Jay-Z: 'I've Inspired A Generation Of Bad Lyricists'

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Jay-Z has joked that his approach to writing lyrics has inspired a generation of bad lyricists.

The US rapper has revealed that he hasn’t written down the lyrics to a song since, ‘Can I Live’ – which appeared on his 1996 debut album, ‘Reasonable Doubt.’

"What happened was, I was doing that song with someone else, and they heard the first verse and they was like, 'Man, you take that song. Finish it, 'cause it sounds like you got a lot more to say,'" he told MTV.

“You know, that type of thing. So I just wanted to get it down quick, I didn't want to keep going over it. It was like the album's mastering time, so I just sat down in the booth and wrote that verse."

The rapper added that he prefers to allow the lyrics to flow when he’s listening to music in the studio.

“It's difficult to go back to what you was doing when you was 15, 16 years old,” he explained. “My process is different now. It sounds great on paper, like 'I'mma sit down, I'm going to write the entire album like I did before.'

“But once you get back in the studio and you've been doing this process for years and years now, so it just felt natural to do it the way I've been doing it: no paper, no pen, just listen to the music."