Illmatic might be the better album, but “Halftime” would sound ridiculous if an orchestra played it. Still, it is a great album, and its stately elegance works perfectly with what Jay did at tonight’s show. So he gets to have his own special night at Radio City to celebrate its anniversary, but it’s not really because of the album’s greatness it’s because he does whatever he feels like and he felt like doing it. In fact, Jay has grown to become such a massive public figure that Reasonable Doubt doesn’t really have all that much to do with what he is today, except that he still considers it his finest artistic achievement and brings it up in every interview. The difference is that Jay-Z is a rare case: a rapper who made a great debut and then went on to live up to the potential it showed, both artistically and commercially, to the point where his success story has grown to absurd levels and he can hang out with Bill Clinton and Prince Charles and Bill Gates and shit, to the point where he’s modern royalty. Illmatic is an absolute masterpiece, and I can’t imagine any situation in which Nas would get a chance to perform it with an orchestra behind him. Reasonable Doubt is a truly great debut album, but so is Doggystyle, and Snoop Dogg did exactly nothing to commemorate the tenth anniversary of its release. I hate to do it just as bad as you hate to see it done.
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