>I did not know that was that albums reputation. For me that
>album was when I realized the emperor had no clothes.

To that point he was 3/3 in my eyes and coming off his best, most trimmed-down, focused, and consistent effort. Since 808s I've disliked most everything he's put out (I came around on MBDTF a few years after it came out).

Anyway I think maybe some people peg 808s as "classic" just based on the historical influence it had on hip-hop culture overall, for better or worse. I don't think it's classic in the ... well, classic sense of the word.