“I think a lot of people imagine modern rappers just writing down their raps in the studio with pen and paper, figuring something out, erasing it and changing it.” “Yeah, no, we stopped writing a long time ago. Not many people write.” “Back in the day, when people just used tape, you only had one take. So everyone had to be on the right track.” “For example, there used to be a time before the 24er route. If a singer came in, you had to sing it [expletive], top down, baby. You had to figure it out.” “Until about 20 years ago, most music was always recorded on tape. It’s more of a process. It’s a lot more tedious, a little more tedious.” Rapping: “Three hits and we might just explode -” “I saw Tupac give a speech – ‘Hey, we got two hours of studio time.’ Come here prepared.’” “We don’t have the time or the luxury to spend all that time writing a song. We don’t have it.” “Fast forward a bit. In the mid-to-late ’90s, word spread that Jay doesn’t actually write down any of his rhymes.” “So you literally come into the studio and then formulate sentences in your head?” “Yeah.” “And then spit in time?” “Yes.” “And you never write down the lyrics?” “Never.” “Which makes other rappers want to do the same thing.” “I found out Jay wasn’t writing. I never wanted to see a pen or paper again in my life.” “He has class, first in the lunch line. With my lunch menu I could eat rappers at lunchtime.” “What I know is, when you see your hero can jump seven feet, it makes you want to jump eight feet.” “When it comes down to me, 10 out of 10.” “You’re telling me you’re falling in love with me.” “I showed up in the trenches.” “The problem is, not all of them are that great or capable of it.” “Yeah, shoot in my ear.” [rapping] “It’s not a pen, it’s not a pad. You just go in and hit.” “Hit.” “Punch method.” “Punch and record.” “Strike three more bars.” “I’ve never written raps before. I’m just ready.” “Are you writing or typing?” “I’ll intervene. I don’t write.” “These days ProTools is essentially pen and paper, and this is where it becomes a different kind of art form.” “It’s about improvisation as opposed to writing a stand-up piece. You know what I mean?” “It’s like freehand versus tracing.” “Oh okay.” “Keep that part for me, just beat me into it.” “The artist may not have actually written the song, but it isn’t definitely freestyler in the traditional sense, where he just says the first thing that comes to mind for four minutes straight.” “Type in like saying one bar at a time.” “I have these shelves, that don’t fold up in the wallet. I make deposits. “Definitely one line at a time.” “That beat, and you said the beat out there, and you play it all together. It sounds like a whole sentence. “They use punching as a way to create their rhymes, not as a way to fix their rhymes. Yeah, I feel like it’s really just a generational thing.” “But you don’t think you’re on Could you get something better if you wrote something every now and then?” “NO.” “It’s just not for you?” “NO, [expletive] This.” “Rap has grown. Rap has evolved and there are always good and bad developments. What we’re seeing is a lot of the same track being explored over and over again.” “People think, oh, they’re just rapping about it, or they just rap about the simple rhyme scheme or the simple – but being in a studio and writing five songs a day, seven days a week about new topics and making it sound different, it’s very, very impressive.” “It is a sport. It’s a sport.” “Instead of one song for a week, it’s five songs a night, and you keep doing it.” “Not that our artistry isn’t appreciated, but it’s more about how fast can we do it?” “And I’m just saying that I’m a child of the unprofessional rap culture. People were like, ‘I’m just a street cat and I’m going to rap.’ [rapping] “I jumped off the porch and bought a gun.” “I just want people to know you’re not Jay-Z, you’re not a loser.” “It’s about you, regardless of whether you’re up a phone, write on a piece of paper, type a hole or leave the dome. It doesn’t matter.” “For me to rap, to come out of how I’m feeling in that moment. As if I didn’t have the same energy when writing it down as when I was saying it.” “You can’t really withhold your technique from a younger generation, can you? Ultimately it’s about achieving the best end result.” [rapping] “I respect all of that because everything requires work and thought. Whether you have to sit over a pad or spend four hours figuring it out, putting it together, typing it, if the ending, the result moves people, and most of all, the art is worth it.”
