March 2, 2013 12:45

Jay-Z has become 'more gritty' since the birth of Blue Ivy, says The-Dream Jay-Z Tickets

Producer also says he and studio have been in the studio working on a 'little something'

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Jay-Z has become "more gritty" since the birth of his daughter Blue Ivy, according to producer The Dream.

The rapper and his wife Beyoncé welcomed their first child in January 2012 but, in an interview with RapFix, The-Dream said that fatherhood had not mellowed his friend's music.

When asked if becoming a father had softened Jay-Z, the producer replied: "Nah, I think he's gotten a little bit more gritty." He also said he had been in the studio working on a "little something" with the hip-hop star although he couldn't give any more details.

He did, however, insist that Jay-Z was still improving as a rapper despite his storied career. "I think he's becoming more of a painting. It's just moving. It's just travelling through time now," he said. "There's no way to be surprised again. If any one of us does anything great, it's hard to surprise you. You already have an expectation level that's so high. So he's definitely more skilled and better than he was, but are you really surprised?"

Last January, it was reported that Jay-Z had vowed to drop the word bitch from his lyrics following the birth of his daughter, although the story was subsequently revealed to be false by his publicist.

In May of last year, meanwhile, Jay-Z said he was putting any plans to record new material on hold so he could spend time with his family, although it was reported in January (2013) that he was working on scoring the soundtrack for Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of The Great Gatsby.

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