On the eve of the 25-year anniversary of the release of Jay-Z’s debut album Reasonable Doubt, longtime Hov collaborator and DJ Clark Kent shared that only one song didn’t make it on the iconic debut album.
In an interview with Lowkey on Apple Music Hits that is set to drop tomorrow (June 25), Kent explained how one song didn’t make the cut, and why the album was perfect anyway.
“There was only one thing that didn’t happen on the album,” Kent said. “And it was there was a song that was supposed to be on an album that we couldn’t find the dap for when it was time to master. So it just didn’t make the album. It was called ‘Tell Me How It Feels.’ It would have been perfect on the album. It’s just you didn’t miss it because the rest of it was perfect and the thoughts were still there.”
Kent went on by explaining that only five people have ever heard the track since it didn’t make Reasonable Doubt and that there’s a woman on the track that would have been on “Ain’t No Nigga.” “Her name was Black Widow. That’s who would have been on ‘Ain’t No Nigga’ if I didn’t say, ‘Get my cousin Fox.’”
2DopeBoyz published an early version of the Reasonable Doubt tracklist back in 2014, and a song listed is called “Tell Me,” which might have been “Tell Me How It Feels.”
Clark Kent had also mentioned this nugget of information on Breaking Atoms: The Hip Hop Podcast, which can be heard at the 25:18 mark in the episode below.
Kent also talked about how people in Jay’s circle played a part in creating Reasonable Doubt.
“Making this album was fun. That’s another reason why I don’t just say it’s Jay-Z’s album,” he said. “It was Tata’s album. It was Bee-High’s album. It was Emory’s album. It was my album. It was Dame’s album. It was Ski’s album. It was everybody’s. It was… What’d you call it Maria Davis’ album. It was all of our album because it was almost like we were all making this project that we’re all in.”
You can listen to this interview plus the Essential Album: Reasonable Doubt special in full tomorrow at 4 p.m. EST or on-demand on Apple Music Hits.
