chart and number 37 on the ''Billboard'' 200 that same year. It attracted extensive media attention and is widely credited with accelerating the rise of hardcore gangsta rap in mainstream hip-hop. Although initial critical reception was mixed, the album has since been recognized as one of the most influential and acclaimed works in hip-hop history.

The album was reissued in September 2002 with four bonus tracks, and again in December 2007--shortly before its 20th anniversary--with several "tribute