This week marked the 23rd anniversary of Jay-Z's debut album, Reasonable Doubt, an album that's often regarded as not only Jay's best album but one of the best hip-hop albums of all time. The project ushered Jay-Z into the game as one of the best MC's of all times. On "Brooklyn's Finest," the rapper went bar-for-bar with fellow Brooklyn rapper, the late Notorious B.I.G. Not only is it one of the few tracks Biggie and Hov have together, but it's also the first one they ever recorded. With production from DJ Clark Kent and Dame Dash who sampled “Ecstasy” by the Ohio Players, Big and Jay swap bars and gave us a historical moment in hip-hop.
Kareem "Biggs" Burke explained that the song was something everyone wanted to get done for a while, even though Jay and Big weren't familiar with each other at that time. "Jay and Biggie were two greats in our eyes. The world hadn’t heard Jay yet but we knew what he was capable of," he told Billboard. "Then, when Biggie and Jay sat at the board, the engineer came and dropped a pad and a pen right in between them. Jay looks at it and then he pushes it over to Big. Big looks at it and pushes it back. That’s the time they realized that neither one of them wrote lyrics [down on paper]. It was something monumental. Jay actually went in and did everything in five minutes."
Quotable Lyrics
Fuck fist fights and lame scuffles
Pillow case to your face, make the shell muffle
Shoot your daughter in the calf muscle
Fuck a tussle, nickel plated
Sprinkle coke on the floor, make it drug related