Jun 25, 2016

Today is the 20th anniversary of Reasonable Doubt's release. (I wrote about it http://blog.vinylmeplease.com/jay-z...hy-its-the-best-album-in-a-masterful-catalog/)

Jay is not only one of the greatest rappers to ever live, but also--obviously--one of the most famous. People have strong opinions about his music, not because it's divisive, but because he occupies such an important space in rap and in pop culture writ large.

I've been having a lot of conversations about Jay lately (maybe because I'm writing a book about one of his records) and it's becoming increasingly clear to me that most listeners, at least those born in the late 80s or later, are only actually familiar with a portion of his discography.

We focus on his album-oriented periods (including, sadly, his post-retirement career) much more than we focus on the period when he was actually rapping the best.

So with that in mind, I think it might be fun and productive to go through his albums one-by-one and have mini listening sessions. I know @Koolo's are always great and I think this would be too.

Could obviously do Reasonable Doubt today, seeing as it's the anniversary. Who's in?

@WPGHive

 

Jun 25, 2016

Yeah I mean, Big is probably the only person living or dead who mastered every single aspect of rapping as form/art/performance, and he did it all before he turned 25. He's the greatest ever.

 

Jun 25, 2016

I need google maps to find s--- when I go there

 

Jun 28, 2016

After Vol 2 we should keep a running tab of votes to rank the albums. I'll come up with a system today. I assume everyone so far is Reasonable Doubt > Vol 1, but it will be cool to have a final list from all of us.

 

Jun 26, 2016

Alright f--- it let's do this. (For now I'm gonna tag everyone in this thread plus the #Hive, lemme know if you want in for subsequent albums.)

Here's a Youtube link to RD in full:

We're going to hit play in just under an hour and a half, at 3:00 p.m. EST.

@WPGHive @YDB @YaBoyTr @Ordinary Joel @Koolo @Soldier @Sav @shahidah @itgetsthe hoesagain @BigCountry @Worm @TimmyT @ cam girls and amp girls @Winter @Fire Squad @TheAngryBlonde @Chazi @tpk951 @Trippy Skippy @Packman @Beggar @Ozy @Michael Myers @Insensitive @Groovy Tony

 

Jun 25, 2016

yeah they pay half my tuition and give me 35 hours a week, cant really ask for more

 

Jun 25, 2016

Fixed that for you

 

Jun 30, 2016

how would yall feel about doing this in a little under an hour, at 5 eastern/2 pacific? that cool? feel like we might have something else to listen to later

@WPGHive @captain awesome @Swizz @TimmyT @Dew @Soldier @neomerge @Vitaqua @Vos @Sav @Ordinary Joel @jewtheiii @Winter @Fire Squad @YDB @Koolo @tpk951 @Boyz N The Suburbs @Worm @Maximus @Michael Myers @Chazi @YaBoyTr @shahidah @BigCountry @TheAngryBlonde @Trippy Skippy @Packman @Beggar @Ozy @Insensitive @Groovy Tony @Bohemian Comedian @mattagascar

 

Jul 7, 2016

Completely agree.

Look, R. Kelly's obviously done horrible, reprehensible things. He's also the best R&B singer since Marvin Gaye. I can separate the man and the music most of the time but "Where'd you get your little body" is a bit much for a guy who barely denies f---ing middle schoolers.

 

Jul 5, 2016

Someone should write a book on it

 

Jun 29, 2016

lets stop talking about juvenile before tpk compares him to lil dicky again

 

Jun 28, 2016

 

Jun 27, 2016

THIS STARTS IN LESS THAN ONE HOUR

@YDB @YDB @YaBoyTr @Ordinary Joel @Koolo @Soldier @Sav @shahidah @itgetsthe hoesagain @BigCountry @Worm @TimmyT @captain awesome @Winter @Fire Squad @TheAngryBlonde @Chazi @tpk951 @Trippy Skippy @Packman @Beggar @Ozy @Michael Myers @Insensitive @Groovy Tony @Pato v2 @Cyreides

who's in?

 

Jun 26, 2016

I never prayed to God, I prayed to Gotti.

 

Jun 26, 2016

Jay supposedly rapped the first verse of this to Premo on the phone and he built the beat around it.

 

Jun 25, 2016

That's where I draw the line.

 

Jul 5, 2016

Tonight. 7pm EST.

 

Jun 29, 2016

Alright, everyone ready? Vol. 3 listening in just under half an hour.

In the meantime, whether you see this now or later, please mention me with your ranked list of Jay's first three albums. We'll do this each day after we listen. (If you missed a session and haven't listened to a particular album in years, please refrain. If you've listened recently enough that you feel comfortable ranking, go ahead.)

@WPGHive @captain awesome @Swizz @TimmyT @Dew @Soldier @neomerge @Vitaqua @Vos @Sav @Ordinary Joel @jewtheiii @Winter @Fire Squad @YDB @Koolo @tpk951 @Boyz N The Suburbs @Worm @Maximus @Michael Myers @Chazi @YaBoyTr @shahidah @BigCountry @TheAngryBlonde @Trippy Skippy @Maximus @Packman @Beggar @Ozy @Insensitive @Groovy Tony @Pato v2 @Bohemian Comedian @mattagascar

 

Jun 28, 2016

"My boy died and all I did was inherit his stress" is such an incredible line.

 

Jun 27, 2016

better than yours