Reasonable Doubt, the debut album that made Jay Z a respected lyricist in the rap game long before multi-platinum plaques and Beyonce dominated his byline, recently celebrated its 20th anniversary of existence and Genius had the genius idea to recruit one of the more credible degrees of separation from the OG Shawn Carter to complete the trilogy on arguably his best storytelling rap.
Midway through Reasonable Doubt, Jigga harbored on his experiences as a drug dealer and painted a cinematic encounter on rival crews encroaching on his territory and ultimately paying a 100% tariff for their trespasses. The song “Friend or Foe” (produced by DJ Premier to boot) is on the shortlist of the reasons why Jay Z’s first album is a Hip Hop classic and its ’98 sequel (which appeared on the criminally underrated — albeit disjointed — In My Lifetime, Vol. 1) helped solidify its legacy.
Skyzoo has never been forced to be stand in Jay Z’s shadow like say a Memphis Bleek, but the similarities between himself and his fellow Brooklyn lyricist have always been glaring. On “Friend or Foe 3,” S-K embodies the character of the son of the wild Jamaican from the series’ second installment and enacts his revenge on Hova, serving as a disgruntled bastard child with a score to settle.
In other words, it’s the male Nikki Bell looking to get even. Listen to Skyzoo’s “Friend or Foe 3” down below and stream Reasonable Doubt on TIDAL here. In case you need to brush on your “Friend or Foe” trivia, the videos from Jay Z’s versions can also be found below.
