JAY-Z Explains What Makes a Good Rapper — and Nails an Eminem Impression to Prove His Point
"There's percussion inside the music, so there's multiple ways to be really good," the rapper explains. "Some people just have it all"
Surprise — JAY-Z has a little Slim Shady up his sleeve, and it isn’t half bad.
In a sneak peek of Friday’s Netflix premiere of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman, the rapper, 48, takes a seat with the talk show host to describe the distinct qualities individual rappers bring to the table, proving his point with impressions of Snoop Dogg and Eminem.
“You can have a great voice, and you can just almost say anything,” JAY-Z tells 70-year-old Letterman. “I think Snoop Dogg has a great voice — he can say ‘One-two-three and to the four.’ I was like ‘Oh my God.’ It just sounds good, right?”
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“Or you can be someone like Eminem and just have amazing cadence and syncopation,” he says, imitating Marshall Mathers’ style of rapping nearly to a T. “There’s percussion inside the music, so there’s multiple ways to be really good. Some people just have it all.”
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Jay is the latest star to sit down with the former late-night host on his new program. Letterman’s guest roster includes such names as George Clooney, Malala Yousafzai, Tina Fey, Howard Stern and President Barack Obama.
My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman: JAY-Z premieres Friday on Netflix.