![]() ![]() No longer is hiphop about blunts, 40s and crime this was about money and power. A cigar, a symbol of wealth and power, takes centre stage. ![]() The album cover itself epitomises this mafia persona, a picture cropped close, with Jay looking off camera, hat cocked down. Jay-Z introduced his own version, Mafioso rap, which combined the street stories, violence, but dressed it up with fancy clothes and Hollywood-tinged crime. Gangsta rap was the dominant force in hip-hop in 1996, but the celebration of violence often meant it could not appeal to the wider American market. I feel Reasonable Doubt is his only ‘real album’, it also hints at what was to come. However, this album stands alone in him discography. With a rap career dating back to 1989 including stints as side man to mentor, Jaz, features for the likes of the Dame Dash managed Original Flavor and Big Daddy Kane, Reasonable Doubt (released June 25th 1996) arrived late in the rapper’s career for a debut LP. ![]() I wouldn’t class myself as a Jay-Z fan, but I have a lot of respect for the Jigga Man and what he has produced throughout his career. This coming week marks the 20th Anniversary of Jay Z‘s ‘Reasonable Doubt’. From the man who was picked up by Big Daddy Kane, guested on tracks by Big L, and spurned a record deal to set up his own label, this is one hell of a debut album. ![]()
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