He had a long career. Was in Masters of Ceremony even before Brand Nubian too.
And he had a lot of buzz for his solo debut and it just wasn't that good.
Them solo debuts used to make or break a nikka. If you was a highly anticipated rapper and you dropped a great album, your career took off - Nas, Big, Snoop, Redman, etc...
But if you was a highly anticipated rapper and your debut disappointed, then it was really hard to recover back then - Canibus, Drag-On, Big L (I like the album a lot, but it was considered a disappointment when it dropped compared to expectations).