In real time, Reasonable Doubt was not up there with the Illmatic, Ready to Die, Enter the Wu, or Infamous. Jay and his stans can attempt to revise history all they want, it’s never going to change that fact.
Close this ridiculous thread.
I say this as someone who considers Reasonable Doubt a classic and continually put newer Jay fans onto it in 97-99. It wasn't considered an instant classic when it dropped like RTD, Cuban Linx and Illmatic were.
Closest comparison is really Doe or Die. Dope albums that each had one hit single and people fukked with but they were not seen as game changers (although Doe or Die had a major influence on RD and IWW so). IWW dropped the following week and polarizing as it was it was a much bigger album and completely overshadowed RD at the time.
Around 99 or 00, Jay and his biggest fans started trying to act like it had the impact and reputation of RTD or Illmatic because the only thing missing from his resume at that point was the 5 mic, universally accepted instant classic. Which he finally got with Blueprint.
That's why the "you made it a hot line I made it a hot song" is

and everyone except the biggest Jay stans knows it. Even Jay knows it. Like you can make a legit case The World Is Yours is one of the top 10 hip hop tracks of all time. Nobody saying that about either Dead Presidents