the writing, engineering, and recording process, we would have much better music to listen to.

The bass line and melody are really easy to listen to, but also something you can dance to and get pretty hype – It’s a 90’s song, so I’m using 90’s lingo.  It’s not something you can get crunk to.  The rhyme scheme and Rakim’s flow are something that Soulja Boy and others could learn from.  It is possible to write a good club song that has decent lyrics.  You can have a catchy hook without making the whole song quaint and catchy.

Listen to this song 3 or 4 times over the following week and compare it to what’s on the radio right now.  I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.