A recording liquid which gives a printed matter having a high blackness, reduced blurring, satisfactory printed-image quality, and satisfactory print fastness of a record such as light resistance and water resistance, and which has a low viscosity, satisfactory suitability for ejection, and excellent storage stability is provided. A carbon black has the following features (a) to (c): (a) to have a 24M4 DBP absorption of 100 cm.sup.3/100 g or higher, (b) to have a D.sub.75 larger than 45 nm and smaller than 120 nm, and (c) to have a TINT exceeding 110%. The recording liquid contains the carbon black.