"...I don't write sh*t cause I ain't got time"

Writer’s Block
written by JusHH

“I write my own rhymes, sort of, I think em. That means I forgot better s**t than you ever thought of..”

I just want to put it out there – I don’t write my posts. I know y’all probably assumed that I do but I don’t write. I grab my Chips Ahoy Chewy cookies and a glass of milk and I hit Wiz on the horn and start talking. I recite my post line for line and he just types away and Monday morning… its up on PTM. Bam, how ya like me now? I’m the dopest blogger ever.

Sound familiar? Ever since Jay-Z went on record declaring that he put down the pen and pad, every rapper and their mothers also stopped writing rhymes. I swear every interview that I read, someone else is talking about how they don’t write. The latest two that I’ve heard is T.I. and Lil’ Wayne. It’s gotten to the point where its somehow weak if you actually put the ink to the paper… WTF?????

Before going any further, let’s break this down a little bit. The only skill that’s actually impressive for a rapper who doesn’t write is memorization. That’s it. That’s the show. That’s all. Congratulations, you remember better than I do. Not writing doesn’t give you superior access to metaphors or concepts, it just means that after we’ve both “thought” about our raps, you don’t forget them as quickly as I do. Also freestyling and not writing your rhymes are not the same thing. Freestyling is when you rhyme off the top of your head, no rehearsals, its all happening live – that’s a skill. If you go into the booth and take time repeating and re-doing your verses, its soooo not the same thing. Not writing your rhymes, doesn’t make them good, being a good rapper makes your rhymes good.

Another thing, if your rhymes are nonsensical or not very good, then admitting that you don’t write them down is like a driver who crashed into the pole bragging about how he drives with out his hands. If your rhymes need some work or some cohesion, then the problem IS that you don’t write and you should probably go grab some loose leaf paper and get to work.

I won’t get into who I believe and who I don’t because I simply can’t prove it. (Another reason why I feel so many rappers all of a sudden made this claim) I didn’t even believe Hov for the first 5 years. I didn’t come around until I saw Fade To Black and everyone from Timbaland, to Rick Rubin were talking about how all of his raps are in his head and how you saw him mouthing “Lucifer” in front of our eyes. But at least Jay has given us reasons why he stopped writing. He admitted to writing his first album and he let us know that he probably forgot about 4 albums worth of material. These other guys, we just get a two second sound bite.

Now I’m not claiming that this feat isn’t impressive, its just not as groundbreaking as people want to make it out to be. What was once an interesting resume item for an already incredible emcee, became a stupid trend that is now shared by the mediocre.

So before Bow Wow and Yung Berg officially goes on record about how they only “think” their punchlines, let me just send this general message out to all of you…

Pen or no pen, it doesn’t really matter. Hip-Hop needs better rhymes whether or you can remember them or not.