Released September 12, 2000 on the Def Jam label, the album topped the US Billboard 200, the rapper's first to reach number one.

The submission of beats took place when Scratch first met LL in the studio, as both men were working on the song "Ill Bomb," for Funkmaster Flex and DJ Big Kap's album, The Tunnel (1999).

[3] Entertainment Weekly's Tom Sinclair noted that the album "finds the Queens-bred rapper in near top form.

Talking trash, passing the mic to guests like DMX and Snoop Dogg, reeling off endlessly inventive boasts — he makes it all seem as easy as chillin’ on the boulevard on a hot summer night.

The only downer is the creeping note of defensiveness, as though the old goat (who's all of 32) felt compelled to convince a new generation he's still relevant.

Although a solid album by a gifted performer, it feels like the work of a rapper chasing trends instead of following his own path.