What defines a classic album? Does an album automatically become a classic simply because it is more than 20 years old?

For example, Danger de Mort by Quartier Latin and Everybody by King Kester Emeneya weren’t well received when they were  released, but today they are seen as classic albums.




So, what actually makes an album a classic? Is it the number of hit songs on the album? Is it its commercial success at the time of release? Or does an album become a classic when it has no skippable tracks and remains enjoyable from beginning to end?

Internet by Wenge BCBG is now 25 years old Can we consider it as a  classic album? It had hit songs such as “Sans Te Toucher,” “Jeannette,” and “Béa Zodéguem.” However, there are also a few songs that, in my opinion are skippable. Also, the générique wasn’t as well receivedwhen the album was released. I remember WMM fans mocking  BCBG-fans , calling them Wenge OK Jazz,  because of the generique Internet not having the same speed and energy as Opération Dragon and the many pauses

People are only saying Danger De Mort & Everybody are classics simply because the standard and quality of music these days have dropped big time.

For me personally a classic album is if there’s no skippable tracks or at least 1/2 songs I can skip. There’s a lot of albums that become classics due to how it’s aged over time and also the commercial success is a factor as well as long term impact.
Internet by JB Mpiana is an amazing album but as you said there’s some songs that I can skip ( I still don’t understand how they messed up the générique. 
When I look at Koffi his album run from 1990 to 2003 were all classics people debate about Attentat but again that album has aged better over time.

Would you consider A La queue leu leu a classic because it wasn’t as well received compared to Maison Mères previous projects.

i would agree its a combination of what u said a classic cant have any skips it gotta be perfect from beginning to end like Kin E Bouge or V12 and bonus points if it aged well over time for me its not a must theres plenty of albums that i love but might not have aged well over time, i wouldnt say danger de mort is classic cause the last five tracks feel like filler and arent really strong like the first 6 songs

I think a classic depends on how the album is. You guys are providing excellent context here. The standard quality of albums isn’t like the past so now we revisit those end up being classics.

I would say classic in my eyes is an album I will remember and that the project was pretty solid. I personally love every JB and Werra album (most of them). So I consider most as classics. I think it is an album we can always go back to and say oh man I remember this particular album etc.

People are only saying Danger De Mort & Everybody are classics simply because the standard and quality of music these days have dropped big time.

For me personally a classic album is if there’s no skippable tracks or at least 1/2 songs I can skip. There’s a lot of albums that become classics due to how it’s aged over time and also the commercial success is a factor as well as long term impact.
Internet by JB Mpiana is an amazing album but as you said there’s some songs that I can skip ( I still don’t understand how they messed up the générique. 
When I look at Koffi his album run from 1990 to 2003 were all classics people debate about Attentat but again that album has aged better over time.

Would you consider A La queue leu leu a classic because it wasn’t as well received compared to Maison Mères previous projects.

Danger de Mort is a hopeless album and in the last 30 years would only consider Ultimatum as a classic album by Koffi. As for Werra, i actually prefer "A la Queue leu leu" to "Operation Dragon". However, the former suffered because Operation Dragon raised expectations to an unprecendent level that Werra couldn't reach. It doesn't help matters that "A la Queue leu leu" was released in Dec, 6 months after the back to back zenith concert where all the songs had already been introduced. Thus, it suddenly looked like old material. In general, like Koffi's "attentat", you release an album and then do a mega concert rather than a mega concert and then an alum with the same material

A classic album should feel seamless, almost no skips. You can revisit the album for a favorite song or two, but could easily decide to listen to the entire album from start to finish. A lot of my favorite albums are very 10 to 12 tracks, very concise so that every song is methodically placed from the sebene to rhumba songs, look at your own artist's best record and you'll see that pattern.

People are only saying Danger De Mort & Everybody are classics simply because the standard and quality of music these days have dropped big time.

For me personally a classic album is if there’s no skippable tracks or at least 1/2 songs I can skip. There’s a lot of albums that become classics due to how it’s aged over time and also the commercial success is a factor as well as long term impact.
Internet by JB Mpiana is an amazing album but as you said there’s some songs that I can skip ( I still don’t understand how they messed up the générique. 
When I look at Koffi his album run from 1990 to 2003 were all classics people debate about Attentat but again that album has aged better over time.

Would you consider A La queue leu leu a classic because it wasn’t as well received compared to Maison Mères previous projects.

Danger de Mort is a hopeless album and in the last 30 years would only consider Ultimatum as a classic album by Koffi. As for Werra, i actually prefer "A la Queue leu leu" to "Operation Dragon". However, the former suffered because Operation Dragon raised expectations to an unprecendent level that Werra couldn't reach. It doesn't help matters that "A la Queue leu leu" was released in Dec, 6 months after the back to back zenith concert where all the songs had already been introduced. Thus, it suddenly looked like old material. In general, like Koffi's "attentat", you release an album and then do a mega concert rather than a mega concert and then an alum with the same material

Koffi got a lot of classics. I would say his last is even BEK.