I’ve been ready to do this entry for a good year.
Seeing as how Jay-Z‘s Reasonable Doubt dropped on June 25, 1996, my intention was to do an entry on it last year- 13 years to the day of its release. But that was the same afternoon on which one of the main artists that made me love music in the first place died, and plans got sidetracked. I don’t really do the death anniversary thing like that, so instead, no time like today to drop my one-year-in-the-making retro on one of my favorite albums from the great summer of ’96.
I remember when you actually had to explain who Jay-Z was to someone who didn’t follow hip-hop like that. Even in ’98, right before the big Hard Knock Life explosion, I had to go all the way back to singing the chorus to “Ain’t No Nigga” so my sister would know who the hell I was talkin’ about. I, on the other hand, knew full well who he was when RD dropped. He was that fast-rappin’ nigga from that Original Flavor joint I liked… who then became the fast-rappin’ nigga whose own music I wasn’t checkin’ for… and then eventually, the one whose “Dead Presidents” single I walked in leftover blizzard snow to buy that winter.
Still, I wasn’t in a SUPER-rush to buy it when it came out. I wanted to get it, but not before that new Nas joint that was coming out a week later. There was also a lot of other music I wanted during that same time frame- actually, more than I could afford. My older brother wasn’t mega-sold on Jay yet and prob’ly wasn’t gonna cop the album, which meant no high-speed dub for me. As interested as I was in hearing what Jay was coming with, it took me a good month or so before I actually heard Reasonable Doubt.
But then, in early-August, I heard it. I was with my younger brother doin’ our smoke-out summer thing, riding in our friend Terrance‘s car, which had the most grating “system” ever. No dis, but havin’ the bass all the way turnt up doesn’t matter when all you can hear is the rattling and buzzing in the trunk- ha! Later that evening, it was a lil’ lower, as we listened to this new Jay-Z album. The first track I heard was “Brooklyn’s Finest”, with Jay and Biggie goin’ innnnnn. That was followed by the sequel to “Dead Presidents”, and then “Feelin’ It”. By the time we got back to the house, I had already convinced homie to let me borrow it, dub it, and get it back to him the next day. Later that night, I listened to RD with the headphones on, and been doin’ the same since.
Since I’m not one of them dudes who gotta “relate” to something just to like it, I didn’t have to know a thing about flippin’ weight to know this album was my shit. Nas’ It Was Written had been a letdown (which I later grew to like a lot more), as was the other one I’d been awaiting- A Tribe Called Quest‘s Beats, Rhymes & Life (which I’ve never changed my tune on). But not RD, the one I was slow to pick up. The parties involved, from Jay to the producers to the guests, delivered on all fronts. The lyrics were far ahead of what I’d expected, and the production from Premier, Ski, Clark Kent, and Irv Gotti complimented them correctly.
It’s a misconception some people still have to this day, but Reasonable Doubt wasn’t really a part of the whole “mafioso” thing that was going on during that era. I understand why people think it is, with the whole Godfather-type pictures and the Scarface and Carlito’s Way references on the skits. But theme-wise, it was much more about street-level hustling, from the upside to the downside. Unlike some have done when praising it, I can’t say this was the first or only album to do that, but it was executed better than many of those that came before it. Just as much as he may have talked about the money to be made and the things to be bought, he was also willing to rhyme about the not-so-glamorous aspects, which most others neglected to mention. It was commonplace for a rapper to do the hustler angle by ’96, but Jay’s lyrics and the way it covered the whole spectrum of the topic is what makes it stand out from the average.
But the biggest debate I’ve taken part in (a gang of times) is that RD is somewhat of a “revisionist classic” that people only give a shit about because Jay’s a star now. I’ve even seen it suggested that Jay has “forced” it upon his listeners to consider it a classic, by repeatedly claiming it as such in his music. To that, I feel like… not really. Now, has it gotten mainstream Rolling Stone/VH1 type props that it didn’t get back then? Yeah. But that doesn’t mean it was some flop that wasn’t relevant to hip-hop in ’96. It definitely got its share of love, by critics as well as listeners, when it dropped. And as for the whole “forcing” thing… Jay may be influential, but if his words had that much power, then we woulda also believed Memphis Bleek was gonna be the “next Jay-Z” (remember that?). Of course, that never happened, no matter how much he said it- so I doubt that saying “Reasonable Doubt- classic, shoulda went triple” just automatically programmed everyone’s mind.
