The Dec 1999/Jan 2000 issue of Vibe included Purple Rain in its 100 Best Albums of the Century article. It said that Prince was attempting to crossover and discovered that "when it rains, it pours". Also in the side bar in which they asked other artists what their favorites albums were, Celia of Les Nubians named Sign of the Times calling it a chronicle of our time. Now if I could figure out how Death Certificate from Ice Cube made the list I could rest easy.