My personal favorite is Illmatic, but when you consider the music that came before it, and the influence that the album had on every hip hop song/album after it, regardless of region, how can it not be? It blew open what was acceptable as far as language/content in hip hop music, and the production on the album was light years ahead of anything made in hip hop up until that point. If you don't agree, go back and listen to every hip hop album made prior to and during 1988.
It influenced the style of every single hip hop artist that came after it's release, from Snoop to Nas to Biggie to Scarface (Geto Boys) to Outkast and Wu-Tang. I strongly believe that the only reason that it isn't widely held at that lofty position is because most critics are East Coast biased (and I'm from the East Coast) and most publications can't bring themselves to give the highest honor to a group not from NY. When taken into it's proper context, I don't feel that there is a hip hop album that comes close.
It influenced the style of every single hip hop artist that came after it's release, from Snoop to Nas to Biggie to Scarface (Geto Boys) to Outkast and Wu-Tang. I strongly believe that the only reason that it isn't widely held at that lofty position is because most critics are East Coast biased (and I'm from the East Coast) and most publications can't bring themselves to give the highest honor to a group not from NY. When taken into it's proper context, I don't feel that there is a hip hop album that comes close.
