Kinda like Reasonable Doubt wasn’t considered a classic because it made zero impact at the time. Now people say it’s classic after Jay started campaigning and calling it one.
Not true. And I don’t get why people online keep saying this.
In '96, all of the Hip Hop magazines were going crazy for
RD with the reviews. XXL and The Source loved it. By '97, everyone considered
RD to be a classic. Back then, you didn't call something a "classic" the same day it dropped, like the weirdos do today. You let it cook. Even the non-Hip Hop spots like Pitchfork and Rolling Stone gave it near perfect scores. It's always been universally loved, by
both the streets and mainstream media.
You couldn't go anywhere in NYC during that era without people quoting lines from the album, or hearing cars blasting tracks from it. The impact was crazy. Kendrick said when
RD dropped, his crew couldn't stop playing the album. And when he was working on
Section 80, he tweeted that he felt it was better than
Illmatic. Wayne said he would study
RD when it came out because he was trying to come up with a style for himself. Crazily impactful album. Not just for fans when it dropped, but also for future legend MC's.
Mulattos tend to be the most comically over the top.