This in turn made Nas reconsider his approach, in which the Mafiaso rap would be a guarantee that he would be more popular and gain an influx of profits. It Was Written was released in 1996, and went multiplatinum. At a cost, many concluded that Nas sold out for monetary gains, and that the lyrical wizardry he displayed on his first album, was now but obsolete. It could be concluded that a fear of failure could have been a driving force in Nas alternating his style. While it is proven that Illmatic, while setting a standard in lyricism didn’t go platinum until 2002, Nas could have hypothesized that if he couldn’t trigger sells in the Mecca of hip hop when lyricism were still a precedent, then he would leave no matter of chance to replicate the same formula, with the same or worst results.
But on the opposite side of the artist being conflicted on a follow up from their classic album, there are those who take the bold approach of strengthening their musical palette. For Kanye West, his debut The College Dropout brought back the blizzard of the complete rap album; pop station-ready singles mixed with socially conscious, backpack themed raps with grade A songwriting. When it was time to record the follow up, Late Registration, he hired Fiona Apple producer Jon Brion to help produce and arrange his album. The end product was lush, cleaner; with more strings, pop manifestation and a combo of jazz, classical and funk on top of West’s excellent soulful sampled production. It was a sound that the two producers introduced to the listening public, and perhaps never heard since. It is considered, after My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy as his best album, but it took a bold belief in West’s self to accomplish. It could have been easy for West to replicate the same formula that made him a star the previous year.