artists to grow when we've become accustomed to them making certain kinds of music....

Nas has often talked abt how fans and music critics alike say and write how "Illmatic" is one of the greatest records ever recorded in HipHop yet that cd probably still ain't even platinum...I know when it dropped it mainly got love on the underground HipHop circuit...and as a result Nas' follow up cd(s) to 'Illmatic' was an attempt at commercial success and he pretty stayed on that path until "Stillmatic."

Remember when Dr. Dre wanted to get away from doing 'gangsta rap?' how did his fanbase received that?

Outkast grew to become one of the most successful HipHop acts ever but in order to achieve that they had to leave a lot of their fanbase behind who weren't that receptive to "Atliens" and wanted to hear some more "Southerplayalisticadillacmuzik."

How many times have we heard Jay z bring up how ppl are still yearning for some more "Reasonable Doubt" type of music?

HipHop fans can be very narrow when it comes to their musical taste, especially when it involves their favorite artists making different types of music.

Look how Common was criticized for trying to do something different when he made "Electric Circus" which I thought was a very good, eclectic record.

So the problem is not w/Nas, it's with us the listeners....

Some of those projects while they weren't commercially successful were actually good records. I thought "Nigga" was a good concept cd.