Jay-Z
Reasonable Doubt

THE REVIEW

Honestly, it seemed necessary to write this review since I found few in Italian, so I want to contribute. Jay-Z (stage name of Shawn Carter) decided to stop being a hustler, so he decided to enter the world of Hip Hop, first by founding his label (Roc-A-Fella) and then by releasing Reasonable Doubt, this album is a classic and belongs in a TOP 10.

Among the producers, we have Clarc Klent and the legendary DJ Premier. Let's start with "Can't Knock The Hustle" featuring Mary J. Blige, an interesting aspect is where a heartbeat is heard to convey tension. Now let's get into one of the best songs: "Brooklyn's Finest" where Notorious B.I.G also raps, the beat is one of the best and the two Brooklyn rappers give their best (in this song there's an implicit attack on 2Pac). Let's continue with "Dead Presidents II", the best track on the album where the chorus is sampled from a line in Nas's "The World Is Yours", noteworthy is that the song was written during George Bush's elections, in this song it reflects the criminal life of Hova (Jay-Z). We continue with the beautiful "D'Evils" where DJ Premier creates an excellent musical backdrop for Jay-Z, here Jay-Z talks about evil: how selfishness and anger lead to violent behavior, this track might be considered pseudo-illuminated but Jay-Z immediately denied it all. Another notable track is "Can I Live?" where Jay-Z's incredible flow and rhythm are highlighted by Irv Gotti's beat, here our hustler is consumed by the exhaustion of his criminal life, by his demons, so it's natural to say "Do I continue to live?".

What to say about this album, Jay-Z's debut which quickly turned into a milestone of the genre, listen to it and if you have the chance, buy it!