by Pen Driven

Created on: August 14, 2007

I would like to address the claims made by "Hova", none other than Mr. Jay-Z himself. He is Hova, because he says so, in every one of his songs.

Now, I do not claim in any way to be any kind of a rap expert in the least. But from my understanding and what I believe a rapper should be, in order to be considered a skilled rapper one should possess these qualities:

1. The ability to make words flow quickly (the more articulated the better)
2. The ability to rhyme words
3. The ability to make a story and tie the words together so that they make sense

These are all criteria I think should be met in order to be considered a decent rapper. Even 2 out of 3 would be acceptable. From my observation of Jay-Z and his songs, he meets only one, if not none, of these. I believe he has exercised the concept of if you tell a lie long enough, people start to believe it. He proclaims himself as the best rapper, the "Hovah" of rap constantly. There isn't one song where he doesn't make this kind of statement. I think that he now has everyone convinced. A good rapper should be able to use words other than "Chinchilla" and "Burberry". He should also be able to make lyrics and verses that make sense and have something to do with the rest of what he is saying.

Maybe he's just on a whole other level, and I am not intelligent enough to understand his in depth insights. For example, in the beginning of his part in "Umberella", his first line is "No clouds in my stones".....is this a reference to something that I'm unaware of? Does it make sense to anyone?

I am always open to the fact that I could be wrong, but I have tried over and over to listen to a Jay-Z song and think of him as the "greatest" rapper. I fail every time. All I can hear are his key words and phrases used in every one of his songs, and his trademark "Yup!" at the end of a statement where he apparently agrees with what he just said.

The rappers that I find more than fairly skilled would hardly call themselves the greatest rapper. They are too busy actually rhyming words and telling stories. Their fame and self-proclaimed skills would not correlate with the rhyme.

If you have the skills, you have them. You don't need to constantly remind people that you do.

Maybe I can convince everyone that I'm a Pulitzer Writer.....

Learn more about this author, Pen Driven.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.