Back in 1996, Jay Z shot to worldwide acclaim thanks to his impressive debut album Reasonable Doubt. Obviously fast-forwarding almost two decades and he’s half of probably the most powerful couple in the entertainment industry, however pre-Reasonable Doubt was a completely-different story entirely.
And whilst Jigga has never been quiet regarding his upbringing, we’ve yet to hear any full cuts of his early-work that tell his full story. Fortunately though, that’s now changed, thanks to the appearance of an early Jay Z demo tape surfacing online this morning.
Not only does the collection (which can be heard & downloaded for free, below), feature some impressively-slick bars, there’s also the odd feature in there too (Naughty By Nature’s Treach makes an appearance on What’s In A Name, for starters).
Admittedly, we haven’t had a chance to rip the project through piece-by-piece, but from the parts we have heard, Jay Z’s success has never been more rightful.
Stream below; you can also download Reasonable Doubt direct via the iTunes link:
