I don't even really like Jay-Z and even I can admit that Reasonable Doubt was one of the best albums I've ever heard. It is certainly comparable to Illmatic.
I wouldn't say it's as good as Illmatic by any stretch, but I wouldn't say it's far off. I also wouldn't say that there's any "best" Hip Hop album. Personally, you could make a case for an ATCQ album (Midnight Marauders, for example) as being the greatest album of all time. It's consistent through and throughout and has a very high replay value. It's lyrically sound and the production is on point.
But if that's true, why don't people like it as much as Illmatic then? Simple. It just isn't their style of music, and that's understandable.
There's too much variance for any to say that anything is the
de facto greatest HH album of all time. Of course there are great ones and classics. There are plenty of other great albums that easily match up to Illmatic in this thread:
http://www.the-coli.com/booth/16248-classic-hip-hop-album-reference-thread.html
