Produced by: Big Jaz
"I remember this being the last song recorded for Reasonable Doubt. At the time, Foxy Brown was the hottest up-and-coming rapper from New York. She had been in the middle of a major bidding war between Def Jam, Bad Boy, Elektra, and a gang of other labels. Every artist wanted her on their record. I was in the old Roc-A-Fella office, down in the Wall Street area. I was also representing Jaz-O who produced and sang the hook. Damon was so effing excited about this record, like he knew this was the song that would make Jay's record stand out from all the other dope drug rap records that New York was putting out. As the song played, he was doing that goofy 'Dame dance' with the mock dice roll even then. Song was dope, but I still didn't see Jay blowing up majorly. When Dame leaked the record to club DJs, I remember being at a club with my lady when Funkmaster Flex played it. Chicks went ape running to the dance floor, and following the chicks was mad dudes, record execs, nerds, and street cats. The entire dance floor was crowded. Crazy how all the ladies made sure their backsides were grinding up against the fellas. I have a theory about a hit record which is, if a song played in a club leads to cats bringing chicks back home to hit, then that's a hit record. 'Aint No Nigga' was that, because I know for sure that many cats hit chicks that night, after that song set the mood. Once I heard it and had seen the response, that's when I finally realized Jay had a shot.
"Inga single-handedly, in my opinion, saved Jay-Z's career. Reasonable Doubt was kind of Jay's last shot at jump starting his new profession. The world at large might have never heard of Shawn Carter. People don't really put two and two together, realizing that Jay had been trying to get on since like 1987, '88, damn near close to ten years before Reasonable Doubt!!! 'Aint No Nigga' was also that record that finally got Def Jam to take interest in Jay, Dame, and the Roc. Years later, it hurt my heart to see Jay and Jaz-O beefing, only because I had seen how far they'd come. That beef should have been avoided—we, and they, didn't need that."






Samira B. September 24th, 2010 at 12:36 PM
Isn't this song called "Get Money" though?
Jack September 24th, 2010 at 12:44 PM
shamira shut your...
THUNDERKUSH September 24th, 2010 at 12:55 PM
very insightful feature.
dadap September 24th, 2010 at 01:07 PM
link to #11 is broken.
Ivan September 24th, 2010 at 01:34 PM
Jack!
Pierzy September 24th, 2010 at 01:50 PM
99% sure that Nas was NOT mentioned on "How To Rob." And wasn't Jay's first single actually titled "I Can't Get Wit That"? Very insightful nonetheless.
DG September 24th, 2010 at 03:26 PM
50 didnt mention Nas directly but he did reference the R Kelly/Nas remix Did You Ever Think which came out that same year
@N_C_B September 24th, 2010 at 03:26 PM
Nas was mentioned on the OG version that was never released. As was AZ. Both were made aware of the mention by the Trackmasters.
Pierzy September 26th, 2010 at 10:25 AM
Never heard that before...my bad.
Sonny Chiba September 24th, 2010 at 01:51 PM
Link to #7 isnt working for me
a mad rapper September 24th, 2010 at 02:43 PM
stops working after "hate me now" #21.
AmpGeez a.k.a Let Dat Blogger Cook September 24th, 2010 at 03:52 PM
Great article. Combat Jack is definitely one of the most interesting personalities in the Hip-Hop Bloggersphere. You can't get insightful stories like these anywhere else.
jubei September 24th, 2010 at 03:54 PM
"Put your hands where my eyes can see" by Busta was NOT a sample from Hall & Oates but from Seals & Crofts...