Approaching Jay-Z's first effort over 15 years after its first release is something I'd advise any fan of hip hop to experience. While I used to love this album for its immaculate production and Jay-Z's too-smooth-for-you cadence, I've since realized that it's an extremely “safe”, boring album.

Time has not been kind to Young Hov; his flow is awkward and withdrawn. Jay-Z rarely raps about something that's worth keeping your attention; when he does, it sounds too sedated to truly resonate. There are periodic moments on songs like "D'Evils", "Regrets" and "Feelin' It", but overall this feels like a demo tape when held next to his later material.

It's obvious Jay-Z has progressed tremendously as a rapper and it's also obvious people love to hype an aesthetic over actual substance. Jay-Z himself is also guilty of this: sampling classic bars from Snoop Dogg and 1994 Nasty Nas and turning them into love letters. The whole album suffers from nostalgia: he's trying to make a "Golden Age Hip Hop Classic", but is just about 2 years late.

Perhaps the real reason this album never "blew up" was because listeners could instinctively sense that Jay-Z was holding back. Though many hip hop heads tout Reasonable Doubt as an example of "classic lyricism", the truth is that Jay-Z just wanted to be amazing, but wasn't there yet. A reality check arrives when Mr. Carter is placed next to The Notorious B.I.G., who at this point was a rapper in his prime.

I used to love this album and as my taste in Hip Hop evolved, I have come to realize most rappers really aren't all that amazing. Like artists in other mediums, it is rare when the stars align and we are presented a flawless entity. Like other artists, rappers can progress in talent, ultimately forming an arc of evolution. Being that Jay-Z would grow to become a household, trans-generational name, Reasonable Doubt is clearly his very humble, more-of-a-fan-than-a-rapper, dabblin’ beginning. Mr. Carter was in love with hip hop but just hadn't quite found his niche.

I disagree completely. This album bangs from front to back except for "Aint No Nigga". Every song on this album is great to me except for that one. Stuff like "Bring It On" "Regrets" "Feelin It" "Dead Presidents" is classic Jay Z. Dope beats, dope rhymes. I wasn't checking for this album when it dropped though, because I was too young but most older cats I've talked to about music tend to say that this is Jay's best album.

but seriously whats up with all the RD posts lately?

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https://93millionmilesabove.blogspot.com/
https://rateyourmusic.com/~Kosa12

This is what i wrote 4 years ago, when i considered this a 5/5:

Reasonable Doubt came out in a time when Mafiosa-styled rap was becoming absolutely huge. When the album was released, the subject material was exactly what a lot of people were in the mood to hear, despite the album hardly being a financial success and having no major singles. This is not to say that the album’s subject matter was unoriginal -- far from it. While it may have borderlined on ideas that even by then had started their way to becoming played out, the fact was Jay-Z was covering them in a very fresh way. Rapping about his own experiences and prior (possibly current at the time) lifestyle, putting a spin and a take on this style of Hip Hop and giving it an overall deep and introspective feel about it. While some were glorifying the lifestyle on a rather fake and soulless level, Jay-Z was deep in thought, reflecting over the experience of it all – the great moments and the bad -- in turn putting out 14* tracks of what many consider truly classic material.

That’s not to say that he’s pioneering new themes here. The primary allure here is found in his lyrical presentation, delivery, selection of instrumentals and the overall feeling that what you are listening to is anything but fake. Even if we’ve heard stories about drug dealers and the like in countless rap songs (even by 96), how often have we heard songs that make us feel like these events and tales are occurring right as we are listening to the Raps? Very personal and at the same time like something you’d pump loudly through your speakers with pride – Reasonable Doubt, plain and simple, is dope as fuck.

*”Can I Live II”, the bonus track and 15th song in total, should not be passed up.

the only place I've ever seen revisionist history try to make Reasonable Doubt not good

lol...I don't even know what to say, that LP is a definitive classic...

Integrity is the Cornerstone of Artistry...

...brainwashed you into believing it's classic. Cats go to absurd levels to convince you that the album is garbage.



Since 1976

This shit is a DEMO compared to his later lyricism. The amount of enthusiasm Jay-Z has on his second verse in "99 Problems" eclipses this entire album.

And for the record I never said it wasn't a classic. I just said that people try to rewrite history when talking about the impact it had when it first came out.

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Falcons, Braves, Bulldogs and Hawks

Geto Boys, Poison Clan, UGK, Eightball & MJG, OutKast, Goodie Mob

RD is classic though

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Falcons, Braves, Bulldogs and Hawks

Geto Boys, Poison Clan, UGK, Eightball & MJG, OutKast, Goodie Mob