1996- A Classic, Beyond Reasonable Doubt

1996
Jay Z
Reasonable doubt
Dead Presidents Part 2


Jay Z broke into the rap scene in 1996, held it by the throat his whole career. Showing he was a business man first and rapper second he created the Roc A Fella empire and began making millions of mainstream rap music.

Jay Z:
The music business hate me
Cause the industry ain't make me
Hustlers and boosters embrace me
And the music I be makin
I dumb down for my audience
And double my dollars
They criticize me for it
Yet they all yell "Holla"

But before the commercial hits, he released a gem called Reasonable doubt which contained many classic songs including dead presidents 2. This song is my favorite Jay Z song and one of the best hip-hop songs made. The singles includes version one and two and the instrumental version. I will be focusing on the superior part 2 in this review.

Production:

This is one of the most relaxing, hypnotizing pieces of production I have ever heard. With a nice piano loop, the odd chime and a nice soft baseline, this beat will quickly get you addicted. So we can cross out classic production on the list of things to make a classic rap track. All we need now is for Jay to deliver with the lyrics... Don’t worry about this; Jay wouldn’t disappoint us for once.

Nas:
"I'm out for presidents to represent me" "Get money!"
"I'm out for presidents to represent me" "Get money!"

The chorus rips a page out of the Illmatic scriptures as he samples Nas' lines off The World is Yours. Anything related to Illmatic is a positive aspect to be added to any track and this one is no difference as we are supplied with a great hook. Jay Z would use Nas again on his next album with the line “ Sometimes this rap game, reminds me of a crack game”

Jay Z:

Rock... on Roc A Fella y'all
The saga continues

Verse 1:

Ahh who wanna bet us that we don't touch leathers
Stack cheddars forever live treacherous all the et ceteras
To the death of us, me and my confidants, we shine
You feel the ambiance, y'all n*ggaz just rhyme
By the ounce dough accumulates like snow
We don't just shine,
we illuminate the whole show; you feel me?
Factions from the other side would love to kill me
Spill three quarts of my blood into the street,
let alone the heat
F*ck em, they hate a n*gga lovin this life
In all possible ways, know the Feds is buggin my life
Hospital days, reflectin when my man laid up
On the Uptown high block he got his side sprayed up
I saw his life slippin, this is a minor set back
Yo, still in all we livin, just dream about the get back
That made him smile though his eyes said, "Pray for me"
I'll do you one better and slay these n*ggaz faithfully
Murder is a tough thing to digest, it's a slow process
and I ain't got nothin but time
I had near brushes, not to mention three shots
close range, never touched me, divine intervention
Can't stop I, from drinkin Mai-Tai's, with Ta Ta
Down in Nevada, ha ha, Poppa, word life
I dabbled in crazy weight without rap, I was crazy straight
Potnah, I'm still spendin money from eighty-eight... what?

You can notice Jay Z lyricism is much more complex and well written then his modern day tracks. Each verse is full of a multi syllables rhyme scheme and many sharp, witty lyrics that are all pieced together perfectly. On this honest verse Hov speaks about his friend being murdered, retaliation with the long painful process of murder with "That made him smile though his eyes said, "Pray for me" I'll do you one better and slay these n*ggaz faithfully, Murder is a tough thing to digest, it's a slow process and I ain't got nothin but time"

Verse 2:

Geyeah, know what? I'll make..
you and your wack mans fold like bad hands
Roll like Monopoly, ad-vance you copy me
like white crystals, I gross the most
at the end of the fiscal
year than these n*ggaz can wish to
The dead presidential, canidate
with the sprinkles and the presidental,
ice that'll offend you
In due time when crime fleas my mind
All sneak thieves and playa haters can shine
But until then I keep the trillion
cut diamonds shinin brilliant
I'll tell you half the story,
the rest you fill it in
Long as the villian win
I spend your pen yen to ten major events
Catch me in the joints, convinced my iguanas is bitin
J-A-Y hyphen, controllin, manipulatin
I got a good life man, pounds and pence
Nuff dollars make sense, while you ride the bench
Catch me swinging for the fence
Dead Presidents, ya know

This verse is full of tricky metaphors like "I'll make you and your wack mans fold like bad hands Roll like Monopoly, ad-vance you copy me" Jay drops the story telling for some brag rap about all the money he has made. It may sound like a lame overused subject, but Jay does it in a intelligent way that is much more complex then simple rhymes seen on his future tracks such as "Money, Cash Hoes" with DMX two years later.

Verse 3:

Uh-huh, yeah, uh-huh, so be it
The Soviet, The Unified Steady Flow
You already know, you light I'm heavy roll, heavy dough
Mic macheted your flow, your paper falls slow
like confetti, mines a steady grow, bet he glow
Pay five dead it from blow, better believe I have
eleven sixty to show, my doe flip like Tae-Kwon
Jay-Z The Icon, baby, you like Dom, maybe this Cristal's
to change your life huh, roll with the winners
Heavy spenders like hit records: Roc-A-Fella
Don't get it corrected this sh*t is perfected
from chips to chicks just drivin a Lexus
Make it without your gun, we takin everything you brung
We cake and you n*ggaz is fake and we gettin it done
Crime Family, well connected Jay-Z
And you fake thugs is Unplugged like MTV
I empty three, take your treasure, my pleasure
Dead presidentials, politics as usual
Bla-ouw!

Look at all those clever little punchlines. Jay Z wordplay is amazing here as he showcases some real sharp lines such as "my doe flip like Tae-Kwon Jay-Z The Icon, baby, you like Dom, maybe this Cristal's to change your life huh" and " Roc-A-Fella Don't get it corrected this sh*t is perfected from chips to chicks just drivin a Lexus " The verse follows the same theme as the rest of the song about the chase for the American dream - to be rich. Mix this ongoing theme with a little brag rap and you got an amazing closing verse.

The main theme of this song is simple - Money makes the world go around. Just like CREAM this song is all about that green paper that everyone needs to have. Jay Z spits all sorts of amazing lyrics from an introspective look on the death of his friend to tricky similes and metaphors mixed with multi's and clever word play. 1996 had alot of great singles but Dead Presidents 2 beat them all. Find this perfected classic to see this artist actually perform at his potential. 1996's best single goes to Dead Presidents part 2. I’m feeling it.

A+

Ciao