REASONABLE DOUBT

Fat Joe Says ‘The Hardest Lyric In Hip-Hop’ Is From Jay-Z’s ‘Feelin’ It’

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In a new interview, Fat Joe credits his peer and part-time rival Jay-Z for having the “hardest lyric in hip-hop.” Appearing on the I Am Athlete podcast with hosts Brandon Marshall, Chad Ochocinco Johnson, DJ Williams, and LeSean McCoy, Joe explained why he believes a line from Jay’s debut album Reasonable Doubt sums up a philosophy that is underrated but important for success in any endeavor.

The line in question appears on “Feelin’ It,” the fourth and final single from Reasonable Doubt. Over a sample of jazz musician Ahmad Jamal’s 1974 song “Pastures” re-worked by Ski Beatz, Jay rhymes, “If every n**** in your clique is rich, then your clique is rugged / Nobody will fall ‘cause everyone will be each other’s crutches.”

Joe expounds on that idea for I Am Athlete, explaining, “Everybody wanna be the man. Everybody wanna be the guy everybody looks up to. There’s no real strength in that. The strength is in everybody eating — so that if one of us falls, we can lift him up. You have to understand that mentality.”

As far as his former rivalry with Jay, he credits that to his jealousy of Jay’s success — and Jay stepping in on the one place Joe reigned supreme: The world-famous Rucker Park basketball league. “The man was always winning,” he chuckles. “I might have been a little jealous if I’m gonna be a man about it. He won at everything. He had the baddest chick in the world. So, what Joe had carved out was this: I always had the streets, no matter who I had beef with. And so The Rucker is part of the streets. That was the streets in the summertime, and out of nowhere here comes this guy after I win five ‘chips in a row, he wants a team!”

Fortunately, it seems they’ve put that behind them, with Jay recently contributing to Joe’s relief fund for victims of the recent Bronx building fire and both co-signing a letter to New York’s governor to support the “Rap Lyrics On Trial” bill.

A Judge Has Blocked The NFT Of Jay-Z’s ‘Reasonable Doubt’ Album

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The controversial NFT based on Jay-Z’s debut album Reasonable Doubt has been blocked by a judge as the lawsuit against Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Damon Dash continues. According to The Hollywood Reporter, U.S. District Court Judge John Cronan granted a temporary restraining order to Roc-A-Fella after the label sued Dash on June 18 over his alleged attempt to sell virtual ownership of the career-launching record.

Dash said that he wasn’t trying to sell the rights to the album, but his partner in the endeavor, SuperFarm, announced the NFT auction “of Damon‘s ownership of the copyright to Jay-Z’s first album Reasonable Doubt. This marks a new milestone in the history of NFT’s, entitling the new owner to future revenue generated by the unique asset.” The auction, which was set for June 23-25, was canceled after the label sent a warning letter to SuperFarm, but the label pursued additional legal action against Dash out of concern he’d attempt another sale on his own. Dash says he was trying to sell his Roc-A-Fella stake, not the rights to Reasonable Doubt.

U.S. District Court Judge John Cronan sided with the label during a hearing this morning, noting Roc-A-Fella owns the copyright to the album. The lawsuit will continue, but the sale will not — for the time being. Incidentally, it was a dispute over the publishing rights to Reasonable Doubt that ultimately caused Dash’s initial split with Jay-Z when Dash refused to sell Jay the album masters after the latter was offered a role as president of the parent label Island Def Jam. Jay offered to turn down the role in exchange for the masters, but ultimately took the role and kept the rest of his catalog after Dame’s refusal, causing a rift that led to the demise of Roc-A-Fella at the height of its success.

Reasonable Doubt is also at the center of another lawsuit; Jay-Z is suing the photographer who shot the cover for the album over control of his images.

