The Black Album
What More Can I Say
Jay-Z
Lyrics & Rhyme Analysis
57
End
257
Internal
82
Multi
356
Slant
18
Chain
Rhyme Groups — hover to spotlight
Are you not entertained?✦
Are you not entertained?✦
Is this not why you're here?
Uh, uh, huh
Turn the music✦ up
Turn me down
Guru,✦ let's go get 'em again✦
This time it's for the money✦ my nigga✦
Brooklyn stand up
There's✦ never✦ been a nigga✦ this good for this long
This hood
Or this pop is hot
Or this strong
With so many✦ different flows
This one's✦ for this song
The next one I'll switch up
This one will get bit up
These fucks
To lazy✦ to make up shit
They crazy✦
They don't paint pictures
They just trace me
You know what
Soon they forget✦ who they plucked
They whole style from
And try to reverse the outcome
I'm like, cluck
I'm not a biter✦
I'm a writer✦
For myself and others
I say a B.I.G. verse I'm only✦ biggin'✦ up my brother
Biggin'✦ up my borough✦
I'm big enough to do it
I'm that thorough✦
Plus I know my own flow is foolish
So the rings and things you sing about✦
Bring 'em out
It's hard to yell when the barrel's in your mouth
I'm in, new sneakers
Deuce seaters
A few divas✦
What more can I tell you?
Let me spell it for you
W-i-double L-I-E
Nobody✦ truer than H-O-V
And I'm back for more
New York's ambassador
Prime Minister back to finish✦ my business up
What more can I say?
What more can I do?
I give this all to you
I know this much is true
My life
(Look at my life)
(See what I see)
What more can I say to you
You heard it all
You already know what I'm about✦
Flying birds down south
Moving✦ wet off the step
Purple Rain in the drought
Stunting on hoes
Brushing off my shirt
But ain't nothing on my clothes
Except my chain
My name
Young H-O
Pitch the yea faithful
Even✦ if they patrol I make payroll
Benz paid for
Friends they roll
Private jets down to Turks and Caicos✦
Chrys' case loads
I don't give a shit
Nigga✦ one life to live I can't let a day go
Bye
Without me being fly
Fresh to death
Head to toe until✦ the day I rest
And I don't wear jerseys I'm thirty✦ plus
Give me a crisp pair of jeans nigga✦ button✦ ups
S dots on my feet
Makes✦ my cycle complete
What more can I say Guru✦ play the beat
We gonna✦ let this ride into✦ the hook
I'ma✦ snap my fingers on this one
What more can I say to you?
Get my grown man on
Let's go!
(What more can I say?)
Now you know ass is Willie
When they got you in a mag
For like half a billi
And your ass ain't Lily✦
White
That mean that shit you write must be illy✦
Either✦ that or your flow is silly✦
It's both
I don't mean to boast
But damn if I don't brag
Them crackers gonna✦ act like I ain't on they ads
The Martha✦ Stewart
That's far from Jewish✦
Far from a Harvard student
Just had the balls to do it
And no I'm not through with it
In fact I'm just previewing it
This ain't the show I'm just EQ'in✦ it
One, two and I won't stop abusing✦ it
To groupie girls stop false accusing✦ it
Back to the music✦
The Maybach roof is translucent
Niggas✦ got a problem Houston
What up B?
They can't shut up me
Shut down I
Not even✦ P.E.
I'ma✦ ride
God forgive✦ me for my brash delivery
But I remember vividly
What these streets did to me
So picture✦ me
Letting these clowns nit pick at me
Paint me like a pickanniny
I will literally
Kiss Tee-Tee in the forehead✦
Tell her please forgive✦ me
Then squeeze until✦ your forehead✦
I'm not the one to score points off
In fact
I got a joint to knock your points off
Young
Hova✦ the God nigga✦ blast for me
I'm at the Trump International
Ask for me
I ain't never✦ scared
I'm everywhere
You ain't never✦ there
Nigga✦ why would I ever✦ care?
Pound for pound I'm the best to ever✦ come around✦ here
Excluding nobody✦
Look what I embody✦
The soul of a hustler I really✦ ran the street
I CEO's mine
That marketing plan was me
And no I ain't get shot up a whole bunch of times✦
Or make up shit in a whole bunch of lines✦
And I ain't animated, like say a, Busta✦ Rhymes✦
But the real shit you get when you bust down my lines✦
Add that to the fact I went plat' a bunch of times✦
Times✦ that by my influence
On pop culture✦
I supposed to be number✦ one on everybody's list
We'll see what happens when I no longer✦ exist✦
Fuck this
Technical Breakdown
8.6
Multisyllabic Rhymes6.5
Complexity of rhyme schemes (data-driven)
Internal Rhymes8.5
Rhymes within a line (data-driven)
Wordplay / Double Entendres7.5
Clever language, metaphors, punchlines
Cadence / Rhythm10.0
Flow variation and timing (data-driven)
Vocabulary Complexity7.0
Range and depth of words used (data-driven)
Delivery / Breath Control8.5
Performance and control
Computed Score8.55
Production
— The BuchanansBe the first to rate the production
Critic Analysis
RAPLEDGER BAROMETER™
Jay-Z leverages high-confidence delivery and meta-commentary on his own process to establish dominance, focusing on flow versatility over density-heavy metaphors.
A
6.5
Multisyllabic
8.5
Internal Rhymes
10
Cadence / Flow
7
Vocabulary
7.5
Wordplay
8.5
Delivery
Meta-referentialityInternal rhyme cadenceAuditory stagingStaccato delivery
Rhyme Architecture: A mix of AABB and interlocking internal rhymes that rely on repetitive phonic patterns (long-o sounds: long/strong/song/wrong) to anchor the listener, followed by quick-fire rhythmic shifts.
Verified Doubles & Entendres
"They don't paint pictures / They just trace me"
① The artists are lacking artistic originality and are merely copying Jay-Z's style.② A literal reference to the act of sketching, highlighting that imitators require an original source to function.
"This one will get bit up"
① The song will be destroyed or soundly beaten in a competitive sense.② A direct reference to 'biting' (stealing flows/styles), implying his own flow is so pervasive it will be mimicked.
Commanding vocal presence and intentional pacing
Self-aware critique of industry copycats
Masterful use of silence and space in delivery
Lower lyrical density compared to later career output
Relies on conversational cadence which limits explosive metaphorical density
Some lines prioritize bravado over complex linguistic puzzles