‘Reasonable Doubt’ & The Visuals that Shaped the Album

Can you believe its been 20 years since Reasonable Doubt came out? I mean if that doesn’t make you feel old then I don’t know what will. Of course I mean that in a positive context considering that everyone was not lucky enough to witness Jay-Z break into the industry and gain more respect and power with each project. Nonetheless today we celebrate his efforts and his commencement album Reasonable Doubt.

The ones who grew up on early Jay had the advantage of using his life experiences as a blueprint on how-to maneuver in certain predicaments with sophistication.

Who knew that 20 years later people of all walks (not only hip-hop enthusiast) around the world would still be able to appreciate each message and story that came from this classic. Having an understanding on Jay-Z and what he did for the industry means you also appreciate the creativity he brought to the story boards of videos that accompanied Reasonable Doubt.

His first single “Dead Presidents” had a lot of controversy spiraled around it, considering the song was the stem of the Nas/ Jay-Z feud. Nas was initially invited to re-rap the chorus to the song while appearing in the video, however for some reason he declined.

This video was the first video of off Reasonable Doubt and it highlighted backdrops of the old New York skyline while exuberating that classic gritty NY feel that came alongside the golden years of rap. The video mainly highlighted Jay while he monologued how significant dead presidents(money) meant to him.

Biggie, AZ, Dame Dash, Biggs, Lil Cease and Jay-Z’s best friend Tata all made guest appearances at the end during what seems to be a intense dice game. The only one who seemed to be missing from that scene was Nas.

Jay-Z’s second single & video was one of my favorite’s “Ain’t No.” This song/video was like a foreshadow into his ability to bring people under his wing and mold them into superstars. A then 17-year-old, Foxy Brown is featured on the track where she and Jay reciprocate lyrics about unfaithful relationships. This being the very track that gained the consideration of big A&R executives is claimed to be one the finest opposite sex rap duets.

Continuing on with the motif of the album, the opening scene is reminiscent of a similar scene of the movie Scarface. The visuals for this video gives a more sexy vibe with scenes on the beach and women on shopping sprees. In majority of the video if Jay was not side by side Brown, Dame and Biggs were there supporting his argument of the track. If you look closely you can spot a young Irv Gotti as well as Biggie.

When that heart beat first comes on everyone is fully aware of what song it is. “Can’t Knock The Hustle” was one of those songs that people knew world wide and couldn’t wait to sample. By this time everyone was well aware of who Mary J Blige was and her impact on this era of music, yet still skeptical of who Jay- Z was.

Maybe this can explain why Mary was not in the video. At that time it did not make sense for the Queen of R&B to make an appearance in a video from someone who was still considered an independent artist.

This video heavily exuberates the mafiaso vibe that Jay gave with his other videos, also explaining the album art cover. Watch the video here.

“Feeling It” being the 4th and last single off Reasonable Doubt was the perfect song and video to end the start of the Jay-Z era. Watching this video and his smooth demeanor Jay has shows that he was ready to take over the rap industry.