Dame Dash Was Reportedly Trying To Sell His Stake In Roc-A-Fella And Not Jay-Z’s ‘Reasonable Doubt’

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At the end of last week, the music world was surprised with the news that Jay-Z’s Roc-A-Fella Records, which was launched with co-founders Dame Dash and Kareem “Biggs” Burke, filed a lawsuit against Dash. It accused him of attempted to sell Jay-Z’s debut album, Reasonable Doubt as an NFT, something the record label said he did not have the right to do. Well, it turns out that selling a Reasonable Doubt NFT was not in Dash’s plans. His actual intentions were to sell his entire one-third stake in Roc-A-Fella, which is something he clarified to TMZ.

Dash spoke to the publication in response to the accusations stated in the lawsuit. He claims that Jay-Z tried to buy his entire Roc-A-Fella stake as recently as March, but it was at “a price I deemed unacceptable.” This forced Dash to find a more suitable buyer on his own.

He added, “Under the terms of the deal with a potential buyer, the buyer would buy my share of Roc a Fella Records and Jay-Z will have exclusive administration rights.” Dash also said that the lawsuit filed against him by Roc-A-Fella, who is represented by high-profile lawyer Alex Spiro, was simply a scare tactic to stop him from selling something he believes he has the right to sell.

Court documents from the previously-filled lawsuit said, “Dash can’t sell what he doesn’t own. By attempting such a sale, Dash has converted a corporate asset and has breached his fiduciary duties.” It added, “The court should stop Dash….and hold him accountable for his brazen theft.”

Jay-Z’s Roc-A-Fella Records Sues Co-Founder Dame Dash Over An Attempted NFT For ‘Reasonable Doubt’

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More than 25 years ago, Jay-Z, Dame Dash, and Kareem “Biggs” Burke came together to form Roc-A-Fella Records. The label would eventually become the home of Jay-Z’s first album, Reasonable Doubt, which was released in 1995. The project is heralded as a hip-hop classic and one of the best efforts in Jay’s discography. Fast-forward to the present and Reasonable Doubt is now at the center of a lawsuit between Roc-A-Fella records and Dash.

According to TMZ and Page Six, Dash was sued by the company after he attempted to auction Reasonable Doubt as an NFT. Roc-A-Fella claims that Dash is unable to mint the album to sell because he does not own the rights. According to court documents filed by high-profile attorney Alex Spiro, Dash planned to sell the Reasonable Doubt NFT at a now-canceled auction and Roc-A-Fella’s current fear is that he will try to sell it again elsewhere.

“The sale of this irreplaceable asset must be stopped before it is too late, and Dash must be held accountable for his theft,” the court documents read. “Dash can’t sell what he doesn’t own. By attempting such a sale, Dash has converted a corporate asset and has breached his fiduciary duties. The court should stop Dash….and hold him accountable for his brazen theft.”

The lawsuit comes shortly after Jay-Z sued photographer Jonathan Mannion, who shot the cover for Reasonable Doubt, for using his name and image without consent.

Jay-Z Sues The Photographer Who Shot The ‘Reasonable Doubt’ Cover

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TMZ reports that Jay-Z is suing photographer Jonathan Mannion Photography LLC for using Jay-Z’s name and image without his consent. Mannion, who shot the cover photo for Jay-Z’s 1996 debut album Reasonable Doubt, has been using the photos to generate “thousands of dollars” selling prints and merchandise for years, and Jays that when he requested an end to this practice, Mannion demanded “tens of millions of dollars.”

Jay’s lawsuit points out that while Mannion was hired to shoot the cover and had hundreds of leftover, unused images, he was compensated for the photo sessions and Jay-Z maintains the rights to how his likeness is used. Mannion was never given permission to sell or otherwise use the photos from the Reasonable Doubt sessions, with Jay calling it “ironic that a photographer would treat the image of a formerly-unknown Black teenager, now wildly successful, as a piece of property to be squeezed for every dollar it can produce.” The lawsuit demands Mannion pay Jay any profits he’s made from the sale of the prints and merch using his image.

Speaking of profit from Jay-Z’s image, it was only March that a signed Topps trading card bearing it was sold for a record-breaking sum, raking in $105,780 at auction. If that’s what a mass-produced flick of Jay-Z goes for, it’s no wonder Mannion wanted a piece of the action — and why Jay, the ultimate businessman, wanted that piece back.