The Art of Emceeing

by​Henry Adaso
Updated January 02, 2018

The term "emcee" is derived from the abbreviation M.C. It is full for "Master of
Ceremonies," and also implies "Move the Crowd." An emcee is a person who
raps to inspire people with clear, concise and compelling content. If that
sounds like fancy alliteration, it's not. Pure MCs take the art seriously. Where
others would rather rhyme words in a catchy manner, MCs take their game to
the next level. They contort words and flows in ways few would ever dare.
They take the time to actually make their words count. That's just one of the
many differentiating factors between rappers and those who consider
themselves MCs.

From an Emcee's Perspective

Who best to help us with the definition of "MC" than one of the best in the
business: Stic.man of the legendary rap duo, dead prez. In his book, The Art
of Emceeing, Stic.man says: "A rapper is to an emcee what an average street
fighter is to a trained martial artist. They are both fighters but the degree and
depth of their skill are very different."

There Were Emcees Before Hip-Hop

Don't get it twisted: emceeing did not necessarily originate from hip-hop. In
fact, emceeing was around before the days of slavery, long before civilization
blessed mankind with a microphone. The earliest pioneers of emceeing were
African griots or poets, who delivered their rhythmic folk tales over drums and
other forms of instrumentation. Little did they know back then that they were
innovating an art form that would directly influence rap music.

The Elements of Emceeing

Certified emcees stand out because they share certain elements in common.
Let's consider a few elements of emceeing:

Rhyme Scheme:​ This is also known as rhyme structure. An emcee's rhyme

scheme refers to the pattern of his rhymes. This ranges from a basic 4/4
rhyme scheme (think Kanye West or Drake) to complex, multi-syllabic rhyme
schemes (think Eminem or Tech N9ne).

Delivery​: An emcee's delivery is the way he or she flows. Delivery varies

based on cadence, speed, melody, intonation, rhythm, enunciation, and even
accent. Great MCs like Eminem and ​Nas​ have a way of alternating flows with
swiftness. Other emcees can flow slow (Evidence), while a few prefer to bust
rhymes in double time (​Busta Rhymes​). Still, others rhyme like they're
rapping for dear life (Twista), pushing the boundaries of speed rap, while
barely breathing.

Breath Control​: Speaking of breathing, no one likes to hear a breathy flow.

Breath control is how you pace your words to allow for small breath breaks.
World-class emcees write their rhymes in such a way that allows for these
breaks. If they're really good at it, the listener will barely notice. Breath control
is one of the most underrated qualities of MCs. (For a lesson on breath
control, revisit Lupe Fiasco's first album ​Food & Liquor,​ then check out his
newer material for comparison.)

Word Play​: One listen to the ​Notorious B.I.G.​ and our session on wordplay is
complete. Biggie had the ability to experiment with words creatively.