Listening to Jay-Z and Biggie talk about drinking Cristal takes me right back to middle school. Obviously not this album specifically (it came out a month before my 7th birthday), but talking about having double VCRs and a huge Magnavox is awesome. Reminds me of when all the tough teen boys had Scarface posters up on bedroom walls.

Reasonable Doubt is great all the way thru. The intro is an immediate hook and is probably responsible for selling half of those posters. We get 100% pure unapologetic NYC braggadocio over some unreasonably fat basslines, multilayered beats, and incredible jazzy supporting vocals.

This is a solid evil rapper album. This is pure revelry in being an evil psycopath, future billionaire¹ and person who would eventually deliver us Kanye West. When he sees his bro is in the hospital, "his life slippin', this is a minor setback"; his eyes ask for prayer and Jay-Z can only relish the retribution. D'evils is real dancing-in-the-street-with-Lucy type shit. Sometimes that's what slaps the hardest.