Throwback Thursday: Hear Jay Z Rock An On-Point Freestyle On Tim Westwood TV ca. 1999

These days, Jay Z'sseems to have realized his infamous "Diamonds From Sierra Leone" verse. He's not businessman, he's a business, man. Anyone of his recent entrepreneurial endeavors can speak to that. But there's a cold underbelly to that realization, that the millennial age may never know Hov as some of your favorite rappers' favorite rapper. In steps Tim Westwoodto hit us with some hefty context (having done so already with that blazing A Tribe Called Quest/Run DMC freestyle battle a few weeks back) This morning, the hip-hop ambassador to the UK let loose an archival recording (from what must be a filled-to-the-brim vault) finding Bed-Stuy native rocking over a slew of classic instrumentals in 1999, dropping lines from what would later manifest as his own grip of classics (which were in no short supply by that point.)

Listen, when Westwood offers a glimpse at the type of heat Jay was working with in '99, young bloods (and old bloods) should take notice. He may be one of the most established hip-hop moguls in the game, but he reached that summit by establishing himself as one of the best to ever grace a microphone. Watch as Jay Z rocks an on-point freestyle for Tim Westwood below as a heavy reminder.