these are my top 10 for 96, in no particular order
wrath of the math
nocturnal
hell on earth
it was written
ironman
illadelph halflife
beats, rhymes & life
firing squad
muddy waters
legal drug money
*bonus - America Is Dying Slowly compilation (if you count compilation albums)
all i gotta say is that when reasonable doubt dropped, most ppl weren't checking for it like they were checking for those albums above...in retrospect RD is easily top 5 of 96, but back in '96 it prolly wasn't even top 15-20 for most cats and that isn't hate, it's the truth.