Reasonable Doubt Celebrates Its 15th

It’s been 15 years since Jay-Z‘s earth-shaking debut, Reasonable Doubt, and XXL has a great breakdown of the album for the occasion. This was the album that started Hova’s reign as king of the industry, a reign that has stood for over a decade, despite numerous beefs and his own quasi-retirement. Jay’s longevity isn’t just a testament to the considerable talent, it’s more importantly a consequence of how he changed an industry from a war-zone where the icons of the industry would be gunned down within a few years of their debut into a legitimate business. Happy anniversary.

It’s the album that started it all…

On June 25th, 1996, through Roc-A-Fella Records via a distribution deal with Priority Records, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter’s first classic, Reasonable Doubt, was introduced to the masses. Fifteen years later, the gangster-esque melodrama remains one of hip-hop’s, and Hov’s most celebrated bodies of work.

Featuring production “sleeker than that leather on the Fonz” (DJ Premier, Ski Beatz, Clark Kent, and more) and lyricism clearer than the VS diamonds from Tito in the district, Jay’s debut initially failed to make a commercial impact despite its critical acclaim. While only debuting at No. 23 on the Billboard 200, selling a mere 420,000 copies for the year, Reasonable Doubt would eventually reach platinum status on February 7th, 2002.

In celebration of the 15th anniversary of Jay’s first magnum opus, XXLMag.com decided to step it up another level and break Reasonable Doubt down by the numbers. What y’all don’t know?…

Via XXL

UPDATE: Can’t believe we slept on this terrific run-through of the album with producer Ski Beatz. Definitely worth a read, via Soul Culture.