Reasonable Doubt (album)

In 1989, aspiring rapper Jay-Z was recruited by mentor Jaz-O to appear on his song "Hawaiian Sophie". He appeared on two more Jaz-O songs in the next year, but after Jaz-O was dropped from his record label, Jay-Z dealt drugs to support himself. He continued to pursue a rap career and appeared on two songs from Original Flavor's 1993 album Beyond Flavor. Jay-Z then caught Big Daddy Kane's attention and toured with him; they collaborated on Kane's 1994 posse cut "Show & Prove" along with Wu-Tang Clan's Ol' Dirty Bastard, Wu-Tang affiliate Shyheim, Sauce Money, and Scoob Lover. Despite the exposure he received from Kane, Jay-Z was still without a record deal. He began selling tapes from his car with help from friend Damon Dash. The success of his street-level marketing led to a deal with Payday Records, which released his first solo single, "In My Lifetime" and its B-side "I Can't Get wit Dat". In an unconventional move, Jay-Z then spurned the record contract he had long sought and left Payday Records to form his own label, Roc-A-Fella Records, with Damon Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke. Jay-Z later explained that he thought he could do a better job of marketing his records on his own: Jay-Z rented a small, cheap office for Roc-A-Fella Records on John Street in one of the "dreariest parts of the busiest city in the world". Jay-Z and his compatriots thought of their low-rent headquarters as a "starting point" that would eventually lead them to Manhattan. In 1995 and early 1996, Jay-Z appeared on records by Big L and Mic Geronimo, further raising his profile. At this point, he was still considered an "underground" rapper with a "new jack" style. ==Recording==

Reasonable Doubt was recorded at D&D Studios and mixed at Platinum Island, however, its beats were formed elsewhere. "Can't Knock the Hustle" was produced by Knobody at his mother's home in 1994, while the vocals were recorded on tour at a studio in Tampa, Florida named Progressive Music with Mary J. Blige. Ski produced "Feelin' It" and "Politics as Usual" while recording with Camp Lo. The recording sessions were often competitive; Ski and Clark Kent created similar beats for "Politics as Usual", but Ski submitted his to Jay-Z first causing his to appear on the album. == Music and lyrics ==

An East Coast hip-hop record, Reasonable Doubt was noted for having mafioso rap themes, Writer dream hampton believed that although rappers had alluded to hustling before, Jay-Z "talks about what it can do to a person's inner peace, and what it can do to their mind". Huey summarizes the album's subject matter saying: AllMusic's Jason Birchmeier writes that the album's production exhibits characteristics of "the pre-gangsta era, a foregone era when samples fueled the beats and turntablism supplied the hooks", which "sets Reasonable Doubt apart from Jay-Z's later work". "Politics as Usual" has an R&B sound and a sample of "Hurry Up This Way Again" by the Stylistics. According to IGN's Spence D., "Ski brings back the stripped down piano fill style lending the track a late night jazz vibe" on "Feelin' It", and "22 Two's" has a "mournful jazz inclined groove" that prominently features string instruments. "Coming of Age" contains a Clark Kent-produced beat that samples the melody and drums from "Inside You" by Eddie Henderson. ==Critical reception==

Reasonable Doubt was met with widespread acclaim from music critics. Charlie Braxton of The Source praised Jay-Z for evolving "from hip-hop sidekick to Mafia-style front man, blowing up the spot with vivid tales about the economic reality fueling what's left of contemporary ghetto politics". Entertainment Weeklys Dimitri Ehrlich commended him for rapping "with an irresistible confidence, a voice that exudes tough-guy authenticity", also noting the "unadorned but suitably militant" production. Tonya Pendleton of the Los Angeles Daily News stated that the album "hits you with rap's trends – Mary J. Blige riffs, Foxy Brown rhymes, Isley Brothers loops and more fashion info than Cindy Crawford", adding that "his sassy way with a lyric transcends the material" on the album. Retrospect Reasonable Doubt has often been considered by many fans to be Jay-Z's best record. According to Birchmeier, it differed from his subsequent albums by lacking "pop-crossover" songs and hits. Shaheem Reid of MTV explained, "Reasonable Doubt might not have the radio hits or club bangers of many of his other albums, but it may be Jay at his most lyrical—and certainly at his most honest, according to him". Huey said the lyrical appeal lied within Jay-Z's "effortless, unaffected cool" flow, and knack for "writing some of the most acrobatic rhymes heard in quite some time". According to Huey, this "helped Reasonable Doubt rank as one of the finest albums of New York's hip-hop renaissance of the '90s". Birchmeier, on the other hand, believed the superior quality of producers was more responsible for the album's reputation as a classic more so than Jay-Z. In a retrospective review for MSN Music, Robert Christgau said the album was "designed for the hip-hop cognoscenti and street aesthetes who still swear he never topped it," finding it "richer than any outsider could have known, and benefiting from everything we've since learned about the minor crack baron who put his money where his mouth was. You can hear him marshalling a discipline known to few rappers and many crack barons, and that asceticism undercuts the intrinsic delight of his rhymes". ==Commercial performance==

