3 Marquee Rappers Who Don’t Write Their Lyrics Down on Paper

Have you ever looked at the lyrics for a rap song? Most of the time, they’re very different than those for a rock song. It’s not just the subject matter or the structure. It’s the pure length of the lyric sheets. When it comes to rap songs, there are often way more words than in other songs. In rap, it’s the lyrics that are the star almost 100% of the time. No lead guitar solos and no keyboards to take up the space. That’s why it’s so remarkable to find out that some of the biggest names in the genre didn’t write down their lyrics. We wanted to dive into the reality of that fact. Indeed, these are three marquee rappers who never wrote their lyrics down on paper.

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Jay-Z

Jay-Z told rap journalist Sway in 2003 that the last verse he ever wrote down was for the song “Can I Live” on his 1996 debut LP, Reasonable Doubt. The lyrics come to his head spontaneously, Jay says. But he keeps it all organized in his mind.

There is a method to his madness. The only part that doesn’t come into the equation, however, is a pen and paper. He leaves that out. But while Jay does record his songs—he’s not like the Philosopher Socrates who never believed in making records of ideas—he just never shows his hand (or handwriting) while creating them.

The Notorious B.I.G.

One of Jay’s best friends growing up and in the early days of their careers was The Notorious B.I.G. Both were from Brooklyn, and both were fast rising in the world of music. So, it makes sense then that the two shared the unique trait of also not putting their rhymes to papyrus. Famed beat maker DJ Premier recalled working with Biggie and seeing the process unfold.

“We stayed [in the studio for] about maybe eight or nine hours and it got to a point where I was like, ‘Yo Big, you haven’t written anything down yet, bro,’” said Premier. “‘It’s getting late, I want to go home soon.’ He goes, ‘Oh, no doubt, I’m ready… I don’t write nothing on paper.’”

Lil Wayne

The New Orleans rapper Lil Wayne, who was the biggest of all the marquee rappers (or perhaps all of music) around 2007 through 2010, followed Jay-Z’s career closely. It’s like Jay was his North Star as he grew his career. It makes sense that Wayne would adapt Jay’s famous writing method.

“When I heard it, I stopped,” said Wayne, referring to the fact that when he heard Jay-Z doesn’t write lyrics down, he immediately stopped doing the same.

Wayne’s last song he wrote down was the lengthy “10000 Bars”, according to Wayne himself. And that came out in 2011. That’s a lot of words swimming around in his noggin.

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