That is the main point a lot of people do not realize. Illmatic was a good, short album, but there were many classic albums during that time.
People forget, Illmatic took a while to go platinum. There were a lot of albums I listened to during that time more than Illmatic. Outkast and Jeru debut album came out right after Illmatic, Hard to Earn had dropped right before.
Jeru was dropping science, literally, nobody was rapping about this type shit back then.
Best albums to me were group albums, and much longer albums.
I was around in 94, people were not breaking down doors to buy Illmatic at the time, but it was a great album. Took awhile to go platinum, most of the album was already on mixtapes way before. Halftime is old as shit.
I am one of Nas biggest fans, but people tend to exaggerate everything these days.