"You Owe Me" was a hit unless you want to argue that "If I Ruled The World" wasn't a hit bevause it peakes at #53.
That Wiki section is bogus. He dropped two albums in one year between '98-'00. Both of those were platinum with one of them going 2X platinum. The only thing iconsistent was the quality.
How were the sales consistent? One album sold a million less than the other and they dropped in the same year. That's half as many copies sold from one album to the next. That's a huge decline in audience.
It was his lowest selling album since his debut. That's not a coincidence. And Nastradamus went platinum in a month, which means a lot of it was off of his name & rep. It was also buoyed by being release in the 4th quarter, which is notorious for higher sales because of the Holidays. So from 2000 til Stillmatic dropped, he sold almost no albums or singles. He dropped almost no music that resonated with mainstream fans. So of course he disappeared from mainstream consciousness.
And If I Ruled The World wasn't a hit in the way you think it or You Owe Me were hits. Street Dreams and I Can were actual hits.
It's a classic song, but it's not a hit. Ruff Ryder's Anthem wasn't a hit either. It was a B Side. But it's a classic and it has more lasting value than any other hit DMX song or single. Same goes for PSA for Jay Z. If I Ruled The World is in that category. You Owe Me isn't.
But Nas isn't a singles artist, he's an album artist. Which is why it's a bigger deal that he sold half as much and then didn't drop anything of substance til Stillmatic.
Oh if Wiki said it, it must be true!
How old are you because back then you didn't constantly hear music from rappers. They dropped their albums, maybe did some features and toured. There wasn't mixtapes thrown out every 3 months and they didn't release every single thing they ever recorded like it is now. There wasn't social media so there was no immediate constant connection to the artist, we got interviews and we saw pics of them in the back pages of The Source.
Nastradamus was weak but he He found his feet again after a lackluster release, came back with a classic AND won the beef with the biggest rapper at the time.
He found his footing again 2 years later. That was my entire point. He disappeared after Nastradamus flopped and came back in 2001. He even said it in Last Real nikka Alive. I'm making a simple point here.
BTW, I'm 30, for whatever that's worth to you.
And the wiki title is simply a reflection of the public's perception of Nas, which is all I'm pointing out by mentioning it.
All Nas albums are at least 2 years apart. And besides that, that was the norm back then, AT LEAST 2 years between albums. The only rappers dropping joints every year was Ice Cube and Jay Z (I'm sure there was probably a couple of others but they're the prominent ones I remember off top). I Am/Nastradamus was supposed to be a double album so the fact they released that within one year doesn't count. 
Nas wins the argument but And then there was X is a classic