This greatly affected Puff Daddy, and with a combination of aggressive and introspective lyrics, he conveys an emotionally vulnerable state representing the before and after of B.I.G.

Additional production was provided by Jaz-O, while the album contains features from the Notorious B.I.G., Busta Rhymes, Mase, Lil' Kim, Carl Thomas, Jay-Z, Black Rob, the LOX, Ginuwine, Twista, Foxy Brown, Faith Evans, and 112.

Jordan, Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie, Nashiem Myrick and Ron Lawrence as well as engineers Axel Niehaus and Tony Maserati down to the Caribbean Sound Basin studio in Maraval, Trinidad, along with everything that they needed to craft hits.

This successful album led to Puff Daddy to be named as one of Forbes' 40th highest-paid entertainers, along with southern hip hop rapper Master P and Oprah Winfrey.

The music video for "Been Around the World" features cameo appearances by Jennifer Lopez, playing Puff Daddy's love interest in a fictional storyline.

[4] The song titled "No Way Out" performed by Puff Daddy, appeared on the soundtrack for the film Money Talks (1997), but is not included on this album.

Since its release, the album has been evaluated in the context of the East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry and deaths of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G.

[5] For Vibe, Michael A. Gonzales praised the producers for creating "fierce, moody sonic mainpulations that are changing the soundscapes of pop music".

"The replay value is astronomical, and the album is packed full of great beats, classic singles and excellent guest appearances," wrote Jesal Padania for the site.

[10] Reviewing the album in 2017, Pitchfork rated it 7.8 out of 10 points, regarding it as "a party record spotted with bouts of depression and sorrow" and "feel-good music that tops the charts".

Grading the album a C+, Entertainment Weekly critic J. D. Considine pointed out "the obvious contradictions within their shoot-first, mourn-your-friends-later attitude" of Puff Daddy and his collaborators.

[7] For Billboard, Havelock Nelson commented: "...the over-reliance on huge swathes of undiluted samples is simply clumsy, lazy, and demeaning to the sources.

"[6] MTV acknowledged that Puff Daddy's repurposing of older songs was commercially successful but pointed out: "...there is a clear difference between sampling snippets and manipulating them into a beat...and just straight-away rapping over a relatively recent hit record.

"[8] For Rolling Stone, Nathan Brackett compared Puff Daddy's rapping style on the tracks with guest appearances by The Notorious B.I.G.

The song became the first in hip hop to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for 11 consecutive weeks, while topping several other charts worldwide.