Editing Nas (section)

===1998–2001: Heightened commercial direction and inconsistent output===
[[File:Nas-04.jpg|thumb|Nas in 1998]]
In late 1998, Nas began working on a double album, to be entitled ''I Am... The Autobiography''; he intended it as the middle ground between ''Illmatic'' and ''It Was Written'', with each track detailing a part of his life.<ref name="allmusic" /> In 1998, Nas co-wrote and starred in [[Hype Williams]]'s feature film ''[[Belly (film)|Belly]]''.<ref name="allmusic" /> ''I Am... The Autobiography'' was completed in early 1999, and a music video was shot for its lead single, "[[Nas Is Like]]". It was produced by [[DJ Premier]] and contained vocal samples from "[[It Ain't Hard to Tell]]". Music critic M.F. DiBella noticed that Nas also covered "politics, the state of hip-hop, [[2000|Y2K]], [[Race (classification of human beings)|race]], and religion with his own unique perspective" in the album besides autobiographical lyrics.<ref>{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r400739|pure_url=yes}}|title=I Am...The Autobiography > Overview|last=DiBella|first=M.F.|date=April 6, 1999|website=allmusic|access-date=March 6, 2009}}</ref> Much of the LP was leaked into MP3 format onto the Internet, and Nas and Stoute quickly recorded enough substitute material to constitute a single-disc release.<ref name="Weinstein"/>

The second single on ''[[I Am... (Nas album)|I Am...]]'' was "[[Hate Me Now]]", featuring [[Sean Combs|Sean "Puffy" Combs]], which was used as an example by Nas's critics accusing him of moving towards more commercial themes. The video featured Nas and Combs being [[crucifixion|crucified]] in a manner similar to Jesus Christ; after the video was completed, Combs requested his crucifixion scene be edited out of the video. However, the unedited copy of the "Hate Me Now" video made its way to MTV. Within minutes of the broadcast, Combs and his bodyguards allegedly made their way into [[Steve Stoute]]'s office and assaulted him, at one point apparently hitting Stoute over the head with a champagne bottle. Stoute pressed charges, but he and Combs [[legal settlement|settled out-of-court]] that June.<ref name="Weinstein"/> Columbia had scheduled to release the [[music piracy|infringed]] material from ''I Am...'' under the title ''[[Nastradamus]]'' during the later half of 1999, but, at the last minute, Nas decided to record an entire new album for the 1999 release of ''[[Nastradamus]]''. ''Nastradamus'' was therefore rushed to meet a November release date. Though critical reviews were unfavorable, it did result in a minor hit, "[[You Owe Me (Nas song)|You Owe Me]]".<ref name="allmusic" /> Fans and critics feared that Nas's career was declining, artistically and commercially, as both ''I Am...'' and ''Nastradamus'' were criticized as inconsistent and overtly-commercialized.<ref name="cowie">Cowie, Del. [http://www.exclaim.ca/index.asp?layid=22&csid=1&csid1=3163 Nas: Battle Ready]. [[Exclaim!]]. Retrieved on January 20, 2007.</ref>

In 2000, ''[[Nas & Ill Will Records Presents QB's Finest]]'', which is popularly known as simply ''QB's Finest'', was released on Nas's [[Ill Will Records]].<ref name="allmusic" /> ''QB's Finest'' is a compilation album that featured Nas and a number of other rappers from [[Queensbridge Houses|Queensbridge]] projects, including [[Mobb Deep]], [[Nature (rapper)|Nature]], [[Capone-N-Noreaga|Capone]], the [[Bravehearts]], [[Tragedy Khadafi]], Millennium Thug and [[Cormega]], who had briefly reconciled with Nas. The album also featured guest appearances from Queensbridge hip-hop legends [[Roxanne Shanté]], [[MC Shan]], and [[Marley Marl]]. Shan and Marley Marl both appeared on the lead single "Da Bridge 2001", which was based on Shan & Marl's 1986 recording "The Bridge".<ref>{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r507398|pure_url=yes}}|title=QB Finest > Overview|last=Conaway|first=Matt|date=November 21, 2000|website=allmusic|access-date=March 6, 2009}}</ref>