Reasonable Doubt

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Reasonable Doubt
Studio album by Jay-Z
Released	June 25, 1996
Recorded	N/A
Genre	East Coast hip hop Mafioso rap
Length	59:24
Label	Roc-A-Fella/Priority
Producer(s)	Ski Clark Kent Damon Dash DJ Premier DJ Irv Big Jaz Knobody Dahoud Darien Sean Cane Peter Panic
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link The Source XXL Magazine
Jay-Z chronology
	Reasonable Doubt (1996)	In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 (1997)
Alternate cover
European album cover

Reasonable doubt redirects here. For the legal standard "beyond a reasonable doubt", see burden of proof.

Reasonable Doubt was rapper Jay-Z's debut hip hop album, released on June 25, 1996 (see 1996 in music). It has since sold 1.4 million copies in the US. It sold 420,000 copies in its first year and peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard Charts. It was certified platinum in 2002. Though critically successful, the album, and Jay-Z, were overshadowed by the Death Row vs. Bad Boy rivalry that was then on-going, and only had a moderately successful single with "Ain't No Nigga." In spite of this lack of initial recognition, Reasonable Doubt received strong critical reviews - eventually receiving a "5 Mics" rating from The Source - and is now acknowledged as one of the most influential Mafioso rap albums of the mid-1990s.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Background 2.1 Conception 2.2 Recording sessions 3 Music 3.1 Lyrical content 3.2 Production 4 Album singles 5 Significance 5.1 East Coast hip hop 5.2 Mafioso rap 5.3 Lyricism 5.4 Production 5.5 Later Jay-Z albums 6 Critical recognition 7 Track listing 8 Album singles 9 Album Chart Positions 10 Singles Chart Positions 11 Personnel 12 External links

[edit] Overview

Compared to later records, Reasonable Doubt contains much more ambivalence about the value of Jay-Z's often violent, seedy life. On tracks like "Coming of Age", a sense of mourning, danger and insecurity permeate to a degree rarely seen on later recordings. Still, Jay-Z showed off his impressive creativity, notably the classic "22 Two's." His lyrics are on point, sharp and witty throughout the entire album. Allmusic's Steve Huey wrote that it is this "depth that helps Reasonable Doubt rank as one of the finest albums of New York's hip-hop renaissance of the '90s"[1]. It is often compared to Nas's debut Illmatic, but has not been able to quite match its level of critical acclaim. Reasonable Doubt is often considered Jay-Z's best album by hip-hop fans who dislike the crossover-oriented sound of his subsequent efforts (though his sixth album The Blueprint, gained equal critical praise upon its release.)

Interestingly, the short conversation played out at the start of the album (before the opening track "Can't Knock the Hustle") where Roc-A-Fella Artist "Pain In Da Ass" addresses the listener is a word-for-word parody of the conversation between Tony Montana and Omar Suarez near beginning of the movie Scarface (although the words "my boys" are substituted for "Jay-Z" towards the end of the skit). The movie is now considered a cult classic in Hip-Hop circles. Numerous other references to the movie can be heard throughout the album, all tying in to the Mafioso rap theme.

The album was released at a time when mafioso themes were becoming widespread in hip hop, beginning with Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon's commercially marginal but heavily influential and critically-acclaimed 1995 debut, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. New York rapper AZ's debut Doe or Die released later in 1995, would also incorporate heavy mafioso imagery. Jay's future rival Nas would also release his double-platinum mafioso-oriented sophomore album It Was Written in 1996 as well, and rap superstar The Notorious B.I.G. would incorporate some mafioso themes into his sophomore album Life After Death in 1997. This motif is generally absent from Jay-Z's later work.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 248 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

On June 25, 2006, Jay-Z performed the album in its entirety, in reverse order, for its 10th Anniversary. The concert was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Guests included Beyonce Knowles in place of Mary J. Blige on "Can't Knock the Hustle", Foxy Brown on "Ain't No Nigga" Memphis Bleek on "Can I Live"[2], and Sauce Money on "Bring It On." Fans were disappointed that Jay-Z's former ally and mentor Jaz-O was not present to perform his verse on "Bring It On" because of his current feud with Jay-Z.

Later versions of the album include the bonus track "Can I Live II" and/or "Can't Knock the Hustle (Remix)". The LP vinyl version contains both bonus tracks and an instrumental version of "Can't Knock the Hustle (Remix)".

