I was always a big fan of this picture. I feel like it really did embody Jay-Z’s persona in those days. He always presented himself as the slick-talking hustler out of the Marcy Projects who was just lucky enough to find a way out. But the one thing that I found most interesting is he seemed to do everything he could to avoid being too far removed from the neighborhood he so proudly claimed. Of course over time, with more success and more millions, it eventually became unavoidable that Jay would “go pop,” but this picture always reminds me of the Reasonable Doubt era Jay-Z that I came to love.
