Much has been made of Jay's artistic decline over the last five or so years. I'm hard on him because I honestly believe he has something left in the tank, but that's aside the point. The thing is, most people would agree that Jay got it all right on his first effort, there forth giving him the "it's ight, but it's no Reasonable Doubt" curse, not unlike his former arch rival Nas. Obviously that's debatable, as many regard The Blueprint and The Black Album as classics, but today we're all going to agree that Reasonable Doubt is Hov's most iconic album.
At the time of the album's release, Jay-Z was known around the city of New York for running with Biggie and Kane, but upon release, Reasonable Doubt's sales couldn't match its critical acclaim. It wasn't until Roc-a-Fella signed with Def Jam that the album would be re-released and Jay would blow up on a much larger scale. Along with Jay's lyrical abilities, one of Reasonable Doubt's biggest draws was its loose concept of Jay-Z being a former drug dealer that just happened to be able to rap. It was the first time an east coast MC took the full on Scarface image and applied it to their music. As we move further away from the initial release, it's influence can be seen all over hip hop. Half of the countless daily mixtapes from throwaway rappers are trying to recreate the magic Jay did on his debut. Another thing that made the album intriguing is Shawn's drug dealing history. Now I'm not saying that he was the cocaine kingpin he claims to be on the album, but I'm sure he pushed a few kilos back in the day so its not like he was taking blind guesses as what it was like to deal drugs.
But let's see how Jay's real blueprint sounds in 2014...
1. Can't Knock The Hustle (Feat. Mary J Blige)
This is considered to be a classic Hova track, but to be completely honest, this was a pretty bland way to start off the album. The song isn't bad, (although it is thoroughly overrated) but it fails to ever engage with the listener. I can think of at least six songs on this album that would have started the album off better. Jay's lyrics are alright, but its the mellow beat mixed with Mary J's useless performance that makes this forgettable. Yeah, she's been ruining tracks for years now.
2. Politics As Usual
Alright here we go. Jay finally steps up and shows why he is considered to be of the the genre's finest lyricists. As the title indicates, our host delves into his body politic, furthering the drug dealer image that I've been building up for the past few paragraphs. One thing that always fascinated me is producer Ski's contribution to the album. It's factually known that this was originally a Camp Lo beat, but audio actually shows the group using Jay's exact delivery before "Politics As Usual" was a thing. Not taking anything away from Jigga, but I thought that was a necessary bit of information. This was really nice, though.
3. Brooklyn's Finest (Feat. Notorious B.I.G.)
For what ever reason, Jay has loved to constantly bring up that he was friends with B.I.G. before his death, (let's be honest, you would too) but this is one of the only collaborative songs they actually made together. Clark Kent's beat sounds like nothing you would expect from these two, but it works in a weird type of way. It's almost goofy, but it feels like Hov and Biggie were actually having some fun in the studio. Except when Big threw in the Tupac joke. Sorry, that just wasn't funny and everyone involved knows it.
4. Dead Presidents II
"Dead Presidents" is one of Jay's best songs, so the fact that he chose to go with the sequel will always confuse me, but this is pretty close to being on par with the original. He uses the same Ski beat, but provides three new verses, with the first one being especially good. That imagery of him siting in the hospital with his friend is just crazy. This is also the famous origin of Jay sampling Nas from "The World is Yours." That's a story for another day, though.
5. Feelin' It (Feat. Mecca)
Since the beginning of rap, groups have been adding female artists into their clique as an effort to either expand their brand or look cool. The Firm had Foxy Brown, there were actually two female rappers in the Juice Crew, hell, even TDE threw in SZA for good measure. For Roc-a-Fella, though, they were rolling with Mecca for the time being. Her hook sounds alright, but there's no real mystery as to why she never got big. Jay sounds really good, though, and his conversational flow keep the albums momentum moving along nicely.
6. D'evils
My favorite song on the album and one of my favorite songs, period. Premo's beat is great, but that's expected since he's the best producer of all time; I've listened to the instrumental by itself before, and its evident that Jay is what makes the song so damn good. All three of his verses combine to make this one of our host's darkest moments, but that second one, man. Shit. He details a once promising friendship that turns into a bitter beef, resulting in Jay kidnapping his former friend's wife and feeding her money. Pretty much a perfect song.
