“My house was the party house; I had the cool parents. My pops and my mom both had afros, it wasn’t just one parent, so I had the super cool house [laughs]. And they had the record collection, but they didn’t share. They had their names on them separately. They shared a house, they shared kids, but they didn’t share records. Their name was on their records, that’s how serious it was.
It’s almost like a person that plays an instrument. You grow up in a musical family, you pick it up. And that’s what happened. Music was around me, and this thing, this form called rap, borrowed from these earlier samples. So, that was my instrument. It was only natural for me to take to this type of music.”
~ Shawn Carter, a.k.a. Jay Z
This month sees the 20th anniversary of Jay Z’s debut album Reasonable Doubt, which was released June 25th, 1996. Featuring appearances by Mary J. Blige, The Notorious B.I.G., and Foxy Brown, and production from DJ Premier, the record is a bonafide classic of it’s time. And, deemed by many to be Jay Z at his finest.
To celebrate Jigga’s classic LP, our buddy DJ Matman has crafted a fine mixtape featuring album tracks, alternate versions, interview snippets, and original sample material from the likes of the Ohio Players, Isaac Hayes, Ahmad Jamal, and many more.
Listen up and enjoy!
Artwork by Leon Nockolds
Tracklist:
