It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back was named one of the 100 greatest albums of all time by Time magazine, "the greatest rap album of all time, a landmark and a classic" by Q, and "the greatest hip-hop album ever" by New Musical Express. Rolling Stone ranked the album No. 48 on its list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", the highest-ranked of the 27 hip-hop albums on the list. Music from the album has been sampled by the likes of the Beastie Boys, Game, Jay Z, Jurassic 5, Madonna and My Bloody Valentine. It has been reissued on cassette with a 3D lenticular case.