7. 22 Two's
The skits sandwiching the song are really annoying, but the track itself is dope. Jay makes the best of his self created limited bar structure. The fact that he's able to recite "22 two's" without having it sound like complete nonsense makes it worth your time. One thing I've never really realized is how good the beat sounds, though. And of course, anything that pays homage to A Tribe Called Quest is good in my book.
8. Can I Live
Jay once said that these were the last two verses he ever wrote down on paper. While it's incredibly impressive that he's become a legend off of basically rhyming thoughts in his head, it's not a coincidence that these are two of his greatest verses. On the first verse in particular, Jay perfectly embodies the American dream and drug dealer image that he's been portraying for over twenty years now. Surprisingly, the masterful production actually comes product of Irv Gotti. Yeah, the same dude that put on Ja Rule and Ashanti. I wonder where things went awry. Anyways, this is one of the better songs in the mans entire catalog.
9. Ain't No Nigga (Feat. Foxy Brown)
Well, speaking of Foxy Brown, she actually showed up for a verse. For an album that's almost offensively serious, this shit is actually kind of funny. Foxy's verse kind of ruins it for me, though. That's not a good choice of wording, because I still like the song, but there no circumstance where I'm interested in Foxy Brown's pubic hairs. Moving on.
10. Friend or Foe
"Friend or Foe" is a short one verse wonder, but it still manages to be one of the top five best verses Jay has ever spit. (I'm allowed to say a maximum of twenty things are top five, though, so don't go around putting this in stone; it's just really fucking good) Again, impeccable story telling, vintage delivery, and its produced by DJ Premier. There are some combinations that just never fail to impress.
11. Coming of Age (Feat. Memphis Bleek)
I'm not going to lie to you all, I fucking hate Memphis Bleek. And Beanie. And pretty much any weed carrier Jay has put on over the years with the exception of Sauce Money. There's simply no reason that the world's most famous rapper can't find some quality label mates. Anyways, Bleek's verse is average as hell and he doesn't really stay around long enough to ruin anything, so I'll chalk this up as a win for everyone involved.
12. Cashmere Thoughts
I've always thought this song was only alright. Jay's not really saying anything that interesting, but even if he was, it would be hard to focus on given Clark Kent's over powering instrumental. Not sure if its a case of poor mixing or being intentional, but its doesn't sit very well with me. Some of you all might like this, so I won't unrecommend (its a word today, fellas; move it along) it, but it usually gets a skip from me.
13. Bring It On (Feat. Big Jaz & Sauce Money)
Premo returns to the show for one more cut, which is always a good thing. The first feature comes from our host's mentor, currently known as Jaz-O. It's honestly kind of sad to see how big of a fall out they would eventually have, but Jaz sounds good on here. Sauce Money is next, delivering the better of the two guest verses. He might has gotten Jay too. Shit like this is why I love Sauce Money. His debut album was cool, but whenever he's featured on a Jay-Z song, the results are fan-fucking-tastic. For as long as a live, I will be disappointed that fuck boy Memphis Bleek was signed before Sauce. Whatever, its a great song.
14. Regrets
So after the star-studded producer list, the relatively unknown Peter Panic steps behind the boards for the final song. The result is an instrumental that sounds fairly different from the rest of the pack. This gives Jay the chance to get introspective and reflect on the trials dealing coke, rapping, and all kinds of Jay-Z stuff. The hook really makes the song, though. It remains true for almost everyone driving for success. This was a nice way to end the night.
Rating: 4.5/5
Reasonable Doubt actually holds up really fucking well. After the album gets rolling at song two, it never really slows down, making for one of the most impressive thirteen track runs in hip hop history. I'm not going to say that this is Jay at his overall best, because the Blueprint-Black Album era is pretty hard to fuck with, but in terms of pure lyrical ability, this is Shawn's peak. He sounds smooth as hell and its easy to kick back and listen to, but the sheer amount of double entendres (most of which went completely over listeners heads) and imagery make this one of the most complex and well written mafioso albums ever recorded. Its boastful, but introspective at almost the same time. I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around it at times. A few tracks are less impressive than the rest, which hold it back from a perfect five, but don't worry about all that. It's a strong enough four and a half for me to consider it a stone cold classic. Its hard to imagine too many people not owning this, but if you're a Jay-Z fan and by some miracle let Reasonable Doubt slip past you, buy it. Like, its a requirement.