16 years ago today marks the release of one of my personal favorite albums of all time. Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt. A classic in the streets if you ask anyone from a backpacker to a street hustler.
I remember, I wasn’t even checking for dude then, in 96′. I saw all the little ads in The Source. I didn’t really pay it any mind. As a Backpacker, unless it was Nas or Mobb Deep, you didn’t really fuck with the gangster rappers. But one day late that summer I bumped into one of my good friends. We hadn’t seen each other in a minute. So it’s typical for us to start running through what cassettes we had in current rotation. (Side-note: Backpackers love to put people up on new music, and equally, always want something new to listen to) So he got around to asking if I had gotten Jay’s tape. After I mugged him and him telling me I was sleeping. He let me borrow it right out his deck.
I have to admit on that first day or two. Only a couple of songs stuck out. Politics as Usual, 22 2’s. After about a week i couldn’t pass up a song. Dude was just incredible. So smooth. Such a butter a$$ delivery. The punchlines. The beats! Let’s just say he never got that tape back. I think I’m gonna text him up and offer to buy it for him on his iTunes.
Let this go in an extra tab while you float around on the net. Enjoy.
StuckButton 