Punchlines 101
Seeing as how this is a common question and Frosh won't have the time (I know this...maaaan!). I'll break off another lesson for our budding text rhymers. PUNCHES!!

For a lot of text rhymers, this is the highlight of the verse, when someone flips a phrase two different ways making everyone go "GOT DAYUM!!"

I.E. ex. from Ty§on:
messin' with me...
You'll have a "lot of problems" on your hands like cheating in algebra

just sends a shiver up your spine, doesn't it. But let's start at the beginning. First, what's a punchline.

A lot of people call punchlines metaphores, but actually a metaphore is an association between two things made without the usage of the words "like" or "as"...(remember English class, now?)

So saying something like, "I'll beat you like an egg" isn't a metaphore. When you use "like" or "as", it's called a simile.

Similes are very prominent in battle raps, although they don't necessarily have to be. It's all up to the rhymers whim. But seeing as how this is a punchline class, let me continue...

The best way to get good at using similies is to practice. Play around with words and the different meanings that they can have. The english language is full of them.

"slugs"
a snail-like creature
the slang term for a fired bullet

"dog"
a canine
a man; friend

The best way to use similies is at the end of the line they are in. I have found they are noticed better there and the build up is greater.

I usually write a set up line first and then my line with the simile:

I'm the only computer user that's abusin' loser's in brawls; nueterin ya'll
I'll take my rymes and shove my "tale" 'tween your legs "like a cowardly dog"

This is reletively simple compared to what cats on here are doin' here on a daily basis. But you get the idea. Here I used the double meaning the word 'tale' has as well as the double meaning that 'dog' has. Read a dictionary, they give double meanings to words all the time, for the rest you just have to be imaginative.

A real metaphore is more simple, you just liken the person, or yourself, or WHATEVER, without using 'like' or 'as'

"Emcees are similes, always "liking" "ass""

hahaha, I kinda like that one. Emcees are similies, get it?


The second type of punchline you'll probably know if you listen to anything Canibus does. These are the punchlines that are based on claimin' the outrageous.

This is when you make a statement that is so unreal that it sounds awesome just to imagine it.
ex. Richard Corey:
"I'll kill you so fast you won't have enough time to die!"

That just makes you go GAWD DOG!!! Cause in real life, no one can kill anyone that fast, that's what's makes it fun. This is a little easier to do, a little, cause you still have to come up with different examples and be creative.

ex. Canibus
"I'm so ill I have AIDS scared to catch me!"

You get the idea. This actually has a metaphoer and an exagerrated claim.
• He's not only ill as a rapper, but he's ill like a disease.
•_So ill in fact that AIDS avoids him...


The last punchline, that I can think of, is the plain-ol'-insult...

Sometimes you can just diss a guy without all the flash and it's just...damn.
ex. Froshkiller:
Think y'all an iller clique? Invasion's gender identity is STILL switched
Man or woman, no matter which, the situation is YOU'RE STILL A BITCH

This line was made during a time when there was a contraversy on whether MCInvasion was a guy or a girl. So when Frosh said this simple diss line, it had hella impact.

This is also a metaphore as the word bitch, is used both to mean "a punk" and "a woman"

The plain-'ol-insult punchline allows you to get more personal. You can make fun of the fact that they just lost to a really wack person, or to the fact that they're from the boondocks of Colorodo claimin thug...the sky's the limit!


The moral of this lesson is, be inventive. Punchlines don't make or break a verse, I feel that if your verse is just better, it's just better. Punchlines are more like flavoring for food. I mean, who eats a bowl of seasoned salt by itself...NO ONE...

So build everything else up first, punchlines come later, but for those who just have to have them...take this little lesson to heart..

keep spittin.

Written by Richard Corey