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To Write Or Not To Write?
Article by:
Jason Fleurant
 “Who you gone find doper than him/ No pen/ just draw off inspiration” – Jay-Z “Encore”
There is no denying the power of being able to write your thoughts down, and create something thought provoking. It’s an ability many of our greatest poets and scholars have mastered. Yet at the same time you got to admit the ability to be free and just finesse your feelings with out the constraints of a pen and paper is equally remarkable. Both styles have seen a legion of followers attempt to grasp hold of it’s elusive beauty, only to fall short. While at the same time has produce some of the most awesome paring of words imaginable. Enough of all that, let’s get into the debate that been raging with Hip-Hop fans for a minute....”To write or not to write... That is the question”.
Recently there was a video that hit the Internet of Hip-Hop’s unofficial poster boy Lil Wayne showing the world how he lays down vocals in the booth. It wasn’t your usual run of the mill, rhyme of what you wrote on a piece of paper (or in this day an age a Sidekick). Instead free of the constraints of looking at his scribbled thoughts Wayne would go in and “punch in” his verses. For those who don’t fully understand what a ‘Punch-In’ is, it’s when a artist drops a few bars, stops and goes in with the rest. In this case Wayne would spit a bar or two, pause and then add another bar or two and repeat till the verse was done. Making up the verse as he goes along.
“No punches that’s weak shit” – Eminem “Say What You Say”
Now while this is as interesting a formula as it is tedious on the producer. Seeing that he’d have to probably sit there hours on end just to not only record (and rerecord multiple times) but mixing the vocals to match just right. Some would say why not just write out the verse and save you the trouble? When it comes to that I say to each they own, however in the eyes of most Hip-Hop “purist” this is a travesty. Just like what’s indicated by the above-mentioned Eminem line, a punch-in is viewed as a sign of weakness. To most emcee’s it is seen as you lacking the fundamentals to emceeing. The fundamentals of breath control, flow, stamina, etc. Not knocking Weezy at all for using this method because it occasionally comes out quite nicely. Yet a lot of young up-incoming rappers are attempting this method because they are under the false belief that Jay-Z does it that way.
Now I’m no expert on Hov, in fact all I have to base this on is scenes from “Fade To Black” and the outro of “The Black Album”. In which while speaking to his engineer (Young Guru) he states “Hey Guru, I know you spoiled man/ I be takin them shits in one take/You gon' have to punch niggaz shit, STICK IT, you gon' be tight/OG One, whattup?” Insinuating that he doesn’t do the bar for bar rhyme scheme. That’s what the whole ‘mystic’ of Jay-Z’s “no paper/pen” policy revolves around. The idea that he hears the track, sits there and constructs the entire verse in his mind before stepping into the booth. Only to nail the track in one tack, hence the name “One Take Hov”. Which gives him the ability to keep the fundamentals down pack, while adding the pizzazz that comes with the freedom of not reading off paper. Many fans and followers are under the impression that Hov simply just goes off the top and in turn go about recording in that fashion. Creating in cohesive and lackluster verses.
So now what we have is many young up and comers out there that rather just go in and do the punch in technique. In truth punching in your rhymes isn’t all that different from writing your rhymes out except for one thing. First off, let’s talk about the similarities involved in writing out /bar for bar recording. When most emcee’s write their rhymes, they are writing it out bar for bar. Some even spitting the stanza aloud before jotting it down on the piece of paper. Which is pretty much what punch-in dudes do, only not going back to write each lyric down. The major difference is when you write it out, it’s easier for you to go back and make small changes and really channel the direction of your piece.
The real question though is does it even matter rather you write or not? In the case of Jay-Z and others that have mastered the “no pen/ no paper” style it’s unbelievably impressive. Especially when you go back and really look at the lyrics. Verses like “Dead Presidents”, “Lucifer”, “D’Evils” etc show amazing concepts and rhymes. As well as lyrics written down on page like Nas’ “I Gave You Power”, “The Message”, “2nd Childhood” and so on. Yet for every positive there is always going to be a negative. For example for each time you hear a sick verse from someone who takes their time writing out their rhymes like a Joe Budden. You’re going to get a couple of whack rappers that also write their rhymes out the old fashion way. So I’m not here to knock anyone’s hustle. In fact from what I’ve heard Lupe Fiasco, a rapper notorious for complex lyrics and concepts uses the “no pen/ no paper” method. The important thing is not rather a true emcee should write or punch in, but to do you. The important thing is that the artist is doing what he/she feels is most comfortable for them and producing quality music. Which I do understand is very hard to come about in this day and age of Hip-Hop.
“To write or not to write...that is the question”. The answer is really that it depends on the artist. When Jay was starting "The Black Album" he stated he wanted to write down his lyrics, but couldn’t shake the comfort of constructing in his mind. And T.I. whose been doing the punch-in style for a few albums now has decided for his new project “Paper Trail” he’s going to tryout penning the verses again in order to me more focus. At the end of the day all that matters is the music. If you’re a “true” (I use this term loosely) fan of the fundamentals of rapping you probably frown up the idea of punch-ins. And if you’re just a fan of music you probably don’t care as long as the music is heat-rocks. I just want emcee’s to put more thought into what they do rather they write or not.
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