#086 Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt

I couldn't really get into The Blueprint, but I'd heard his first album described in promising terms.

Apparently Jay-Z skipped working his way up, and just asserted his ownership of hip hop and the world at large, right on his debut. But he sells it, and here he already sounds like he's cementing his throne, which has its appeal; by the time The Blueprint rolls around it sounds like he's resting on his laurels. He's hungrier here, the production looser, funkier.

This is a very smooth album though. Where West coast gangta was about gangs of murdering thugs, Jay-Z comes off as a mob boss, untouchable, above it all. And for me, it works better. It seems more plausible, and the near-absence of skits about shooting people helps keep the flow going, and sets the focus on the music. The rhymes are complex, but cleanly delivered, and the whole album moves smoothly from one track to the next. Highly listenable.

But its also not as adventurous as I might like, compared to things that came before. And the lack of violence is refreshing, but I still don't really find rap after rap about how rich you are all that appealing either. And his nasal tone is something of a turn-off. So where does that leave it? More so than usual I feel like I want to withhold judgment. I don't think his feel is what I'm looking for, but its still got a hook in my brain that encourages me to give it the benefit of the doubt 3.5/5