ive been trying to pin down my favorite rap album for awhile...its hard. i think if you put a gun to my head i would have to go with
-Came out at the height of the Nas/Jay-Z beef in 2001
-Gave birth to the 'soulful' style of sampling through production by an unknown Kanye West. This ended up opening the window for Kanye to sign with Roc-A-Fella and his solo career to develop, which led to a bunch of other artists (John Legend, resurrection of Common) hitting the map
-Jay-Z was highly criticized and people said he was falling off after his Volume 3 album, he really elevated and cemented his status as the best MC at that time.
probably others would include
Little Brother-The Listening
Common-Be
Nas-Illmatic
A Tribe Called Quest-Midnight Marauders