The Reason (Beanie Sigel album)

The Reason is the second studio album by rapper Beanie Sigel. It was released on Roc-A-Fella Records on June 26, 2001. The album contains 14 tracks, and special guests include Memphis Bleek, Jay-Z, Freeway, Omillio Sparks, Scarface, Daz, Kurupt, and Rell. It received mixed reviews from critics divided over Sigel's lyrical abilities as a rapper. The Reason debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 and spawned two singles: "Beanie (Mack Bitch)" and "Think It's a Game".

The Reason
Studio album by
Beanie Sigel
ReleasedJune 26, 2001
Recorded2000 - 2001
Genre Hip hop
Length60:52
LabelRoc-A-Fella, Def Jam
ProducerShawn Carter (Executive Producer)
Damon Dash (Executive Producer)
Kareem Burke (Executive Producer)
Just Blaze
Kanye West
Rick Rock
88-Keys
No I.D.
Sha-Self
Bernard "Big Demi" Parker
Beanie Sigel chronology
The Truth
(2000)		 The Reason
(2001)		 The B. Coming
(2005)

Reception

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Blender[2]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[3]
HipHopDX[4]
Los Angeles Times[5]
NME[6]
Q Magazine[7]
RapReviews7.5/10[8]
Robert Christgau[9]

The Reason garnered mixed reviews from music critics who commended the record's East Coast production but questioned Sigel's abilities as a credible rapper. Andy Capper of NME found some familiarity in the album's beats but praised Sigel's dark-yet-intriguing delivery along with a talented list of guest artists, calling it "one of the best hardcore rap records of the year 2001."[6] Steve 'Flash' Juon of RapReviews praised the lyrical delivery and production for being an upgrade from Sigel's debut effort The Truth, saying that, "[I]n the pantheon of Philadelphia rap from The Roots to Will Smith, make room for a mack (bitch) - he's definitely earned his right to shine."[8] Entertainment Weekly's Evan Serpick said that, "Sigel will never sound as urgent as Chuck D or as smooth as Method Man, but the Jay-Z protégé makes up for it with smarter-than-average gangsta lyrics and eclectic hip-hop beats."[3] Nick Catucci of Blender wrote that, "Throughout the disc, Beanie stalks through the subdued bounce of big, loose piano and horn riffs, his smooth but steely flow intact. There's a sequel to his first album's not-so-pretty prison tale "What Ya Life Like" here, but it's best hearing about Beans's life when he's feeling nice, not nasty."[2]

AllMusic writer Bret Love commended the production for remaining consistent and Sigel's persona of a street smart hustler but found it running its course as the album continued, concluding that "Sigel's sophomore effort isn't so much an artistic step forward as it is a step sideways."[1] HipHopDX writer Affrikka said that despite the first two tracks, the record starts to fall off into mediocre un-originality, saying that "Overall, the experience leaves you wanting more from the executive producing credit that Jay-Z takes. It’s almost as if anyone involved in this project expected listeners to not get past the first couple songs."[4] Soren Baker, writing for the Los Angeles Times, commented that "[T]he normally assertive and interesting Philadelphia rapper flows like a sloth on nearly every cut of his second album, failing to elicit much excitement despite the solid, hard-core production."[5] Robert Christgau graded the album as a "dud",[9] indicating "a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought."[10]

Commercial performance

The Reason debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 selling 151,000 copies in its first week.[11] On its second week, it dropped to number 11 with sales dropping 50% to 50,000 copies.[12]

Track listing
No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."Nothing Like It"Kanye West3:22
2."Beanie (Mack Bitch)"Just Blaze4:13
3."So What You Saying" (featuring Memphis Bleek)Just Blaze5:06
4."Get Down"Just Blaze4:58
5."I Don't Do Much"Rick Rock4:40
6."For My Niggas" (featuring Daz Dillinger)Rick Rock4:13
7."Watch Your Bitches"88-Keys3:46
8."Think It's a Game" (featuring Freeway, Jay-Z and Young Chris)Bernard "Big Demi" Parker5:33
9."Man's World"No I.D.3:50
10."Gangsta, Gangsta" (featuring Kurupt)Kanye West3:41
11."Tales of a Hustler" (featuring Omillio Sparks)Sha-Self3:55
12."Mom Praying" (featuring Scarface)Just Blaze4:40
13."Still Got Love for You" (featuring Jay-Z and Rell)Just Blaze4:21
14."What Your Life Like 2"Just Blaze4:23
Total length:60:52

Samples

Nothing Like It

  • "Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing" by The Dynamic Superiors

So What You Saying

Get Down

  • "Lost Man” by Quincy Jones
  • "Bumpin' Bus Stop" by Thunder & Lightning

Man's World

  • "It’s A Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World" by James Brown

Mom Praying

  • "It Ain’t Gonna Rain On Nobody’s Parade But Mine" by The Dramatics

Still Got Love For You

What Your Life Like 2

  • "Quasimodo’s Marriage" by Alec R. Costandinos and The Syncophonic Orchestra

Think It's A Game

Personnel

Credits for The Reason adapted from AllMusic.[13]

Album chart positions
Year Album Chart positions
Billboard 200 Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums
2001 The Reason #5 #1

Singles chart positions
Year Song Chart positions
Billboard Hot 100 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks Hot Rap Singles
2001 "Beanie (Mack Bitch)" - #52 #11
2001 "Think It's a Game" - #99 -

Album/Singles Awards
  • BET Awards 2001

Album of the Year: Beanie Sigel, "The Reason"

gollark: The best ÇPU for this? Probably an LN2-cooled overclocked 28 core Xeoñ W.
gollark: Oh, and 8x 8K mönitors.
gollark: Maybe some sort of offload to a local GPÜ compute server.
gollark: Shouldn't you get the Quadro RTX 8000?
gollark: 4 Titan RTXes are the smartest current GPU choice really.

References
  1. Love, Bret. "The Reason - Beanie Sigel". AllMusic. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
  2. Catucci, Nick. "The Reason - Beanie Sigel". Blender. Alpha Media Group. Archived from the original on November 7, 2001. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  3. Serpick, Evan (July 13, 2001). "The Reason". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  4. Affrikka (July 12, 2001). "Beanie Sigel - The Reason". HipHopDX. Cheri Media Group. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
  5. Baker, Soren (July 8, 2001). "In Brief". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Publishing. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
  6. Capper, Andy (September 12, 2005). "Beanie Sigel : The Reason". NME. IPC Media. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
  7. "Music: The Reason [Enhanced CD] by Beanie Sigel". Tower Records. Archived from the original on June 1, 2014. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
  8. Juon, Steve 'Flash' (June 28, 2001). "Beanie Sigel :: The Reason :: Roc-A-Fella Records". RapReviews. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
  9. Christgau, Robert. "CG: Beanie Sigel". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
  10. Christgau, Robert (2000). "Key to Icons". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  11. Martens, Todd (July 5, 2001). "Keys' Debut Tops The Billboard 200". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  12. Martens, Todd (July 12, 2001). "D12 Leapfrogs Keys, Returns To No. 1". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  13. "The Reason - Beanie Sigel | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
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