Jay-Z: The Reasonable Doubt Archives

"N****s want my old shit, buy my old album/"
- Jay-Z; "On to the Next One"

The Jay-Z line I've quoted above gave me the inspiration to put this new compilation together. Reasonable Doubt is and always will be my favorite Jay-Z album. Call it elitist, American golden era exceptionalism. Whatever. And since we've already got the album, I figured I could dig some more. I'm "stuck on stupid", you see. Now if you thought The Illmatic Archives or The Purple Archives were a goldmine, you ain't seen nothin' yet! Over the years I've seen some early Jay-Z compilations that were poorly assembled and boasted some pretty hilarious titles (does Prehistoric Hov ring a bell for anyone?). Not to toot my own horn [||], but none of them compare to this right here. I've got rarities, I've got b-sides, remixes, collaborations, acapellas, instrumentals, clean versions. Shit, I've even got a song performed by Bugs Bunny off the Space Jam OST (in case you're wondering, it's because Jay-Z wrote the lyrics - I kid you not).


One previously-released compilation which I must give credit to is DJ Rhude's B.C. (Before the roC) mixtape which I've included here as Disc Three in this eight disc set. I believe he dropped that tape in 2002. Rhude's mix contains a gang of exclusive Jay joints you literally will not find anywhere else. So props to him on that. On a side note, I'm saddened to say that I didn't manage to get every instrumental from Reasonable Doubt. Trust me, I looked. You can blame DJ Scratch if you'd like (ha!). But you can't stop the music. What we have right here is a collection of 110 tracks from early on in Mr. S. Carter's career, ranging from 1986 to 1997. Everything from Jaz to Kane to Biggie. This took me about a week or so to organize and set into full gear, but it's really been something of a decade-long labor of love (and bootlegging). "Keeping it moving" is a great thing. But reminiscing can be fun, too. So enjoy! And as always... TURN IT UP!!