Can an album be classic if it takes 25 years to go plat?

Do we have to wait until it gets RIAA certified to deem it classic?

  • Yes

    Votes: 33 50.0%
  • No

    Votes: 33 50.0%

  • Total voters
    66
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You “know” more people now because of the internet and socials than you did when it was just your and your homies in middle school back in the 90s though.

But the point still stands, no one was obsessed with sales back then

If you were a fan of hip hop, you cared about the music, not how much an artist was selling
 

nieman

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If classics sell, why did it take Illmatic close to a decade to go platinum? This is the album that was revered when it dropped. Revered throughout history and barely moved units. It has no platinum singles. Very little radio play. Same for Purple Tape. These are considered 2 of the greatest albums ever made. Hell, it took Com Sense 20 years for Be to go platinum.

And just because an album sells in current day, doesn't make it a classic. If anything, it's been put on full display how many followers there are.

And impact is suggestive. Pretty much every one-hit wonder has held impact or influence, especially in modern day. As well as moved units, no matter how brief. And these newer albums aren't even selling.

The funny thing is y'all aren't even repeat streaming these newer albums. They come and go. Every single one of them. When talking classics in hip-hop, there used to be 1 constant - the quality of the music and cohesiveness of the album. But I guess younger fans are different.
 

Cladyclad

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If classics sell, why did it take Illmatic close to a decade to go platinum? This is the album that was revered when it dropped. Revered throughout history and barely moved units. It has no platinum singles. Very little radio play. Same for Purple Tape. These are considered 2 of the greatest albums ever made. Hell, it took Com Sense 20 years for Be to go platinum.

And just because an album sells in current day, doesn't make it a classic. If anything, it's been put on full display how many followers there are.

And impact is suggestive. Pretty much every one-hit wonder has held impact or influence, especially in modern day. As well as moved units, no matter how brief. And these newer albums aren't even selling.

The funny thing is y'all aren't even repeat streaming these newer albums. They come and go. Every single one of them. When talking classics in hip-hop, there used to be 1 constant - the quality of the music and cohesiveness of the album. But I guess younger fans are different.
If illmatic was just ok or good it never sniff 1 million after its slow start. It sold 2 million because its a classic

A album selling 20 million dont mean its classic.

Classics have a enduring history and run.

Damn near every classic sold records post 1990. Most definitely after 1995.

If u list your top classics im sure 90% are gold or plat
 

nieman

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every month it’s a thread made by real hiphop people that say Jay wasnt shyt in 1996

it wasn’t based off skills or album quality


they strictly talking about sales and popularity

shyt be so funny
That's wasn't based on sales and popularity. It's because at that time, it was a slightly above average album when compared to what his peers were doing that was considered elite. His singles did much better than everyone else's. He pretty much put out the same album AZ & Fat Joe put out a year before, only more polished in most places than AZ, and better lyrics than Fat Joe. It's like a B+, but the elite albums were A & A+
 

Cladyclad

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That's wasn't based on sales and popularity. It's because at that time, it was a slightly above average album when compared to what his peers were doing that was considered elite. His singles did much better than everyone else's. He pretty much put out the same album AZ & Fat Joe put out a year before, only more polished in most places than AZ, and better lyrics than Fat Joe. It's like a B+, but the elite albums were A & A+
You know damn well people called him a nobody. Even though the album went gold in 4 months. It was not based on skills. Because the bible of music gave iww & RD the same score. The only difference was one sold 2million the other was gold
 

Goat poster

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"Classic" doesn't have anything to do with sales.

So yeah.

There's a million Hip Hop albums that didn't sell, but are undeniably classic. And there's mad albums that sold a lot of records, but are nowhere close to being "classic". It's about quality with classics, not quantity.
The fact that this even needed to be explained to these dudes :snoop:
 
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