cm_millionaire said:^^It was never intended to be released in such proximity as 'I Am'. The aforementioned album was supposed to be a double album and NaS himself has said he never planned to release 'Nastradamus' otherwise. It was made to do big numbers, everything NaS dropped after Illmatic up until Stillmatic was intended to do big numbers.
I Am.. was supposed to be a double album but the second disc was leaked on the Internet therefore the execs decided to only release it as a single disc. The Lost Tapes then constituted a large share of the leaked songs off I Am.. As you are a clued in guy I'm presuming you know the rest of the story so I shan't elaborate further. However the crux of my point is this, Nastradamus was a rushed project perhaps only 4 or 5 months in the making. To get a Platinum return on a project everyone agrees was not up to Nas' usual standards constitutes a success rather than a flop, does it not?