Rhymesmith Jay-Z

In addition to his virtuoso flow, flawless breath control, and idiosyncratic syncopation, Jay-Z has my admiration for his improvisational skill, which means he doesn’t write down his rhymes. Words just roll off his tongue as he feels the beat. Comparing to Jiggaman, I am not even a small time crook, but I know exactly what he meant on the second verse of “Moment of Clarity”:

I dumb down for my audience
To double my dollars
They criticize me for it
Yet they all yell “Holla”
If skills sold
Truth be told
I’d probably be
Lyric-ly
Talib Kweli
Truthfully
I wanna rhyme like Common Sense
(But I did five Mil)
I ain’t been rhyming like Common since
When your sense got that much in common
And you been hustling since
Your inception
Fuck perception
Go with what makes sense