First quarter

As much as I wanted to talk finance and quartal economics, time series and degrees of stochastic dominance, this blog stays strictly music. What we have here is probably the best first quarter of any album ever. A shaky hands photo straight outta my crates. As Fat Joe said, LISTENNN! 320 for my Serato bitches.

Reasonable Doubt was released on June 25, 1996 after Jay-Z, Damon Biggs and Damon Dash had agreed about a distribution deal between their newly-founded Roc-A-Fella records and Priority records. The album reached #23 on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold roughly three months after its release (RIAA). The platinum sales for this album in the US were certified first in 2002.

Can't Knock the Hustle, produced by Knobody from Puffy's production team Hitmen and featuring the R&B superstar Mary J.Blige, was the only one of these three that got a single release. Even its' success in the US is questionnable as it only peaked at #73 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the UK Can't Knock the Hustle however made it to U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs at #35 and I remember the song being in heavy rotation on the airwaves during my London visit in the spring 1997.

Politics As Usual featured production from the Camp Lo-legendary beatsmith Ski and features a sample of "Hurry Up This Way Again" by The Stylistics.

Brooklyn's Finest was produced by the Air Force 1 connoisseur slash cousin of Foxy Brown, Rodolfo Franklin bka Super DJ Clark Kent, who sampled "Ecstasy" by The Ohio Players for this urban masterpiece. In the song Jay-Z traded verses with Bedstuy's own Christopher Wallace (R.I.P.) and this is arguably the best of the few collaborations between these two heavyweights.


Download 320kbps Jay-Z feat. Mary J. Blige - Can't Knock the Hustle

Download 320kbps Jay-Z - Politics As Usual

Download 320kbps Jay-Z feat. The Notorious BIG - Brooklyn's Finest