Donda 2

Broken Road

Kanye West

Lyrics & Rhyme Analysis

End

210

Internal

Multi

275

Slant

Chain

Rhyme Groups — hover to spotlight

[Chorus: Olskool Ice-Gre & E.P Da Hellcat]

Welcome^✦ to Chicago,^✦ y'all it don't quit

Chi-Town,^✦ Windy^✦ City,^✦ be the ultimate^✦

We call it Cold Il' or just simply^✦ the 'Go

Let me take you to this place I know

Windy^✦ city^✦

Welcome^✦ to Chicago,^✦ y'all it don't quit

Chi-Town,^✦ Windy^✦ City,^✦ be the ultimate^✦

We call it Cold Il' or just simply^✦ the 'Go

Let me take you to this place I know

[Verse 2: E.P Da Hellcat]

Welcome^✦ to the place people visit^✦ but never leave

Y'all niggas^✦ don't really^✦ want it, but we got what you need

Best believe,^✦ true indeed,^✦ I'ma^✦ put you up to speed, this week

You wouldn't believe^✦ these streets, they damn near bleed

My people hard to read, broke, starving and gangbanging^✦

In a temple full of thieves, we still leave chains hanging^✦

Hard to buy some stone, hard to leave a dice alone^✦

Pictures that Vice is shown of people that's in your home

We Kwame, dirty^✦ fingernails, nose to the grindstone

T-bones^✦ and tombstones,^✦ how I define^✦ home

Speak wrong, then the brooms blow, home to the new throne

Backpacked up to the club, so please don't leave that watch on

We live by mottos, like shit only^✦ the strong

[?] for pocket^✦ full of stones^✦

We knock it, 'cause it's home, if you knock it, then it's on

'Round here you gon' get stoned^✦ if you talking that tone

We put backs to anklebones,^✦ welcome^✦ to Babylon

You fakes^✦ are sitting pretty^✦

Welcome^✦ to the Chi, the do-it-yourself city,^✦ and it's like that

[Chorus: Olskool Ice-Gre & Kanye West]

Welcome^✦ to Chicago,^✦ y'all it don't quit

Chi-Town,^✦ Windy^✦ City,^✦ be the ultimate^✦

We call it Cold Il' or just simply^✦ the 'Go

Let me take you to this place I know

Chi-Town^✦

Welcome^✦ to Chicago,^✦ y'all it don't quit

Chi-Town,^✦ Windy^✦ City,^✦ be the ultimate^✦

We call it Cold Il' or just simply^✦ the 'Go

Let me take you to this place I know

[Verse 3: Kanye West]

Yeah, yeah

I'm like Twista^✦ on the rap side

I'm like weave on the trackside

I'm Don Juan on the mack side

I'm Michael Jordan,^✦ Scottie Pippen,^✦ and Paxson^✦

I'm Phil Jackson, this is South Side

They call me Kon, the Louis Vuitton Don

But I still might throw on a little low on

Where the folks and the stones^✦ from, DLs and foes from

Same place I get my flows from

Place I got my hoes from

The streets t-t-t-talkin', tell me if you know somethin'^✦

Man, nigga,^✦ roll somethin'^✦

Hoes get they juke on when you turn Luke on

Gangsters dance, but'll still get they puke on

Bad Boy' II on and she want to go

I'm a buy the bootleg from the front to show

Watch the DVD in the car cause the way a nigga^✦ live

We have more TVs in the whip than in the crib

My nigga^✦ sell burnouts, we call him Lil' Flip

Welcome^✦ to Chicago,^✦ my city^✦ is the shit

[Chorus: Olskool Ice-Gre, Kanye West & E.P Da Hellcat]

Welcome^✦ to Chicago,^✦ y'all it don't quit

Chi-Town,^✦ Windy^✦ City,^✦ be the ultimate^✦

We call it Cold Il' or just simply^✦ the 'Go

Let me take you to this place I know

Yeah, yeah, Windy^✦ City^✦

Welcome^✦ to Chicago,^✦ y'all it don't quit (Yeah, Abstract Mindstate)^✦

Chi-Town,^✦ Windy^✦ City,^✦ be the ultimate^✦ (And uh, you know who the fuck I am)

We call it Cold Il' or just simply^✦ the 'Go (Kanye to the, the Roc is definitely in the building)

Let me take you to this place I know (Chi-Town)^✦

Welcome^✦ to Chicago,^✦ y'all it don't quit (Yo, Olskool, these niggas^✦ don't know we go back, man, we go back like Mystikal's hairline, goddamn it)

Chi-Town,^✦ Windy^✦ City,^✦ be the ultimate^✦

We call it Cold Il' or just simply^✦ the 'Go (Oh, E.P. you know you killing these bitches on that rap shit)

Let me take you to this place I know

[Outro: Kanye West]

Yeah, South Side

79th, 87, yeah, yeah

Technical Breakdown

8.2

Multisyllabic Rhymes9.5

Complexity of rhyme schemes (data-driven)

Internal Rhymes9.5

Rhymes within a line (data-driven)

Wordplay / Double Entendres6.0

Clever language, metaphors, punchlines

Cadence / Rhythm10.0

Flow variation and timing (data-driven)

Vocabulary Complexity6.0

Range and depth of words used (data-driven)

Delivery / Breath Control6.5

Performance and control

Computed Score8.21

Production

— Mike Dean

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Critic Analysis

RAPLEDGER BAROMETER™

The verse relies heavily on dense internal rhyming and regional identity tropes, effectively capturing the gritty atmosphere of mid-2000s Chicago while sacrificing some narrative coherence for phonetic impact.

9.5

Multisyllabic

9.5

Internal Rhymes

Cadence / Flow

Vocabulary

Wordplay

6.5

Delivery

Assonant chain-rhymingInternal multisyllabic clustersRegional synecdocheRhythmic enjambment

Rhyme Architecture: The verse utilizes a high-density AAAA internal rhyming structure (long-e sound: leave, need, indeed, speed, week, bleed, read, gangs, chains) that provides a locked-in, kinetic flow.

Verified Doubles & Entendres

"In a temple full of thieves, we still leave chains hanging"

① A literal description of a dangerous environment where people wear jewelry despite the risk of theft.② A religious allusion to the temple (the neighborhood) being corrupted, yet retaining a sense of 'hanging' or staying grounded/connected.

"T-bones and tombstones, how I define home"

① A reference to food scarcity vs. abundance (T-bone steaks).② A juxtaposition of sustenance and mortality, summarizing the cycle of living and dying in a violent environment.

Consistent rhythmic pocket

Evocative imagery of urban decay

Strong commitment to regional branding

Occasional loss of narrative clarity in pursuit of rhyme density

Predictable subject matter regarding street life

Some forced phrasing to accommodate the rhyme scheme

Broken Road

Lyrics & Rhyme Analysis

Technical Breakdown

Production

User Scores