However, it was replaced by "Dead Presidents II" with the same Ski production and different lyrics. If you're wondering if there was an original "Dead Presidents," there was, and it was the first single released in promotion of Reasonable Doubt. For what it's worth, The Notorious B.I.G. Instead, we get an uptempo Clark Kent beat that sounds like it could have been of better use in Mario Kart. is a guest here, you would probably anticipate a gangsta yet quietly dignified instrumental that Jay and Biggie would slowly drop boasts over in Mafioso fashion, right? Well, that's not what we get here. When you first look at the tracklist and see that B.I.G. Jigga just does not make ish this like anymore, man. Ski makes pretty solid use of a Stylistics sample here, and Jay-Z cruises along the smooth production. Jay would never make a track like this in 2013, and it's a shame, because it's blatantly obvious that these are the types of cuts that he is most suited for. Blige is here, as well, and this was back when she was establishing herself as the best modern female R&B artist in the game not like today when she records songs with freaking Drake. You wanna know the funniest thing about Reasonable Doubt? Supposedly, Jay-Z originally intended for it to be his only album.Īfter a weird ass intro that interpolates Scarface, we're treated to an exceedingly laid back-and awesome-beat by Knobody, and Jay-Z instantly finds a niche on it. was still alive at the time, Jay recruited Biggie, his idol, to spit as a guest on one of the songs. Naturally, given the overall theme of the album and the fact that The Notorious B.I.G. What the hell is wrong with society?Ĭonsisting of production from the likes of Ski, DJ Premier and Clark Kent, Reasonable Doubt dropped in a perfect climate: a time when Mafioso rap was at its peak. While The Blueprint 3 went platinum in a month, it took Reasonable Doubt six years to achieve such a feat. Unlike today when Jay could record himself going to the bathroom and have it go platinum, Reasonable Doubt didn't move one million units total until 2002. Jay-Z dropped his debut album in the summer of 1996, one week before Nas came out with It Was Written.
I know that's hard to believe given the utter horsecrap he has been subjecting us to ever since his return from "retirement" in 2006, but it's the truth, and Reasonable Doubt exemplifies the fact that he was, in fact, good at one point. There was a time when Jay-Z was actually one of the dopest hip-hop artists of all-time.