There's little social criticism or reflection on the gangsta lifestyle and its insistent claims of reality ring a little hollow today, since it hardly ever depicts consequences. Most of the record is about raising hell. It's impossible, however,  to overstate its enduring impact as polarizing as its outlook may be. It remains an essential landmark, one of hip-hop's all-time greatest, copied by many but never surpassed.
File under: Hip-Hop/Label: Ruthless/Original Release Year: 1988