14 years after the release date that I skipped on, Jay-Z’s come a long way. In ’96, he was a funny-voiced street-hustler MC with an umlaut over the “y” in his name like he was some kinda German nigga. Now he’s a multi-millionaire who worships the devil has become both a pop icon and an arguable case for Greatest of All Time. His career grew through certain successes which built bridges for later successes that got him to this point. As he was building the empire, Reasonable Doubt was the block that really got it started.
“Can’t Knock The Hustle” (feat. Mary J. Blige)
“Brooklyn’s Finest” (feat. The Notorious B.I.G.)
“Coming Of Age” (feat. Memphis Bleek)
-D!
Just as I mentioned in another post, it took me a LOOOONG time to even listen to Jay. My homie was trying to put me onto reasonable doubt, but I was really in a Pac phase, and wasn’t checking for Jay in the slightest. I didn’t really start LISTENING to Jay until the Dynasty album. I was so impressed, I went back and started listening to older stuff, and when The Blueprint came out, I was DONE! I thought, and still feel, that album was one of the most well-put together albums I had ever heard. I have since been a jigga fan, and have never looked back.
Yeah, I can recall some people who slept on it too… I def. remember puttin’ a couple up, but a lot of ‘em went back and picked it up a couple years later and love it now. I be thinkin’ to myself “nigga, you late”. haaaa.
-D!
I didn’t get into Jay really until the Grey Album. I like some songs, some radio cuts and few album cuts, but it wasn’t until then I really liked him.
Wow… so you caught on just when he was “retiring”, lol. So you mean the Grey Album remix joint by Danger Mouse? That was cool, particularly the ‘Encore’ remix. But yeah, the Black Album itself was like all I bumped that fall/winter… def. a personal classic of mine.
-D!
I was one of the few people around my way back in 96 that was vouching for Jigga heavy. I remember back in the summer of 96, I use to get into arguments with people on my block that Jay was on the same level as BIG or Nas back then. Some didn’t see it then, but they soon found out later on. I think Reasonable Doubt was kinda ahead of its time, not for it’s theme which was coke rap. But for it’s lyrics,wordplay, metaphors,and entendres. A lot of the lyrics on RD went over a lot of people’s head back then and still to this day. And most importantly, what separated RD from the pact was the way Jay tackled the issue of hustling. You had drug theme songs and albums in rap before, (ie Only Built For Cuban Linx a year earlier, which by 96, was already a street classic) But Jay was probably the only MC at the time, and maybe still, that talked about hustling from a dude that had elevated from your typical street corner cat to kingpin status. And he covered all the basis of dealing (good bad and ugly)where as other rappers would just focus on the glitz, glamour, and gun busting part of the game. Jay talked about those characteristics but he also talked about the insecurities, regrets, hardships, that a hustler faced. And its funny because everybody bumps RD now. But back in 96, the only people that I knew that were bumpin RD heavy like that were the street hustlers from around my way (and of course die hard hip hop fans). So many Hip Hop fans will say Cuban Linx was the best “Drug Hustling” themed album. I understand the sentiment and Cuban Linx is a classic, but I give RD the edge as the best Hustler album of all time simply because Jay articulately touched all the bases and did it better on a lyrical standpoint then Rae and Ghost IMO
This was beautifully put. I couldnt have said it better. You are absolutely right about some of the lyrics going over ppl heads. Some of the songs I didnt understand until I was a little older and actually took the time out to sit down and listen to what he was saying. I would have to say Regrets was the most understood song at the time for me. I also have to agree with you about RD being the best Hustler ablum of all time. I love the Purple Tape. Dont get it twisted. But the Purple Tape didnt go as hard lyrically as RD did. Jay told a story on RD. Just like he did on American Gangsta.
Yep! Newark comes thru in the clutch again, lol.
I did the same as far as the arguing/debating. I told my younger brother that after BIG died, Jay was gonna jump right over Nas and take the top spot. It took a lil’ longer than I thought it was gonna (that ‘Sunshine’ vid set the wrong tone), but it happened. Dude didn’t believe what I was sayin’, but it happened.
I always say I’m a ‘day two’ Jay listener. I can’t really say day one, cause I’d have to claim all that “Jiggedy-Jiggedy-Jay-Ziggidy-Z” shit. But yep, when the flow changed and the subject matter got urgent, I def. was an early supporter.
