Starting with the understanding that recreating Illmatic was always going to be a tall order, the criticisms of Nas’s sophomore album, It Was Written, have always felt a bit nitpicky. There are those who claim the glossy sheen of the production was too far removed from Illmatic’s raw boom-bap. To me, this rings a bit hollow when you consider the direction rap was being pushed in via Bad Boy and Roc-A-Fella at the time (besides, “Shootouts,” “Live Nigga Rap,” and “The Message” provide enough head-nodding knock to last a lifetime). Some preferred “Nasty” Nas to the newly unveiled Mafioso character, Nas Escobar, but the gloriously detailed depictions of the underworld painted throughout the album are too good for me to ignore. Others were just plain mad that rap’s golden child managed to score a crossover radio single, but when that single is as excellent as “If I Ruled the World” (Ms. Lauryn Hill’s voice is angelic, and Esco’s verses retain all the prodigal wizardry of his Illmatic performances), how am I supposed to be mad at that? Life’s a lot easier when you just accept that Nas came out of the gate with two outstanding albums in a row.

Unlike the dream-team lineup of producers he scored the first time out, this album is largely produced by Trackmasters’ Poke & Tone (credited for half the album’s tracks), with Havoc and DJ Premier chipping in as well. One of the coolest moments on the album comes about midway through, with Dr. Dre and Nas chopping it up before a sinister, unmistakably West Coast–sounding Dre track starts booming. The chorus is whatever, but hearing Nas get loose over something like this is truly special, especially within the context of hip-hop at the time. We also get our first glimpse of the Nas who can’t help but push himself to write outside of the box with “I Gave You Power,” a song written from the perspective of a pistol, backed by yet another DJ Premier gem.

There are many moments where Nas is unfairly graded against a once-in-a-lifetime body of work, but It Was Written was definitely the first. On its own, it’s another example of his undeniable writing talent, unequaled flow, and mic presence, with much better production than people like to give it credit for. Opinions may vary as to which version of Nas listeners prefer, but there’s no denying It Was Written as another landmark release.