On this day 25 Years ago, Jay Z releases his masterpiece Reasonable Doubt

[Wacky D]

Not at all. Nas rarely talked about IWW or saying it was unappreciated and he didn't made documentaries about it. IWW start to gain appreciation during the years because of some rappers talking about how they discovered nas with IWW and were influenced by it. And because the original desdain for the commercial side of IWW was a non factor with the way rap evolved

nas has been trying to make his catalog appear to be more than just illmatic for a while now.
EDIT: and they just dropped a 25th anniversary edition.

rap didnt evolve. it DEVOLVED. besides the glossy side of IWW isnt the main gripe with the album by non-purists.

all the IWW talk in this thread is funny, seeing how the main album compared to it in real-time was REASONABLE DOUBT, and jay got the upper-hand in those debates, to the point where he was expected to take the crown with volume one but he dropped the ball.

 

[Goat poster]

By far Jay’s best album.

Loved this album

 

[Nero Christ]

is it accepted that the 4 best tracks are Politics As Usual, Dead Presidents, Feelin It, & Can I Live

 

[Cladyclad]

is it accepted that the 4 best tracks are Politics As Usual, Dead Presidents, Feelin It, & Can I Live

No. Although I’m not mad at that

the concensus I see is

DP2
Devils
Can I Live
Regrets

 

[Wacky D]

Uhh,’she was the reason for the spins

Still doesn’t make it a classic. So you saying it was a tri-state classic?

and what spins did Nas get before lauryn hill??

if reasonable doubt is just a tri-state classic, then the same could be said about illmatic, infamous, OB4CL, etc.

 

[Lucky_Lefty]

and what spins did Nas get before lauryn hill??

if reasonable doubt is just a tri-state classic, then the same could be said about illmatic, infamous, OB4CL, etc.

Infamous and OB4CL got played HEAVY down south (well at least where I was from)

 

[Wacky D]

Infamous and OB4CL got played HEAVY down south (well at least where I was from)

HEAVY is an overstatement;

also, even if youre not embellishing, it should be noted that jay was independent in 96.

 

[Lucky_Lefty]

HEAVY is an overstatement;

also, even if youre not embellishing, it should be noted that jay was independent in 96.

that's cool....he was just the dude on Ain't No and only had like the first part of his verse on Can't Knock the Hustle vid on RapCity. Nah, Shook Ones (hell, even Give Up the Goods) was getting played.

 

[ℒℴѵℯJay ELECTUA]

Very good and propos but it was overshadowed by greater albums in 1996.

1996 was ridiculous!!
1995 was crazy too

 

[Wacky D]

Very good and propos but it was overshadowed by greater albums in 1996.

overshadowed how? Because it was an independent release with no big machine push? Is that the logic here?

 

[Malcolmxxx_23]

1996 goat year

 

[Ghost Utmost]

I was actively a Hip Hop head in 96

I can't say I absorbed EVERYTHING, cause I gravitated toward the truly dope shyt. If it wasn't top tier I let it pass by.

Not saying I heard RD in 96 and didn't like it. Its just that I never sat down and absorbed it til way later. Like 2002 or something.

That says to me that in 96 it wasn't Earth shattering. Cause if it was I woulda got into it way sooner.

But it was fine. Couple of joints I like a lot, and a bunch of decent tracks

 

[KingsOfKings]

 

[RennisDeynolds]

Yeah I've noticed in the last 2 years that this board has been fronting on Illmatic and reasonable Doubt while overrating It Was Written and In My Lifetime. So fukking bizarre.

Shut up bih. It was written >>>>>>>> illmatic. Nas hit another echelon of rapping on it was written


RD >>> Vol 1. But Vol 1 is massively underrated blassic even by Jay himself (he might be a moron)