Show Me What You Got, Just Blaze

One of the biggest obstacles that hip hop must overcome is boredom. The rap song, almost by definition, consists of a single riff, no more than a few measures long, played over and over, with an MC speaking over the beat. Despite this repetitive nature, the MC and producer must find a way to hold the listener’s attention.

In Jay-Z’s Show Me What You Got, the producer Just Blaze tackles this challenge head on. And, in doing so, Just Blaze produces an exciting, infinitely listenable track.

At first, the most striking feature of this beat is its flashiness. Horns blare a syncopated melody, and incredible live drums make the song seem less like a product of an MPC 1000 and more like a live concert.

But we’ve seen Just Blaze do flashy before – just consider Touch the Sky, MCed by Kanye West. But while Touch the Sky becomes tiresome after a few listens, Show Me What You Got always stays fresh. And the reason for this is that the beat itself is actually three different beats rolled into one.

The collective beat repeats itself in six measure segments – highly unusual for hip hop – but is best considered in three two-measure segments. The first two measures feature the horns blaring their syncopated rhythm, followed by a brief drum fill. These two measures, repeated over and over, would resemble something like Touch the Sky.

But for the next two measures, the horns simply hold out whole notes as the drum beats a constant pattern. This is a very different type of beat, much like the beat on Sweet, a solid track on Jay-Z’s American Gangster. And for the final two measures, the horns continue to hold their notes while the drummer plays – at least on every second repetition of the beat – an extravagant drum fill which never seems to end. Occasionally, a saxophone chimes in with a wonderful little riff, which opens up the song a cappella.

This fusion of three different beats into one is a big part of what makes Show Me What You Got such an exciting, dynamic song. Add to this the flashy horn parts and incredible live drumming, and Just Blaze gives us a clinic on how to keep a rap song interesting.