-D!
“Jiggedy-Jiggedy-Jay-Ziggidy-Z” Fucking dead!!! LLS!!!
When I first heard RD I was on my first offical date. He picked me up, to me to the movies down the Harbor (we saw Donnie Brasco) and we went back to his house to play games and have fun. Well, when we got back to his house he instantly started to play Jay Z. Now at this point and time I have never even heard of Jay, but by the time I was leaving his house that tape was in my pocket. I do have to agree that most ppl didnt even pay RD no attention until after its re-release and only then did ppl start talking about it. At that point I was looking at mofos like they were crazy. I respected ppl who knew and saw The Streets Is Watching. It meant to me that you were a true fan of him. Not just a sack rider. RD was very overlooked, but what a gem it really is. Im gonna have to listen to it today.
Ayy, Young…
Yep, I do remember how it was to be into Jay-Z back then. He had some good stuff, great stuff even, but it took a lotta people a minute to really catch on.
But on some real shit, I say the same about Nas. Cause I also know a number of people who not only didn’t check for him when ‘Illmatic’ was out, but actually like his late-’90s stuff much more. I thought they were crazy when I found out such people exist, but it’s true. I even remember when there were people who thought he was NEW when ‘If I Ruled the World’ came out… wild!
-D!
Wow!!! @ the Nas was new when “If I Ruled The World” came out. That is a super ultra fail. Wow!! Like I cant beleive that ppl like that exist. That is some major fuckery.
classic, COHESIVE, timeless
honestly everything else jay z is blah to me…
Cohesive- great word to describe that…
That’s something I say has been missing from a lot of albums for the longest time. But I don’t even think we’re in an era of albums anymore, unfortunately. It’s to a point now where I don’t even think a lot of artists care much about making a real album, even though the ones who do are the ones who are really winning (ie Kanye, Wayne, Em, TI, etc.) I’m still from that era of listening to the whole thing, all the way through, and if you gotta skip all through it, it’s wack… but maybe that’s just me, lol.
-D!
speakin of em, am i the only one who is totally over his style of rapping?
DEAD @ “Jiggedy-Jiggedy-Jay-Ziggidy-Z”
I didn’t catch on til In My Lifetime. The one with the Blackstreet single?
I feel people are boosting it a lot now, when they prolly pronounced his name like Jay Zed, canadian alphabet.
His verbal dexterity hasn’t been duplicated since. Dude realized he gotta dumb down to double up. Sadness
In My Lifetime Vol 1 was a good album too… I just think it had a real bad look associated with it, lol. But yep, some of his best stuff is on that one- ‘Where I’m From’, ‘Imaginary Player’, ‘Streets Is Watchin’, ‘A Million & One’… etc.
He def. toned/dumbed it down, but I don’t feel like he did it as much as he gets charged for. Even in his simplified style, he never took it to flat-out remedial levels. He just said similar stuff in a way anyone could understand… which ironically enough, still manages to confuse some people, lol. Not sure if you’ve ever been on message boards, but you’d be amazed how much of his simplest stuff people don’t get, it’s hilarious and tragic all at once.
-D!
I guess I’m still in the minority because I have never heard the Reasonable Doubt album a day in my life. The “Ain’t No Nigga” joint with Foxy, sure. But anything beyond that, I never cared for.
I guess you can say I took a liking to Jay-Z during the summer crack phase that was “Big Pimpin’”. I later picked up the already old Vol 2, Hard Knock Life album on a whim while I was in CD Warehouse one day looking for music before a long bus ride on the grey dog. Out of the 3, maybe 4 cds I had picked up, I kept going back to the Jigga Man. Put it in, played it through from start to finish every time. (I had never done that with a rap album before, and I haven’t since.) The “Fuck you, pay me” skit was and still is my favorite part of that album.
If Reasonable Doubt is anything close to Vol 2, I may just have to give it a listen.
Oh yeah, def. better than Vol. 2.
Although I will say, if you lean more towards the radio-ready, more polished Jay-Z, then it prob. won’t hit you the same way. Not that I have anything against that side of him too, but it’s a whole different thing. It’s like “Ain’t Hard To Tell” Nas vs. “Hate Me Now” Nas.
-D!