The three proven factors that every classic album must have
Classic albums make artists. Lack of classic albums breaks artists.
Kendrick Lamar is the best rapper alive currently because he's dropped two undebatable classics and one arguable classic in 'DAMN'. '2014 Forest Hills Drive' shot J Cole into rap's top-3 and allowed him to stay there even after a subpar follow-up album.
Classic albums give artists breathing room. That breathing room allows the artists to have a letdown project in between, or in some cases the classic is so good the artists becomes an automatic legend and no other repeat classic is necessary (ex. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill). But, I'm getting ahead of myself; I've used the word classic eight times now without any set definition.
Classic- judged over a period of time to be of the highest quality and outstanding of its time.
Based on that definition, a classic album can be spaced out into three categories: longevity, impact, and standing out against its peers.
Longevity
Any new music that sounds good is proclaimed a classic. Then, we listen for a while and it becomes a good album. A few more listens go by, now the album is just alright. More time goes by, the album becomes forgotten.
This cycle doesn't happen with classics.
Frank Ocean fans survived four years off 'Channel ORANGE' alone. Lil Wayne fans have memorized the Carter II and III to the point where they can probably guess some lines on the 'Carter V'.
A truly classic album gives off the same emotion no matter how many listens and no matter how much time goes by. Just as some albums sound great at first and die off, there are albums that go unrecognized at first and pick up steam as time goes by.
It took months for Bryson Tiller's 'Trapsoul' to blow up and it seems like the more Drake drops the more people seem to miss 'Take Care'. Like most art, when the quality is good the recognition will always eventually follow.
Impact
When an album is really good, you and everyone around you knows it. That album seems to be the only thing you hear people talking about--sometimes to the point of aggravation.
Day-1 fans turn into a cult following. The recreational listener starts to claim to be day-1 fans. People who've never heard of the artist find themselves becoming a recreational listener.
And that is how an artist blows up; think, Chance the Rapper after 'Coloring Book' dropped.
A classic album's impact stretches farther than just gaining fans, though.
A true classic changes the masses and the artist's entire genre.
Eminem single-handedly destroyed the censor on an entire generation of kids, J Cole resurrected having a featureless album, Jay-Z killed me posing with a money phone before I even had the chance, and the list goes on and on.
Lastly, classics create new careers. Sometimes those careers work out, J Cole to Nas, and that past artist's fans latch on with support to the new artist. Other times those new careers just seem like clear rip-offs, Desiigner to Future, and the fans never really support that new artist.
Besting Your Peers
This one seems self-explanatory, but it's more complicated than it might seem. The complication comes from the keyword peers.
Future's 'DS2' is a clear classic, but it'd never get that acclaim if it was judged the same way as a Kendrick album--and vice versa. Most newer artists will never have a 'Good Kid Maad City', but they can shoot for a 'DS2'.
Any artist can make a classic regardless of genre. Here comes the self-explanatory part.
When a special album drops, suddenly other artists aren't getting the attention they usually deserve. Prime example, Joey Bada$$' 'ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$' started collecting dust after one week, due to Kendrick Lamar dropping 'DAMN'. Artists know this and that's why friendly competitions like Kanye-50 Cent and Tyler, the Creator-Meek Mill occur. Music is just as much a sport as it is an art and with that sport comes competition.
Hold off on calling the next good album you hear a classic. First, wait a couple of weeks and see if you still like it. Next, see if people and things around you are changing with correlation to that album. Lastly, stack the album up against the latest albums of the artist's peers. If you still like the album, notice the impact, and see that the album is the best out of the peer group then congratulations you might have a classic.
Fun fact: the word classic was used 18 times in the making of this article.