[edit] Background

[edit] Conception

In 1993, Jay-Z sold the "In My Lifetime" single out of his car with Damon Dash.

[edit] Recording sessions

[edit] Music

[edit] Lyrical content

Most tracks deal with mafioso rap topics such as the life of a kingpin or street hustler. The only tracks that do not focus on those topics are "22 Two's" where Jay-Z makes a rap using the word to twenty two times and "Brooklyn's Finest" which is a rapid fire random free associated rap with Notorious B.I.G.. Jay-Z presents each rhyme with much swagger and so do his guests. Guest appearances are provided by Jay's mentor Big Jaz, his friends Notorious B.I.G. and Memphis Bleek as well as associated artists such as Foxy Brown and Mary J. Blige.

[edit] Production

The production is handled by East Coast hip hop legends inclduing DJ Premier, DJ Clark Kent and Irv Gotti. The production is reliant on soul samples and samples of hip hop songs for the refrains.

[edit] Album singles

The singles released for Reasonable Doubt are "Ain't No Nigga"/"Dead Presidents", "Can't Knock the Hustle" and "Feelin' It". "Ain't No Nigga" is produced by Jay-Z's then mentor Big Jaz and features singing from a young Foxy Brown. Its chorus interpolates lyrics from the chorus of "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)" by The Temptations. It is also notable for having a similar beat to "It's My Thing" by EPMD as they both samples "Seven Minutes of Funk" by The Whole Darn Family. "Dead Presidents" is produced by Ski and its chorus samples vocals from Nas' "The World Is Yours". Nas refused to re-sing his vocals for the song's chorus which may have helped lead to his feud with Jay-Z. The second single, "Can't Knock the Hustle", contains vocals sung by a young Mary J. Blige and is produced by Knobody, Dahoud Darien and Sean Cane. The last single, "Feelin' It", is produced by Ski and contains vocals from Mecca.

"Ain't No Nigga/Dead Presidents" performed the best of any of the singles in terms of Billboard Hot 100 rankings. It is also notable for reaching #1 on the Hot Dance Music chart. "Can't Knock the Hustle" performed better than "Feelin' It" in terms of chart positions, but they were both included on the Billboard Hot 100, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks, Hot Rap Singles and Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales charts.

