The rhythm of speech
Pauses, accents and phrase length as an MC's musical tools.
One way to understand flow is as the placement of speech within a rhythm. It involves more than the words and the rhymes at the ends of lines: syllable length, breathing points and repeated accents matter too. Two performers can rap over the same backing and create very different impressions of speed, even though the beat's tempo does not change.
Try following only the ends of the lines at first. Do they coincide with a strong drum hit, or land away from it? Then listen to the pauses: a brief stop can emphasise a word more strongly than an acceleration. On another listen, internal rhymes and echoes between sounds in the middle of a phrase become easier to notice.
It is interesting to compare a song's verse and chorus. The verse may use a dense, shifting pattern, while the chorus leaves more space and repeats a short motif. That contrast can help you follow the form even in an unfamiliar language, although the meaning of the words still matters to a full understanding of the song.
Keep listening
From familiar rhymes to instrumental grooves: choose a station with a sound that suits you. Choose a station.