67. Jay-Z, "Reasonable Doubt"

 


Jay-Z's first album, it has been called "one of the finest albums of New York's hip-hop renaissance of the '90s" and "both magnificent and lonely, an immaculate crystal chandelier gathering dust in an abandoned mansion."  I actually don't love it.  The sound is too smooth and uniform for me and while I admire Jay-Z as a rapper, his laid-back style has never really done it for me.  

The highlights are all grim in one way or another.  I like "Brooklyn's Finest," featuring Notorious BIG, but it's mostly a sad reminder of how much Biggie left behind and how much more he had to accomplish.  "D'Evils" sounds great, built on an Allen Toussaint sample (with a Snoop sample also prominently featured) but paints a depressing and disturbing portrait of dealing drugs, an activity that is often lionized and glorified in rap.  Jay contrasts his childhood friendships with adult rivalries, and it's dark:

We used to fight for building blocks
Now we fight for blocks with buildings that make a killin'
The closest of friends when we first started
But grew apart as the money grew and soon grew black-hearted
Thinkin' back when we first learned to use rubbers
He never learned, so in turn I'm kidnappin' his baby's mother

I also like "22 Two's," which borrows heavily from "Can I Kick It?" by A Tribe Called Quest and is more in the traditional vein, with Jay laying down some nimble and wry wordplay:

Administer pain, next the minister's screamin' your name
At your wake as I peek in, look in your casket
Feelin' sarcastic, "Look at him, still sleepin'"
You never ready, forever petty minds stay petty
Mine's thinkin' longevity until I'm seventy

Sadly, it also has a gay slur, which is not super surprising for a record that came out in 1996 but sucks in 2022.  

So this is one of those where I respect the album's place in musical history (it's widely regarded as one of the greatest albums in rap) but it just didn't vibe with me personally.  It happens.  Jay-Z will continue to limp along somehow.

Is this album in my personal Top 100? No, and I'm starting to wonder when we'll get to an album that is.  Maybe we've passed them all?

Speaking of, I'll post a list of my personal Top 100 albums when we're finished.

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