How does Jay-Z write without writing anything down?
Co-Founder & Music Producer at American Recordings
He listens to the beat on loop and you can hear him mumbling or humming under his breath. After 20 or 30 minutes he says he has got it. He walks in and does the first verse entirely from memory. He did three takes for 99 Problems. The words were the same in each take but the cadence was different, like a jazz saxophonist playing a solo. He came in, listened, picked one, and then went back out and did the next verse the same way.
This answer is part of a full interview with Rick Rubin, Co-Founder & Music Producer at American Recordings.
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