I mean, look
I love RD.
it's still my favorite Jay-Z album
(largely because) it's as close to unfiltered, un-fussed with Jay-Z we'll ever get on record.

but Jay siced that album himself after he blew up with subsequent albums. it was a hit but it wasn't the monster OB4CL was in that period.

OB4CL I believe is the reason Wu Tang still "eats" until this day. its legend casts a shadow 20 years later. it's a tremendous album, and a lot of people loved it for so many different reasons. the tape was purple. Ghostface went from being that dude who hid his face behind a stocking to a guy you might want to hear an entire album of his songs. the purple tape. the "Mafioso" imagery that was copied ad nauseum for the 2-3 years following. one of the reasons heads who hated the late '90s and early/mid Aughties rap trends clung so tightly to that mid-'90s sweet spot

hell, Reasonable Doubt is a production line copy of this album (and Illmatic)