Jay-Z’s debut album, Reasonable Doubt, still remains his most popular among fans and critics despite being released 12 years ago. At the time is was released on his personal upstart label, Roc-A-Fella Records with cohorts Damon Dash and Kareem “Biggs” Burke, Jay was the only artist. The album didn’t fare well commercially until the b side “Ain’t No N***a” featuring a then unknown Foxy Brown took off at Hot 97.  The label slowly grew into one of the biggest hip hop album of the ‘90s.

Lyrically, Jay-Z touches on the hustle and grind of the streets of New York and his time as a drug dealer.  DJ Premier, Ski Beats, and Loud.com’s own Sean C provided the sonic landscape for Jay to rap his most personal album until The Blueprint.  Reasonable Doubt is also a unique album because Jay didn’t reach his mainstream commercial success until two albums laster so Reasonable Doubt was discovered by his millions of fans years after its release.

Havoc and Prodigy dropped this classic in 1995.  Blasting from Queensbridge, the group’s second album was highlighed by the hit single “Shook Ones Pt. II”.  The album featured raw beats and straight-to-the-point lyrics that touched a nerve in the streets of the early 90s.   The duo pulled in guest spots from New York’s finest including Nas, Raekwon, Ghostface, and Q Tip.

Now there’s finally a rep from the East Coast on the Top 10 list!  Arguably, Jay’s most soulful album, The Blueprint, catches him at the peak of his game.  With R &B samples all over the place, Jay takes shots at Nas, proclaims his innocence and trades verses with Eminem.

This album was where Jay figured out his comfort zone as an artist. He had reached the pinnacle of commercial success on Vol. 2 but was missing the artistry displayed on Reasonable Doubt.  Jay took a risk on The Blueprint going with two unknown producers, Kanye West and Just Blaze, and they delivered not only his two hit singles, “Izzo (H.O.V.A)” and “Girls, Girls, Girls”, but also redefined the sound of the genre.  Jay took a risk which was unheard of for a rapper of his stature and it paid off big time.