JAY-Z Brings “Dead Presidents” to Streaming Services for 30th Anniversary

30 years ago today, JAY-Z released the Nas-sampling “Dead Presidents” as the first single for his classic debut, Reasonable Doubt, presaging his future claim as the King of New York. To celebrate the anniversary, the Roc Nation owner has brought the track to streaming services for the first time. Stream it below.

Produced by Ski Beatz, “Dead Presidents” was released independently through Roc-A-Fella Records in 1996. However, the original version didn’t make the final cut of the album. Its sequel, “Dead Presidents II,” featuring different lyrics over the same production, was included instead.

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“Dead Presidents” is built around a sample of Nas’ “The World Is Yours,” looping the line, “I’m out for presidents to represent me” from Q-Tip’s 1994 remix of the song. By some accounts, this planted the seeds for the on-and-off-again rivalry between the New York rappers that came to a boil in 2001, when Jay rapped on “Takeover”: “I sampled your voice, you was using it wrong/ You made it a hot line, I made it a hot song.”

“Dead Presidents” is now also available in physical formats, including vinyl, CD, and cassette, alongside his Foxy Brown collab “Ain’t No N***a.”

Editor’s Note: See where Reasonable Doubt landed on Consequence’s list of the 50 Best Hip-Hop Albums of All Time.