[edit] Significance

[edit] East Coast hip hop

[edit] Mafioso rap

[edit] Lyricism

[edit] Production

[edit] Later Jay-Z albums

[edit] Critical recognition

[edit] Track listing

#	Title	Composer(s)	Producer(s)	Performer(s)	Sample(s)
1	"Can't Knock The Hustle"	Shawn Carter Jerome "Knobody" Foster Marcus Miller	Knobody, Dahoud Darien & Sean Cane	Jay-Z & Mary J. Blige	Contains sample from "Much Too Much" by Marcus Miller Contains sample from "Fools Paradise" by Melisa Morgan
2	"Politics As Usual"	Shawn Carter Cynthia Biggs David "Ski" Willis	Ski	Jay-Z	Contains sample from "Hurry Up This Way Again" by The Stylistics, written by Cynthia Biggs and Dexter Wansel
3	"Brooklyn's Finest"	Shawn Carter Christopher Wallace Rodolfo Franklin Leroy Bonner Gary Webster Marshall Jones Ralph Middlebrooks Walter Morrison Andrew Noland Marvin Pierce	Clark Kent & Damon Dash	Jay-Z & The Notorious B.I.G.	Contains sample from "Ecstasy" by Ohio Players Contains vocal sample from "Brooklyn Zoo" by Ol' Dirty Bastard
4	"Dead Presidents II"	Shawn Carter Nasir Jones Pete Phillips Lonnie Liston Smith David "Ski" Willis	Ski	Jay-Z	Contains vocal sample from "The World Is Yours" by Nas Contains sample from "A Garden Of Peace" written and performed by Lonnie Liston Smith
5	"Feelin' It"	Shawn Carter David "Ski" Willis	Ski	Jay-Z & Mecca	Contains sample from "Pastures" written and performed by Ahmad Jamal
6	"D'Evils"	Shawn Carter Chris E. Martin	DJ Premier	Jay-Z	Contains vocal sample from "Murder Was The Case" by Snoop Dogg Contains vocal sample by Prodigy from "I Shot Ya (Remix)" by LL Cool J featuring Fat Joe, Foxy Brown, Keith Murray & Prodigy
7	"22 Two's"	Shawn Carter David "Ski" Willis	Ski	Jay-Z	Contains interpolation from "Can I Kick It?" by A Tribe Called Quest
8	"Can I Live"	Shawn Carter Irving Lorenzo Burt Bacharach Hal David	DJ Irv	Jay-Z	Contains sample from "The Look of Love" by Isaac Hayes, written by Hal David & Burt Bacharach
9	"Ain't No Nigga"	Shawn Carter Inga Marchand Jonathan Burks Dennis Lampert Brian Potter	Big Jaz	Jay-Z & Foxy Brown	Contains sample from "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I Got)" by Four Tops Contains sample from "Seven Minutes of Funk" by The Whole Darn Family
10	"Friend Or Foe"	Shawn Carter Chris E. Martin	DJ Premier	Jay-Z	Contains sample from "Hey What's That You Say" by Brother to Brother
11	"Coming Of Age"	Shawn Carter Rodolpho Franklin James Mtume	Clark Kent	Jay-Z & Memphis Bleek	Contains sample from "Inside You" by Eddie Henderson
12	"Cashmere Thoughts"	Shawn Carter Rodolpho Franklin Hamilton Bohannon Leroy Emmanuel Melvin Ragin	Clark Kent	Jay-Z	Contains sample from "Save Their Souls" by Bohannon
13	"Bring It On"	Shawn Carter Jonathan Burks Chris E. Martin Todd Gaither Carl Martin	DJ Premier	Jay-Z, Big Jaz & Sauce Money	Contains vocal sample by Fat Joe from "1, 2 Pass It" by D&D Allstars featuring Mad Lion, Doug E. Fresh, KRS-One, Fat Joe, Smif-N-Wessun & Jeru The Damaja
14	"Regrets"	Shawn Carter F. Di Pasquale	Peter Panic	Jay-Z	Contains sample from Untitled from the How to Beat the High Cost of Living soundtrack by Earl Klugh and Hubert Laws
15	"Can I Live II"	Shawn Carter Malik Cox M. Johnson	K-Rob	Jay-Z & Memphis Bleek	Contains sample from "Mother's Day" by 24 Carat Black
*16	"Can't Knock The Hustle (Fool's Paradise Remix)" [International bonus track]	Shawn Carter Melissa Morgan Irving Lorenzo	DJ Irv	Jay-Z & Meli'sa Morgan	Contains sample from "Fool's Paradise" by Meli'sa Morgan

[edit] Album singles

Single cover	Single information
	"Ain't No Nigga" Released: February 20, 1996 B-side: "Dead Presidents"
	"Can't Knock The Hustle" featuring Mary J. Blige Released: August 27, 1996 B-side:
	"Feelin' It" featuring Mecca Released: 1997 B-side: "Friend Or Foe"

[edit] Album Chart Positions

Year	Album	Chart positions
		Billboard 200	Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums
1996	Reasonable Doubt	#23	#3

[edit] Singles Chart Positions

Year	Song	Chart positions
		Billboard Hot 100	Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	Hot Rap Singles	Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales
1996	"Ain't No Nigga/Dead Presidents"	#50	#17	#4	#1
	"Can't Knock The Hustle"	#73	#35	#7	#4
1997	"Can't Knock The Hustle"	-	#69	#23	#29
	"Feelin' It"	#79	#46	#13	#11

[edit] Personnel

• Mary J. Blige - Vocals
• DJ Premier - Producer, Mixing
• Clark Kent - Producer, Mixing
• Joe Quinde - Engineer, Mixing
• Kenny Ortíz - Engineer, Mixing
• Carlos Bess - Mixing
• Jay-Z - Executive Producer
• Eddie S. - Engineer, Mixing
• SKI - Producer, Mixing
• DJ Irv - Producer, Mixing
• Jonathan Mannion - Photography
• Cey Adams - Artwork
• Big Jaz - Producer, Performer, Mixing
• Adrien Vargas - Art Direction, Design
• Damon Dash - Producer, Executive Producer
• Sauce Money - Performer
• Peter Panic - Producer, Mixing
• Kareem "Biggs" Burke - Executive Producer
• Dahoud - Producer
• Memphis Bleek - Rapper
• Sean Cane - Producer, Dahoud
• The Notorious B.I.G. - Rapper

[edit] External links

• Lyrics for Reasonable Doubt
• Individual Track Info