Why is it called Empire State of Mind?

In "Empire State of Mind," Jay-Z's rhymes come and go, rising in frequency until he slips into an unstoppable flow just before the chorus, when he shifts to focus on fewer, but stronger, rhymes. 

It seems like with each successive verse, Jay-Z shows himself up, weaving in more rhymes, better rhythms, and cleverer metaphors. In looking at Jay-Z's lyricism in the song, a few important issues – the importance of African-American dialect and "inner rhyme," for example—come to the surface. Let's look at the third verse as an example: 

Lights is blinding, girls need blinders
So they can step out of bounds quick, the sidelines is,
Lined with casualties, who sip the life casually
Then gradually become worse; don't bite the apple, Eve 

We can split up the first four lines into two couplets, that is, pairs. Looking at these lyrics printed on the page, there might seem to be some rhyming problems, though. 

"Blinders" is made to rhyme with "-lines is," and "casually" is supposed to rhyme with "apple, Eve." And there's also the inner rhyme of "casualties" with "casually." 

Those rhymes don't look beautiful. Maybe, they don't even look like rhymes. But don't forget that hip-hop is primarily an aural art form. The lines sound a lot better than they look. In part, this is due to Jay-Z's use of African-American vernacular English. In this English dialect, rooted in the nation's Black communities—though in cities and in the entertainment industry, it's becoming more commonly associated with hip-hop culture, regardless of race, like with Justin Timberlake—it's common to deemphasize the last sound of a word, or remove it completely, while stressing the initial syllable. 

"Door" might become "doh," for example, or the second-syllable emphasis in a word like "police" might be moved to the first syllable. So, for "blinders" and "-lines is," it doesn't matter so much that "blinders" ends with an "-ers" sound and "is" ends with a "z" sound. These last syllables aren't emphasized. 

What's more important to the ear is the similarity of the "blin-" in "blinders" and the "line" in "-lines is." In poetics, this is called feminine rhyme, the rhyming of the last two syllables with an often-unstressed final syllable. 

But it gets better. Rhyming couplets isn't enough. Rappers have to string these rhymes together more rapidly than once every ten-or-so syllables. The next few lines of "Empire State of Mind" demonstrate this: 

Caught up in the in-crowd, now you're in style
End of the winter gets cold, en vogue, with your skin out
City of sin, it's a pity on the wind
Good girls gone bad, the city's filled with them 

One of our more technically skilled rappers, Jay-Z uses what's called inner rhyme countless times in this song, something other rapid-flow MCs like Eminem are known for as well. This section of "Empire State of Mind," no doubt one of the best raps in the song, is filled with inner rhyme. 

How many instances of inner rhyme can you see just in the first two lines? 

In the first line "in the," "in-crowd," and "in style" are all feminine rhymes, with the "in"s rhyming. We get more of this in the next line. "End of," which you hear as "in dove," "en vogue," and the "-in out" of "skin out" all continue Jay-Z's march of feminine rhymes. It's a beautiful and highly-skilled rhyming scheme. 

This isn't, of course, to say that this is original or especially innovative, lest we forget the centuries upon centuries in which poets like Alexander Pope demonstrated expert use of all rhyming techniques. And an earlier musical example might be found in Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues." 

In other words, Jay-Z's working in a rich poetic and musical tradition here.

P.S. Yeah, that's right. We just compared Jay-Z to Alexander Pope and Bob Dylan. Deal with it.

Now, you might be thinking that a few of these rhymes are kind of weak. And maybe some are. "Casually" and "apple, Eve" don't rhyme amazingly. But Jay-Z makes sure he gets some powerful, definitive sounding, lines in at the end of each verse. Look at the last four lines here: 

Came here for school, graduated to the high lifeBall players, rap stars, addicted to the limelightMDMA got you feelin' like a championThe city never sleeps, better slip you an Ambien

These lines aren't overflowing with rhymes, but the two rhymes, "high life" with "limelight" and even better, "champion" and "Ambien," are great. 

Why are they so strong, though? In the previous section, Jay-Z's feminine rhymes didn't often rhyme the final syllable. But here, "champion" and "Ambien" clearly completely rhyme. Often in poetry, clear, straight rhymes like these have the effect of halting verses. Have you ever heard a limerick read straight through? 

Here, Jay-Z doesn't need to show off how good he is at rhyming. He has to close off the verse and transition into Alicia Keys' soaring chorus. So, these definitive-sounding rhymes wrap up Jay-Z's verse while still declaring his skill.

Why do they call it The Empire State?

While the precise origin of the nickname “Empire State” is unknown, one of its oldest documented sources is a letter written by George Washington in 1785 in which he expresses admiration for New York's strength during the American Revolution and deems the state “the Seat of the Empire.”

What does Empire State of Mind means?

Little did we know EVERYONE would understand it because it's not just about New York, it's about the HOPE that New York represents; the possibility. The chance to follow your dreams no matter who you are or where you come from.”

Why did George Washington call New York the of empire?

George Washington rightly envisioned New York State as the "seat of the Empire." Geographically, the state was the springboard from which independence and westward expansion began. Politically, New York stood firm for the cause of independence and arose as an example of temerity under attack.

Why is The Empire State famous?

Opened in 1931, the Empire State Building is the world's most famous office building, a historical landmark, and was named "America's Favorite Architecture" in a poll conducted by the American Institute of Architects. It's no surprise that visiting this amazing building is one of the top places to visit in New York.