REPLAY #1: Ghostface Killah ‘Ironman’ vs Jay-Z ‘Reasonable Doubt’ (1996)

Welcome to Hip Hop World Cup REPLAY – your chance to revisit classic matches between golden-age rap albums from the Hip Hop World Cup vault!

We kick things off with a Big Apple bust-up between two albums celebrating their 20th anniversary in 2026. When Ghostface Killah’s Ironman came out of the hat against Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt it was a bit like Man City drawing Man United in the FA Cup – a real battle of the big guns.

Danny, James and Steve revisit these two iconic debuts, celebrating the raw street reportage and razor-sharp lyricism that made both albums instant classics – before inevitably tying themselves in knots trying to pick a winner using the three-man vote.

If this sparks memories or arguments, all the full episodes from the first series are available on your podcast player of choice. And remember to join our Patreon for more bonus content that we’ll upload when we can be arsed.

Let us know who you had winning, whether this was a fair decision or if we need to apologise.

Thanks for backing Hip Hop World Cup – see you next time.

JOIN OUR PATREON!

Sign up to our Champions Tier on Patreon and access exclusive bonus content:

⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/cw/HipHopWorldCup⁠⁠

ALL PREVIOUS EPISODES AVAILABLE NOW ON YOUR PODCAST APP OF CHOICE:

Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hip-hop-world-cup/id1589610632⁠⁠

Spotify: ⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/6aBAonIjzVh1zr27q733yK⁠⁠

Please rate and review Hip-Hop World Cup on Apple or your podcast app of choice, which will help raise our visibility and give the podcast ‘mass appeal’.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Follow and holler at us on social media to share your thoughts on the episode or talk 90s hip-hop in general:

Instagram, X, Threads and Bluesky: @hiphopworldcup

Beats and stings by Danny Phillips: ⁠⁠https://soundcloud.com/dannyphillips1978