Reasonable Doubt was released by Roc-A-Fella on June 25, 1996, through a distribution deal with Priority. It spent 18 weeks on the chart, and 55 weeks on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, on which it reached number 3. The album was promoted with the release of four singles, none of which reached the Top 40; "Ain't No Nigga" was the highest-charting single at number 50, "Can't Knock the Hustle" and "Feelin' It" did not peak higher than 70, and "Dead Presidents" did not chart altogether. By year end, the album had sold 420,000 copies. On February 7, 2002, Reasonable Doubt was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipments of a million copies in the US. According to Respect magazine, it had sold 1.5 million copies in the United States by 2006. ==Legacy and influence==

Since its initial reception, Reasonable Doubt has received further acclaim from music critics and writers. Vibe, who ranked it seventh on their 2002 list, MTV.com, who ranked it sixth on their 2005 list, and About.com's Henry Adaso; Adaso ranked it as the 14th greatest hip hop album, the second best rap record of 1996, and the fifth most "essential" hip hop album ever. Blender included Reasonable Doubt on the magazine's 2003 list of "500 CDs You Must Own Before You Die". That same year, Rolling Stone ranked it number 248 on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, number 250 on the 2012 revision, and the album's rank shot up to number 67 on the 2020 reboot of the list. The magazine also named it the 17th best album of the 1990s. It was included in Vibes "51 Essential Albums" (2004), and Hip Hop Connections "The 100 Greatest Rap Albums 1995–2005". In 2006, Jay-Z performed the songs from Reasonable Doubt at the Radio City Music Hall to celebrate its tenth anniversary. The concert's band included the Roots' drummer Questlove, the Illadelphonics, a 50-piece orchestra dubbed the Hustla's Symphony and Just Blaze, the performance's disc jockey. == Track listing ==

Notes • signifies a co-producer. • "Can't Knock the Hustle" features intro vocals by Pain in Da Ass. • "Brooklyn's Finest" features intro vocals by Pain in Da Ass and background vocals by DJ Clark Kent. • "22 Two's" features additional vocals by Mary Davis. • "Ain't No Nigga" features additional vocals by Khadijah Bass and Big Jaz. Sample credits • "Can't Knock the Hustle" contains samples of "Much Too Much" by Marcus Miller, "I Know You Got Soul" by Eric B. & Rakim and interpolations of "Fool's Paradise" by Meli'sa Morgan, and dialogue from the film Scarface. • "Politics as Usual" contains a sample of "Hurry Up This Way Again" by The Stylistics. • "Brooklyn's Finest" contains samples of "Ecstasy" by The Ohio Players, "Brooklyn Zoo" by Ol' Dirty Bastard and interpolates dialogue from the film ''Carlito's Way''. • "Dead Presidents II" contains samples of "A Garden of Peace" by Lonnie Liston Smith, "The World Is Yours (Tip Mix)" by Nas, and "Oh My God (Remix)" by A Tribe Called Quest. • "Feelin' It" contains a sample of "Pastures" by Ahmad Jamal. • "D'Evils" contains samples of "Go Back Home" by Allen Toussaint, "I Shot Ya (Remix)" by LL Cool J and "Murder Was the Case" by Snoop Dogg. • "22 Two's" contains an interpolation of "Can I Kick It?" by A Tribe Called Quest. • "Can I Live" contains a sample of "The Look of Love" by Isaac Hayes. • "Ain't No Nigga" contains a sample of "Seven Minutes of Funk" by The Whole Darn Family and interpolations of "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I Got)" by The Four Tops. • "Friend or Foe" contains a sample of "Hey What's That You Say" by Brother to Brother. • "Coming of Age" contains a sample of "Inside You" by Eddie Henderson. • "Cashmere Thoughts" contains a sample of "Save Their Souls" by Bohannon. • "Bring It On" contains a sample of "1, 2 Pass It" by D&D All-Stars. • "Regrets" contains a sample of "It's So Easy Loving You" by Earl Klugh and Hubert Laws. • "Can I Live II" contains a sample of "Mother's Day" by 24-Carat Black. • "Dead or Alive Part 1" contains a sample of "Bigger's Theme" by Mtume. == Personnel ==

• Jay-Z – performer, executive producer • Damon Dash – producer, executive producer • Kareem "Biggs" Burke – executive producer • Big Jaz – producer, performer, mixing • Memphis Bleek – performer • Notorious B.I.G. – performer • Sauce Money – performer • Mary J. Blige – vocals • Foxy Brown – performer • Mecca – vocals • Ski – producer, mixing • DJ Premier – producer, mixing • Clark Kent – producer, mixing • DJ Irv – producer, mixing • Sean Cane – producer • Dahoud – producer • DJ Peter Panic – producer, mixing • Kenny Ortíz – engineer, mixing • Joe Quinde – engineer, mixing • Eddie Sancho – engineer, mixing • Carlos Bess – mixing • Adrien Vargas – art direction, design • Cey Adams – artwork • Jonathan Mannion – photography == Charts ==

Weekly charts Year-end charts == Certifications ==