>dude had such great timing and style with his rhymes. he
>arranged his words and INTONATION the same way he'd arrange a
>bass line.

alot of people don't realize this. this is what comes off as natural swagger, but it actually translates as careful planning of rhythm displacement and cadence structuring... how his words might fall a bit before or after the beat, and like you mentioned, his intonation was great.

he wasn't the best mc ever, but he was really slept on. see Ruff Draft for proof, this dude could spit.