I'm 29, so I was like maybe 14 when I grabbed that cd….and I know that the popular narrative, and undoubtedly this existed was that Nas sold out, but at that time, to me he could do no wrong. 'I Am' was my favorite cd back then, and we all loved 'You Owe Me' and 'Nastradamus', I remember buying that at Target my boy copped that Irv Gotti Presents 'The Murderers' (which is hilarious in retrospect that would even exist)…I didn't have many issues with it, 'Life We Chose', title track, 'Project Windows', 'Come Get Me', 'Shoot Em Up', 'Last Words', and Family',….it was weaker then 'I Am', but i didn't hate it…
Looking back now, and even in the mid 2000's, yes it was rushed, and the lyrics on some tracks were reminiscent of the worst of the Esco phase, haphazard and loose, not sharp like Nas was usually…He relaxed a little, and phoned in some bars…and 'Big Girl' was always wack…but it's not a bad album, weaker entry in the catalogue, yes, but not some glaring, unforgivable, debacle. That video is still hilarious, such a contrast in eras of the game, a fukking 3D video for a Nas single, over an old sample, wearing ridiculous outfits, on some shyt like 'fiends rob cab drivers just for a fix', and 'so broke brown, coke, won't sell/spending ya money on weed smoke in hotels'