Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Reasonable Doubt or Ready to Die????


or

???


For about the next 2 weeks I want you guys to vote as I post daily, track vs. track from these 2 classic albums.

One of the biggest arguements in hip hop is who's the best rapper to ever do it. Two of the artists that come up in every single debate were very close friends, Jay Z and Biggie. Two artists that's near perfection at their craft. Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to see how Biggie's career would have turned out because his life was brought to an early end in 97, almost a year after the 6/25/96 release of Jay Z's debut album, Reasonable Doubt. However Biggie had a chance to put out 2 albums while in the game, Life After Death(A Double Disc) and his 9/13/94 debut album, Ready to Die.

Ok well this post isn't about who's the best rapper ever. Right now we're going to focus on the 2 Classic rap debut albums. Is it Jay Z's, Reasonable Doubt, with production from the likes of DJ Premier, Clark Kent, Knobody(The Hitmen), and Irv Gotti or is it B.I.G.'s, Ready to Die, with production by Puffy and The Hitmen, Easy Mo Bee, DJ Premier, and Pete Rock. Is it the more Mafioso style rap of Jay Z with guest appearances by Memphis Bleek, Jaz, Sauce Money, Foxxy Brown, and B.I.G. himself or the more gritty street hustle rap of B.I.G. with Method Man being his only rap feature. The last time I checked Reasonable Doubt was at 1.4 million sold and Ready to Die was quadruple platinum, which some will argue that B.I.G.'s death plays a huge part in his rise in sales.

With that said Welcome to Day 1 of Reasonable Doubt vs. Ready to Die!! If you had to take only one, which one would you take and why??? Be sure to check back daily for the track vs. track showdown.

**Sidenote: I would have loved to see what the Commission(B.I.G. & Jay Z's group) would have been like!!**

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ive always said it was Jay that was better in terms of albums.

Reasonable beats Ready to Die

Vol 1. beats Disc 1 (life after..)

Vol 2. beats Disc 2 (life after..)

Anonymous said...

this is interesting. We just talked about this in the stu. I will come back with why but Reasonable Doubt wins

Anonymous said...

Ready to Die!! I like Reasonable Doubt too but BIG talked to me

Anonymous said...

Jay Z is a Biggie Clone!!

International Foxx said...

WOW! This post is one for the books! Reasonable Doubt vs. Ready To Die. In my opinion Reasonable Doubt is the better album as a 'whole' but I think pound for pound track for track those Ready to Die tracks actually win. Reasonable Doubt works together like a cohesive unit while Ready to Die functions like an all star team. Same comparison goes for Reasonable Doubt vs. The Blueprint. Reasonable Doubt is a better album but damn near any and every track on The Blueprint could've been a single. In conclusion Doubt is the better album but Ready to Die has the stronger track for track strength. I call it a draw.

Anonymous said...

Reasonable Doubt hands down

Anonymous said...

Illmatic....hahahahaha

But between those two honestly damn hard answer I think reasonable might have that slight edge bcuz if it dropped today it will still be ahead of its time but still..ready to...was flawless

Anonymous said...

i'll go with ready to die... Biggies messages more deeper than Jays on Reasonable Doubt. Don't get me wrong Reasonable Doubt is still and forever be a classic, the young Jay wasn't just there yet with his message.

Anonymous said...

I like the post's above, but let me sum it up. Ready To Die is no doubt a better album, here's why:

Ready To Die intro was like this niggas entire teenage years in 4 minutes, when that muthufucka comes on u feel like u grew up wit this nigga by time it ended. Then he goes into things done changed...shoots intruders...hits a blunt wit Meth...fucks lil kim on the floor...ask Faith for one more chance...and he shot himself at the end of the album!!,,,Shitttttteeddd any questions?

I will say this for Reasonable Doubt (which I have an original copy wit da 22 on da disc, not his face, lol) classic classic word play. Jay comes wit more of a movie score on the album. He was ahead of the game on his album.

Jay-Z did stick wit Big on Brooklyn's finest though. That has to be noted, but Meth was high and stuck wit Big on Big's album!

Truth be told Jay-Z Reasonable Doubt didn't have a sudden impact like Ready To Die. Jay-Z had to re-release it for most fans to respect it.

Big spoke from his heart and Jay spoke from his wallet.

Ready To Die wins!