Jay-Z can add another accolade to his stacked trophy case, as Hov was named among the 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters by The New York Times on Tuesday (April 28).
As part of the honor saluting Hov’s illustrious pen, Jay granted The Times a rare interview, which finds him touching on being the architect behind plenty of his hits, as well as anthems for fellow rap superstars like Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.
“The first time I wrote a rhyme that I thought I could do it was, ‘I’m the king of hip-hop/ Renewed like Reebok/ The key and the lock with words/ So provocative as long as I live.’ When I caught that pocket, I was like, ‘Oh, I got this,’” Jay recalled about the first time he felt he could master his craft. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Ironically enough, Hov did it all without a pen — coming up with double and triple-entendres, masterful wordplay and memorable bars that have been stained in the memories of rap fans going back three decades, and doing it all off the dome.
Jay digs into his creative process, which brought him from the corner to the boardroom, as the Brooklyn legend evolved into a hip-hop billionaire and respected business mogul over the course of his hall-of-fame career. After all, he is a business, man.
“Success hasn’t changed my approach to music,” he contested. “I’ve always felt like my aspirations were ahead of where I was currently. Even with all of the success, I’m still like, ‘No, no, no. This is our place.’ This is where we belong, this is our place.”
From bricks to Billboards — 105 Billboard Hot 100 entries to be exact — from grams to Grammys, Hov’s just about seen it all in the rap game. And he’s back outside in 2026, where he’ll be performing at Roots Picnic and a trio of Yankee Stadium shows this summer.
Other artists to make the 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters include Young Thug, Kendrick Lamar, Dolly Parton, Mariah Carey, Carole King, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Missy Elliott, Lionel Richie, Fiona Apple, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Lana Del Rey.
Here are seven things we learned from Jay’s Times interview.
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How He Works Through His Writing Process
Jay opened up about how he’s still writing these days, and gave fans a look into his songwriting and creative process in the booth.
“Most times I come up with the flow first,” he explained. “I’m trying to work out the pockets, and then I’ll fill it in.” He showed love to Rakim’s jazz roots and how Biggie came through as a rap alien. “Biggie was so unorthodox. ‘The-sis,’ that’s just jazz. ‘Black and ugly as ever.’ Then one word was so powerful, ‘however.’ Anything he said after that was going to be amazing. Those are little tricks as a writer, that I’m trying to accomplish.”
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“N—as in Paris” Was One of His “Most Rewarding” Moments as a Songwriter
Jay opened up about his admiration for being able to drop hits that fill the nightclub dancefloors and take over radio stations, but making sure the tracks’ bars are packed with substance, even if fans don’t realize it on the surface. One example is him tucking the marginalized Black experience behind his opulent swagger and decadence on “N—as in Paris.”
“‘N—as in Paris,’ I think as a writer, those are some of my finest moments — most rewarding. My most rewarding moments are to make something people are just dancing to, having a good time, but the theme of it is just, ‘Wow!’ It still has the connotation of racism and how people look at you, the French relationship with Africa and then money. It’s a lot of deep things just happening at one time.”
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Fighting for Hip-Hop’s Respect Remains the Mission
It was a battle to get hip-hop on the Super Bowl Halftime Show stage in ’22, and Jay recalled having to convince the NFL to have Dr. Dre among the headliners in L.A. that included Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem and Mary J. Blige.
“Y’all 30 years too late, this supposed to been happen. That emotion was from the first album to now. That fight to say we’re here and this what we about and we gon’ get there and this is what we deserve,” he said.
He explained that all the flexing about watches and his life of luxury and riches is just meant to be decor or pageantry, adding some swag to his raps, rather than the soul of his intentions behind every song.
“Those are the ingredients that go into the song, whether that be about a big yacht, a Lexus, bragging about money — those are just props,” he added. “That’s not the engine or the emotion that my music is running on.
“Once you get into the interior of the song, what you’re hearing is the same thing as someone who has integrity, morality, questions about religion, questions about who you are as a man, relationships, legacy, your children,” Jay continued. “My locations have changed, but what I am as a person and what I believe in, none of that’s changed.”
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Shows Love to Clipse for Their Authenticity
Hov feels that authentic storytelling will always win in rap, no matter the generation. He also had some advice for older rappers trying to make music like they’re “young,” which he believes just will never work, but highlighted the Clipse as rappers aging gracefully.
“It’s going to be inauthentic and people could feel that,” he said. “You can smell it. The best thing anyone can do is to tell their story and keep creating that way. I love what the Clipse are doing right now, and how it’s authentic to them and they’re telling a story about their mom and dad, who just passed away.”
Jay continued: “Everything they been through is an authentic display and a piece of classic material. It could have came out in ’96 or 2026, because it’s real and authentic to who they are.”
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Believes Beyoncé Prefers Producing Over Songwriting
Jay-Z called Beyoncé an “underrated songwriter,” but he believes she actually prefers producing over writing. However, he’s never actually asked her that question, but planned to do so following the interview.
“She’s actually an underrated songwriter. She really can write songs. But I think she gravitates towards [being] a producer,” he began. “I think she likes songwriting, but she loves producing. The things she does is unbelieveable.”
Hov recalled times Bey would pull a snare from a song they heard a year ago to use in a new song, or how she can “have a completely different song on a completely different beat, and make it work for a whole other project.”
“You know I’m watching that, like, I’m inspired by what she’s doing,” Jay gushed about his wife’s ingenuity. “And I never really thought about that, but I’m pretty sure she likes songwriting, but she loves producing.”
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Reflects on Writing “Still D.R.E.” for Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg
Jay-Z also reflected on getting into Dr. Dre’s psyche when penning “Still D.R.E.” for Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. “Still D.R.E.” served as 2001‘s lead single and, after initially peaking at No. 93 on the Billboard Hot 100, the West Coast legend’s staple hit had a second life on the chart (No. 23) following the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show.
“This is Dr. Dre coming off leaving Death Row, I know where he was trying to go because I been there a couple of times with Kingdom Come. He’s like, ‘I’m leaving this place and I want to mature.’ It was just natural to get in his psyche,” Jay said. “I would be thinking, ‘I have to remind people that I’m Dr. Dre.’ That’s where ‘Still D.R.E.’ comes.”
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‘4:44’ Was the “Most Difficult” Album to Make
Hov returned in 2017 with 4:44, which remains his most recent solo LP. The album served as a brutal confessional, in which Jay vulnerably opened up about the turbulence in his relationship with Beyoncé. Nearly a decade later, 4:44 is looked at as a blueprint for aging in hip-hop.
“4:44 was the toughest thing I had to write,” he admitted. “Not lyrically, not the greatest metaphors I ever created, but the vulnerability, the honesty and transparency, that’s hard. That’s a difficult thing. But to do it for an entire album and sit in that and talk about real subjects and how your kids are gonna feel… That was the most difficult album that I had to write.”
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