This is the number one hip hop album on my list. And, it is the number one hip hop album on Rolling Stone Mags Top 500.

The greatest hip-hop album of all time?

From a great article great from Ian MaCann at U Discover Music: It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back put Public Enemy at the forefront of the hip-hop that “rock” critics felt was important. This was both a benefit and a burden: its messages were intended to awaken hip-hop ears and reach the minds of the oppressed, but while the record hit the top of the black albums chart a lot of the buyers who gave the record its platinum status were educated college kids and white fans, while the “cold getting dumb” type of hip-hop the group was trying to replace continued.

The fact that Public Enemy was noticed by the white world meant they also came under fire for perceived verbal felonies, and their every word was analysed – a problem that would affect them badly over the next year and into Nation Of Millions’ follow-up, Fear Of A Black Planet. But how the album was received then is neither here nor there now. What is important is that it was an unarguably powerful statement, a manifesto for the reignition of a mass movement for the liberation of African-Americans: black power for a new generation. Its musical impact was transformative; numerous other rap acts followed the lead of The Bomb Squad, PE’s brilliant producers. The sheer amount of sound they put on plastic here defies belief.

For many fans and critics, this is the greatest hip-hop album of all time. These matters are always subjective, but when you are immersed in its world, it’s impossible to argue that It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back does not deserve to be there, or thereabouts…..

Stephe Thomas Erlewine at Allmusic: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back is the second studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released on June 28, 1988. The group set out to make the hip hop equivalent to Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, an album noted for its strong social commentary. Recording sessions took place throughout 1987 and 1988 at Chung King Studios, Greene St. Recording, and Sabella Studios in New York. Noting the enthusiastic response toward their live shows, Public Enemy intended to make faster music than their 1987 debut Yo! Bum Rush the Show for performance purposes.

Wiki: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back charted for 47 weeks on the US Billboard 200, peaking at number 42, and was certified Platinum by the RIAA in 1989. The album received widespread acclaim from critics, who praised its production techniques and the socially and politically charged lyricism of lead MC Chuck D. It also appeared on many publications' year-end top album lists for 1988 and was the runaway choice as the best album of 1988 in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll, a poll of the leading music critics in the US.

Since its initial reception, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back has been regarded by music writers and publications as one of the greatest and most influential albums of all time. In 2000, it was voted number 92 in Colin Larkin's book All Time Top 1000 Albums,  and in 2003, it was ranked number 48 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, the highest ranking of all the hip hop albums on the list, and the only one acknowledged in the top hundred.