Kobe Bryant once revealed his favourite album of all time
Looking back at Kobe Bryant’s astounding career, there is a dogged determination to everything he did. On the court and off it, Bryant represented a desire to achieve that only a few people in the world have ever possessed. But his favourite rap album is from another man who may well possess the exact same intensity.
Jay-Z isn’t a rapper who took life lying down. Balling out of Brooklyn, Jay was part-hustler, part thug before he took on his role as one of the rap game’s most cherished musicians. Taking his street-savvy into the world of business, he became the first-ever rap billionaire as his empire grew out of music and into fashion and sports management. While he and Bryant may have operated on separate coasts, their relationship is symbiotic in many ways.
Bryant came up as a young prodigy of the hardwood. He was always destined to be a great, but when such a fate is laid out in the public domain, there are always detractors hoping you might make a misstep. But, sure as his own jump shot, Bryant would be sure-footed enough to make the bucket and become an NBA legend. Equally, though Jay started in a different kind of project, his star seemed incapable of falling once he decided its trajectory.
It makes sense, then, that when Bryant was asked for his favourite album of all time, he pointed directly at Jay-Z while also naming a couple of contenders for the top spot: “I have to say Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt still remains my favourite album. American Gangster is a close second. Life After Death with Biggie Smalls. I’ll go with Reasonable Doubt.”
Released in 1996, the same year Bryant made his NBA debut, the record is rightly considered one of the greatest hip-hop releases of all time and is littered with great songs and the intent of a new empire slowly rising.
The old adage is that when an artist releases a debut album it should be considered their life’s work. Everything prior to that first record that the artists experienced is encapsulated in its black plastic grooves. For Jay, it’s one of the most visceral, slick and effortless pieces of art one could hope to stumble upon.
Flourished with Hov’s undoubted charisma, he exudes a sense of calm and collected menace that other rappers have never matched. He also did all of this while providing some of the most searing rhymes ever seen, effortlessly merging syllables, curating vivid imagery and, all in all, delivering one hell of an album. It clearly struck a note with Bryant and settled itself at the top of his list of favourite albums.