Tim Westwood Unearths a 1999 Jay Z Freestyle

Nowadays, a freestyle can mean one of two things: either a rapper is spitting a previously unheard verse or they're truly making up raps as they go. 2015 Jay Z would likely do neither, but courtesy of Tim Westwood, we get to hear 1999 Jay Z spitting over a carousel of beats.

If some of Jay's bars sound familiar, that's because the first two verses wound up Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter in the form of "Do It Again" and "NYMP." The third is presently unplaceable, but a short limb would suggest it's source was a scrapped Vol. 3 track. What's most impressive about the clip is how Jay is able to make radio friendly edits on the fly. Known for never writing a rhyme down, he must have established a solid command of the material. Vol. 3 dropped December 28, 2009, making the chronology of this "1999 Freestyle" concurrent with the recording, marketing, or promotion of the album.