Reasonable Doubt

Jonathan Mannion won the Reasonable Doubt job by quoting Damon Dash "$300 less than your lowest bid." The album was first titled Heir to the Throne, and when it was renamed Mannion shifted to old-school crime imagery. His advice to the team was direct: "Stay Brooklyn. Go John Gotti, mafia, surveillance."

Jay-Z, Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke agreed on black and white to make a statement. Mannion wanted to present Jay-Z "as this timeless character from Brooklyn, styled out, sharp, and clean," and to avoid the busy styles of the time: "Let's create your own lane." The main shoot took place on the roof of Mannion's building at West 72nd Street and Riverside Drive in Manhattan, where he shot about 30 rolls of film.

Art director Adrien Vargas designed the sleeve, noting that very few covers of the period were black and white. He said it was the first Roc-A-Fella release that truly stood out on store shelves. The album came out on 25 June 1996. Cey Adams contributed artwork to the package.