Jay Z’s Reasonable Doubt has been described as one of hip-hop's most mature debut albums ever. If the Brooklyn upstart already sounded like a sage veteran on his '96 opening statement, that’s because, well, he kind of was one. He had already been recording for a full decade.
The man born Shawn Carter was just 16 in 1986, when High Potent, the Brooklyn crew he'd joined under his mentor Jaz-O, released its lone single "H.P. Gets Busy." Jay would go on to play sideman for Jaz on his fellow Marcy Houses native's solo singles “Hawaiian Sophie” (1989) and “The Originators” (1990), before making cameos on records by Big Daddy Kane, Big L and Original Flavor.
While Jay officially only released one single—“In My Lifetime”—prior to Reasonable Doubt, some fascinating demo recordings from this period have emerged via mixtapes and the Internet over the years, offering a peek at his growth from gimmicky rapid-fire rhymer to the sophisticated don of Reasonable Doubt. Though spotty in terms of audio quality and dated, occasionally, by Jay's propensity for double-time flows, this material combined with some of Jigga's more choice cameos represents at least an album's worth of notable, yet mostly little-known, pre-Reasonable Doubt material.
Here's a look at Jay Z's Best Songs Before "Reasonable Doubt"
Written by Jesse Serwer (@JesseSerwer)
RELATED: 20 Underrated Jay-Z Songs
RELATED: 50 Things You Didn't Know About Jay-Z
RELATED: The 100 Best Jay-Z Songs
High Potent "HP Gets Busy"
Jay-Z and Sauce Money "Nuthin But Love"
The Jaz f/ Jay-Z "It's That Simple"
Jay-Z f/ Jaz & Sauce Money "I Can't Get Wid That"
Jay-Z and Sauce Money "Pass the Rock"
Big Daddy Kane f/ Scoob, Sauce Money, Shyheim Jay-Z, Ol' Dirty Bastard-"Show and Prove"
Big L f/ Grand Daddy I.U., Jay-Z, Lord Finesse, Microphone Nut, and Party Arty "Da Graveyard"
Original Flavor f/ Jay-Z "Can I Get Open"
Mic Geronimo f/ Ja Rule, Jay-Z and DMX "Time To Build"
Jay-Z "Reach the Top"
Jay-Z and Sauce Money "Get Off My Dick"
Jay-Z & Big L "The 7-Minute Freestyle"
Jay-Z "Broken English"
Jay-Z "What's in a Name"
Jay-Z "Understand Me"
Jay-Z "In My Lifetime (Big Jaz Remix)"
Circa: 1995
Producer: Big Jaz
A year after pressing up the original, Ski-produced version of "In My Lifetime" and selling it themselves through an early version of Roc-A-Fella, Jay and Dame Dash picked up a deal with Payday Records, the hip-hop imprint run by dance music kingpin Patrick Moxey of Ultra Music. (In fact, some versions of the single actually bear the Ultra imprint). For this second, 1995 edition of the 12”, they added a remix of "In My Lifetime" from Big Jaz that was essentially an entirely new song, with a slower, more melodious, piano-driven beat and a haunting R&B chant jacked from Soul II Soul’s “Get A Life.”
Matching the probing question at the heart of the song—What’s the meaning of life?—with lyrics that justify the pursuit of money at all costs, while offering a 360-degree view of the hustling lifestyle, “In My Lifetime” 2.0 (which would later be included on the soundtrack to 1998’s Streets is Watching) set the tone for Reasonable Doubt both musically and lyrically. The original version of "In My Lifetime" had its merits, but this was the track Jay needed to finally set his career in motion after years and years of false starts.