The world will never hear a JAY-Z album that was recorded before his iconic debut, Reasonable Doubt.
In a new interview with DJBooth, Ski Beatz revealed he threw away an unreleased LP from Hov and some tracks with the late Big L. The acclaimed producer trashed them after making a switch in his recording technology.
“Around the time I was working for Big] L, that’s when he passed,” he said. “Nobody heard the songs, and I did all those songs on ADAT (audio tapes). Around that time, that’s when the whole Pro Tools and the whole computer thing started to come into play. I wasn’t even thinking about the future… Any ADATs I had, I just got rid all my ADATs and went into the computer world. I didn’t make copies] anything that we did.”
Ski recalled the fate the unheard Hov record and admitted some collaborations with Camp Lo got canned too.
“That goes for a lot JAY-Z. Before Reasonable Doubt, we had a whole album that we did, that nobody has ever heard,” he continued. “I did it on ADAT, and when I got rid all the ADAT, I got rid all the Big L stuff, all the JAY-Z stuff. Even unreleased Camp Lo music. I wasn’t even thinking.”
Ski produced multiple tracks on JAY-Z’s Reasonable Doubt, including “Dead Presidents II” and “22 Two’s.” He also handled all the production for Camp Lo’s debut, Uptown Saturday Night.
Read the full interview with Ski here.