First off,salute OP for the well thought out video
But for all the reasons you named,thats why I can't support this. I highly believe OP chose to ignore just how important everything you said about impact is,just so he could name his criteria the "Illmatic Rule"
You can't simply ignore impact in Real Time. Don't expect me to put an album like Reasonable Doubt or Illmatic in the same stratosphere with something like a Amerikkas Most or Death Certificate.Both classics?Yes?But who Jay and Nas became later greatly increased the legacy of those albums. In good conscience I can't hold them in the same regard as something that had an incredible impact in real time nationally/globally ,completely shifted the culture AND was considered a classic out of the gate.
I can easily ignore it. Why does 'real time' matter when we're talking about artistic works that can last hundreds if not thousands of years?
This is a classic piece of music.
Do we even know how it was received in 'real time'? Do we care? The fact is that it sounds fantastic in 2017. So much so that a shytty rapper named G-Eazy decided to sample it.
Genius is rarely recognized in real time. Most people are simply too stupid/distracted to see what's brilliant immediately. That's why the star power of certain artists rise after years (even when they're not as active), and others diminish (even though they were dominating charts). People catch on late and realize "oh, that was actually brilliant in hindsight" or bandwagon it because they associate that art with respect/excellence.
Amerikkas Most and Death Certificate are dated as fukk in 2017. Aint nobody listening to that shyt on the level of Reasonable Doubt and Illmatic. Even heads.
And the 'real time' argument works for Nas, too. In real time, hip hop heads (actual fans, not pop casuals) were fukking floored by Illmatic. There's a video with Tray Dee on Vlad reciting some Illmatic lyrics word for word just on the spur of the moment, so West Coast dudes (the ones that actually liked hip hop, not the pretenders) were obviously floored, too. I know people that quit rapping when Illmatic came out. Did Johnny Smith in White suburbia rush to buy Illmatic the same way he rushed to buy NWA and Doggystyle? No. But Johnny Smith doesn't listen to hip hop anymore and still thinks Black people are ******s.
Those corners aren't cities close to New York, the creators and by far the greatest performers of this entire genre, so why would I give a fukk?
This is mostly irrelevant. It'd only be relevant if I wasn't Black, hadn't been to the US nor knew anything about Black American culture. But the reality is the opposite. I've spent time in the US - many parts. I have close Black American family and friends. So nah.
