People compare this with 'Illmatic' and thats more than fair, this album is just as incredible or depending on your tastes, BETTER... People show O.C. more love than Nas because he never sold out and went pop and soft like Nas did. Overall this album is a classic gem from the classic era of New York hip hop, the early-to-mid 90s.

word...life , a true hip hop classic.
After nine years since it's original release , Word...Life still remains at the top of my list ! The combination of O.C's masterfull word play and intricate visuals , laced over buckwild's dusty bottom of the crate beats , is hip hop at it's very best . 'Born to Live', 'O-zone' , 'Story' and 'Sabotage' in particular , are examples of O.C's superior taste in beats , and knowledge of how to execute his deliver over them. On born to live he pays homage to his deceased childhood friend " god bless you're laid to rest / call him mike boogie that's what describes da nigga best" and you're there with him , conjuring up memories of you're own childhood as you listen . With 'Story' O flips it on a haunting up tempo beat , and tells a tale of a small time hood who rips off the Columbian cartel " timmy wanted a name , tried to gain fame like a skeezer / robbed the spot and stole ice from the freezer / he's a fool , 'cause he went in without a mask on / now he's on the run so he dip's to Nebraska"... get the picture , this kid is NICE. The stand out track though is 'Ga head' story rhyme over a comfotable beat (original version not the remix ) where he rips his ex for going lesbo on him . This album is a all around classic and the lead single 'Times up' ,featured a video with a visual and vocal sample , never done before and never duplicated . A true classic.

If You Don't Know.........I'm Here to tell you!!!!
CLASSIC, CLASSIC, CLASSIC!!!!!!!!
If you are a real hip hop fan, buy this album right now!!!! This is one of the 20 or 25 best albums ever made (and probably the only one in the top 20 that most people never heard of). This album came out in 1994 (illmatic/ready to die era) and wild pitches promotion sucked so this album didn't get the accolades it deserved. this is one of those albums that's a true depiction of new york life and it also is a proper illustration of what an mc should be. oh yeah, you can count the amount of times the god curses on one hand, not saying you're not supposed to curse, but try making a classic without doing it. This album, in my opinion, is the proper companion to illmatic. you wanna impress real hip hop heads? pull this out and watch their eyes brighten, and if they don't know, justpressplay!!