Jay Z’s Monumental Debut ‘Reasonable Doubt’ Turns 20 !

June 25^th 1996 was the release date of one of Hip Hop’s most influential albums. It is the day we received one of the greatest gifts given to the Hip Hop and Rap culture to date. We are celebrating Jay Z’s groundbreaking debut album Reasonable Doubt, as the masterpiece turns twenty years old today.

Jay Z was generous with the present of his first album, as he held no punches and blessed us with the upmost form of honesty. The rapper spat street tales and gave us vivid access to a tour of the street life. It was his forthright approach that strongly influenced later rap developments. After releasing twelve studio albums, three collaboration albums, one live album, five compilation albums, and two extended plays: Reasonable Doubt is still arguably Jay Z’s greatest work.

Besides the excellence delivered from Jay through his style and lyrics, it is the exceptional production from the producers that made this album a true piece of art. DJ Premier along with Ski, Irv Gotti, DJ Clark Kent, Knobody and Jaz- O all worked outstandingly and delivered chart-topping beats. The majority of the songs on the tape were sampled from classic groups such as The Stylistics, The Ohio Players, and A Tribe Called Quest.

We cannot forget about the collaborations that added to the project. Nobody would have done a better job on the fan favorite track, ‘Cant Knock The Hustle’, than Mary J Blige. Neither can we imagine anyone else who would have delivered better than Foxy Brown on ‘Aint No Nigga’. Biggie was a match made in heaven as he fit perfectly on ‘Brooklyn’s Finest’ as well as Memphis Bleek on ‘Coming of Age’. What the featured artist brought to each song, along with the quality of each track, on top of Shawn Carter’s unreal realism is the reason why this album is etched in Hip Hop history books.

Back in 2006, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of this album, Jay held a concert at Radio City Music Hall, where he performed the tracks of the album. An amazing turn out it was, as the concert sold out online in two minutes. Today, Jay Z and the co-founder of Roc-A-Fella, Kareem “Biggs” Burke opened up a pop up shop in Los Angeles, called ‘Apt 4B Concept Shop’. The shop mirrors Jay Z’s 1990’s apartment in Brooklyn, New York. The shop front looks almost identical to the front of his old building. The props are to the tee, as there are two crates, money, and empty beer and liquor bottles positioned on the floor. The shop sells Reasonable Doubt memorabilia such as t-shirts, and cassettes. The shop opened today and will be open throughout July.

We would like to congratulate Jay-Z on his long list of accomplishments and his longevity as an artist and as a businessman. We would also like to thank The God M.C. for his contributions to Hip Hop. Jay- Z… you are undoubtedly the best rapper alive. We salute you.

-Miss Jayyiah Coles

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Tags: #RD20, 20 Year Anniversary, Jay-Z, Jayyiah Coles, Miss Jayyiah, Reasonable Doubt, The Hype Magazine

About the Author

Miss Jayyiah Miss Jayyiah is a NYC based writer, interviewer and freelance journalist. She is the Executive Producer of the documentary "Chinx: One Year Later", and is currently developing her second documentary project, as well as the completion of her first book.