I respectfully disagree. And while he wouldnt be in MY personal top 5, his skill and place in history as a legend cannot be disputed. Even slightly. And you site his most intentionally cheesy pop song as a point of reference. Cmon man. I have a hard time taking anyone's opinion who think for an MC that what he says doesnt matter, but humor me, who are some worthy MCs in your eyes
Look, I want to be careful here. I never said what Jay Z writes doesn’t matter. He deserves credit for having substance. He often writes about and raps about things of substance - things that matter- I appreciate that he doesn’t just rap about superficial crap. I respect Jay Z for his writing skills and ability to pull the right people together to collaborate and create some nice beat and music.
The thing is - and this is my personal feeling- he has a rather flat vocal tone that lacks emotion and inflection- To me there is no “Wow” factor in his delivery that (for me) leaves a lot to be desired. His just doesn’t bring that extra vocal something to the table when he raps. Not like Chuck D or Notoriois, B.I.G. or Eminem, or NAS, or Kurtis Blow, Snoop, Kendrick Lamar, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, LL Cool J, Lauren Hill, DMX, Busta Rhymes, Mos Def, Andre 3000, Drake, Big Daddy Kane, Niki Minaj or say Rakim Again, Jay- Z has put out some good stuff, but even he has said of himself, "I'm not an artist; I'm a hustler."
It is amazing how he has helped lift he peers up along the way to help make them successful More successful as well. Maybe that was partly to boost his own fame and popularity with the masses, but he does seem to genuinely like helping others and even grateful for his rise and success.