Jay-Z Brings Spiritual ‘Reasonable Doubt’ Performance to Yankee Stadium: 8 Best Moments

Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt turns 30 years old this year, and during the first show of his three-day Yankee Stadium residency Friday night (July 10), he wrote a love letter to the debut album that foreshadowed the Brooklyn rapper’s rise to power.

Originally made to impress his hustler friends, the project laid the foundation for a label that would eventually become the blueprint as far as rapper-owned record companies go. It was a slow burn, though. Although it sold only 43,000 copies in its first week, Reasonable Doubt was an instant underground classic for some. When he rapped “I gave you prophecy on my first joint, and ya all lamed out/ Didn’t really appreciate it ’til the second one came out” on “Hard Knock Life” a couple albums later, he made sure to remind the people that slept how they were late to the party.

That’s what’s so special about Jay-Z’s project at Yankee Stadium. It’s for the day ones. It’s for the people that immediately understood what he was trying to do and were savvy enough to pick up the jewels he was dropping. Tracks like “Dead Presidents II,” “D’Evils,” “Can I Live” and “Regrets” are some of the best records in his catalog, not only because they display lyrical wizardry and are just great sounding in general, but because they were able to capture the essence of what it was like to really be living the life of a drug dealer who was knee-deep in the game. That’s why Reasonable Doubt remains at the top of Jay’s catalog.

At his Friday’s Yankee Stadium concert, fans were treated to an incredible night filled with surprise guests (including Beyoncé and Blue Ivy) and the special privilege to see a true master of ceremonies at work.

Check out the best moments from night one of Jay-Z’s Yankee Stadium residency below.

The show ended around 11 p.m. after Jay performed Reasonable Doubt‘s last and most emotional track, “Regrets,” but the crowd was still amped at what they just witnessed and were taking their time leaving the venue. That’s when we noticed some movement on stage and stuck around in case Jay decided to surprise us with an encore. Our curiosity was rewarded because he came back out to perform a medley, with the help of Young Gure behind the boards, and then brought out Alicia Keys, who performed a rendition of Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind,” and then, of course, she and Jay performed their version of “Empire State of Mind” to close things out. That song can be played out at this point, but I can’t front — I enjoyed the hell out of that performance. There’s just something about hearing that song in New York City at Yankee Stadium that just makes sense. It’s what the good Lord intended.

“Outside” is the word of the summer.

New York City is having a moment. The Knicks finally won a championship, there’s a new mayor in town, and Jay-Z is doing three consecutive shows at Yankee Stadium. Walking up the train station in front of the McDonald’s and turning around to see thousands of people in front of “The House That Jeter Built” was a spiritual experience. There were people selling bootleg shirts and some of the strongest nutcrackers you will ever drink as fans wore their flyest outfits and smoked the best weed their money could buy. Nothing beats going outside to touch (and smoke) grass.

You knew going in that Jay was going to do every song from Reasonable Doubt, but you had no clue about what he had planned for in between. Jay didn’t disappoint. He rapped part of “D’Evils” over Snoop’s “Murder Was the Case,” he rapped his “Grammy Family Freestyle” over the “No Church in the Wild” beat and he performed “Excuse Me Miss.” However, out of all the loosies he surprised the crowd with, it was his solo cut “Jigga My N—–” from the 1999 Ruff Ryders compilation album Ryde of Die Vol. 1 that drew the biggest “holy s—, my face is melting” pop from the crowd. That one was for the real ball knowers, especially because Jay was wearing the bulletproof vest from the Streets Is Watching movie.

I wasn’t sure what to expect once it was time for Jay to perform “Brooklyn’s Finest.” Going in I wondered if he was going to maybe bring someone out like Lil’ Kim to do Big’s part, or maybe his son, but he ultimately decided to perform it with the crowd rapping along. However, what we didn’t expect was for him to perform one of their other memorable (and underrated) collabs in “I Love the Dough,” as clips of them playing Monopoly with real money played in the background. I’m getting verklempt just thinking of it.

R.I.P., DJ Clark Kent and The Notorious B.I.G.

For those that don’t know, Jaz-O was Jay’s mentor and, as he said Friday night, is the reason Jay was standing on that stage at Yankee Stadium. Jay brought him out to perform their posse cut “Bring It On” after he introduced him to the crowd with a heartfelt tribute. It was a beautiful moment watching them perform one of Reasonable Doubt‘s more underrated cuts. at

I was lucky enough to be in attendance at “B-Sides 2” back in 2019 when Jay brought Nas out to perform “Dead Presidents II,” and I was still not ready for when he brought out his former rival Friday night. They absolutely tore the place down. The Queens rapper came out to “If I Ruled the World,” performed “The World Is Yours” — which then went into him and Jay doing “Dead Presidents II” — and then finished his appearance off with “N.Y. State of Mind” as they rapped over each other’s beats, with Jay giving fans a treat by performing “Where I’m From” off his sophomore album, In My Lifetime, Vol. 1.

Blue Ivy did her thing on the piano as she assisted her father in performing the song that was my favorite as a kid. She was even trying to hype up the crowd by motioning for us to make some noise as she hit the keys. “Feelin’ It” is a special record that warranted a special moment like this one. Shout out Blue, because the young lady is talented. She can dance, she can play the piano, and now we wait on the next reveal. Maybe it’ll be a little singing, or a little rapping, or a little of both?

I know you said that in Ms. New York’s voice.

While I disappointed Pain in Da Ass wasn’t there to do his Scarface intro at the beginning of “Can’t Knock the Hustle,” I immediately got over it when Beyoncé came out, suited and booted in a black pinstripe suit lookin’ like a straight gangster, to sing Mary J. Blige’s chorus. The pop she got could only rival the pop Stone Cold used to get when the crowd hears the glass break. The crowd would remain on that high until the show ended.