This album was released around the time I began getting into music and enjoying hip hop more and more. 'In Da Club' would have been one of the first rap singles that I loved, and I did not dislike the others like 'P.I.M.P.' and '21 Questions' either. The wave was big for this album and 50 in general. Unlike kids who think they know it all, I lived it. Listening to the whole thing years on, those last two tracks mentioned particularly don't hold up too well and sound a bit dated, as does 'Wanksta'. The production as a whole-some of which was originally meant for Rakim's scrapped Aftermath debut-isn't brilliant. As a rapper, 50's voice has never thrilled me. Without a catchy hook his songs can often get boring, and as he does his own choruses often, here and on future projects, it adds to the same-same sound this has. He has always been the kind of rapper who needs a great beat to make a decent song. It's an okay album, but if you define a classic as being the best of the best, which is the actual definition of 'classic', this certainly isn't it. It's nowhere near. It may have blown up, I remember the buzz, but it just gets tedious too often. 3-2.5. Best Tracks: What Up Gangsta, In Da Club, Don't Push Me