It was 15 years ago that Shawn Corey Carter first publicly introduced the world to his alter-ego whose name would forever shake and inspire the genre of Hip Hop. Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt was the debut album from the enigmatic Brooklyn emcee, released on June 25 in 1996 on Roc-A-Fella records.
For a first outing,
Reasonable Doubt garnered much anticipation from fans and musicians alike, notably down to the ascension of Jay-Z and his Roc-A-Fella entourage from small time recording outlet to a potential powerhouse within the culture, a story which continues to be documented at every given moment.
Jay-Z’s story begins in Brooklyn’s Marcy projects where, as an 11 year old boy growing up without a father, rapping would not only provide an adequate hobby but also the way of life for the future legend. Shawn was christened ‘Jay-Z’ due in part to his fast, jazzy way of rhyming as well as paying homage to his mentor, friend and rapper
Jaz-O.
The elder emcee’s1989 song ‘
Hawaiian Sophie’ would provide Jay-Z with his first break within rap and further features on his mentor’s records would later follow. It was at this time however, that Jay-Z would begin in the selling of narcotics, even whilst pursuing a career within Hip Hop. After making appearances on fellow Brooklyn act
Original Flavor on their 1994 album
Beyond, (most notably ‘
Can I Get Open’), Carter would grab the attention of the legendary
Big Daddy Kane, with whom he toured with throughout the early '90s.
Even after touring with Kane, featuring on Jaz-O and Original Flavor’s records, it was his guerrilla-like hustle alongside his long term friend and eventual business partner,
Damon Dash that would really see Jay-Z’s career begin to take shape. Selling tapes from his car, performing at numerous hot spots in New York and battling well known rappers across the country, the height of the rapper’s hustle would come when he formed his own label, Roc-A-Fella Records alongside Dash and
Kareem “Biggs” Burke.
Reasonable Doubt was comprised of an all star cast of rappers, singers and producers.
DJ Premier, Mary J Blige, the Notorious B.I.G and more all were on hand to help in telling the enigmatic story of arguably the greatest rapper to ever pick up a microphone.
SoulCulture recently sat down with Ski Beatz, one of the influential producers on
Reasonable Doubt and former member of Original Flavor, to discuss the creation of the album, the deeper meaning behind tracks as well as some of the key moments during that historic period.
It may be the summer holidays for many youngsters but class is once again in session thanks to the Hip Hop sensei Ski Beatz. Last summer, the seasoned producer rounded up a group of dope spitters and charismatic rhymers to cause havoc in the classroom in which he called the 24 Hour Karate School, an impressive compilation album which found newcomers and experienced lyricists slay a number of beats orchestrated by himself. After a hectic year which saw him work on projects with Curren$y, Terri Walker and even make a trip to the UK, the producer once again calls on students of the present and future stars of Hip Hop to provide the sequel to his spectacular first offering.
With the West Coast cornering the market for weed rap in the '90s, a small handful of the Southern movement have taken the spirit of the previous drifters and revamped it for the new decade. Arguably the one artist who has proven to be the most successful with this blueprint is New Orleans' Curren$y, whose previous releases have garnered a large following. Already providing one soundtrack to the summer with his Alchemist co-featured Covert Coups, Weekend at Burnies (a play on the classic '80s slacker’ film Weekend At Bernie’s) hopes to maintain his grip on being the soundtrack to many drop top convertibles and slouched weekends during the sunny period.
Even the most casual of Hip Hop listeners should be aware of Ski Beatz as, at the very least, the producer of iconic Hip Hop anthems on Jay-Z's 1996 debut, Reasonable Doubt, and several albums for Camp Lo, having also gone on to produce for Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, Fat Joe and others.
15 years on and the digitally inclined will have caught last year's excitable wave of activity leading up to the release of the North Carolina hailing producer, DJ and former emcee's own album, 
Whilst many Hip Hoppers around the world still fawn over the magical period of the '90s and events and radio stations regularly continue to blare out the decade's most awe-inspiring music,