I'm tired of this revisionist history bullshyt.
Back then Jay got CLOWNED for tracks like Sunshine and that Lil Kim and Puffy shyt
(I don't even remember the name of it because I always skip that shyt).
Nas got some hate from the Illmatic crowd for going "commercial" but he was still respected as an MC.
Jay is top 5 all time and Vol.1 had some classic tracks but on that album he showed early signs of his trend hopping tendencies (Jiggy/Badboy era). He hopped on the next trend (Ruff Ryder era) the right way and came back strong with Vol.2 (as far as respect and acceptance), though. Can't hate on the man for trying to be relevant but it def did backfire on him back in 97.