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It shipped 500,000 copies in the United States and the RIAA certified it Gold on November 16, 1994. It peaked at number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 14 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and reached number 3 on the Hot Rap Singles. 'Juicy' was released as the lead single on August 8, 1994. 'Things Done Changed' was also one of the few hip hop songs in The Norton Anthology of African American Literature.

In the original Rolling Stone review, Cheo H Coker declared that he 'maintains a consistent level of tension by juxtaposing emotional highs and lows'.

The album is also noted for its dark tone and sinister sense of depression. Touré, writing for The New York Times, referred to The Notorious B.I.G., proclaiming that he stood out from other rappers because 'his lyrics mix autobiographical details about crime and violence with emotional honesty, telling how he felt while making a living as a drug dealer'. He also went on to mention that his lyrics are 'firmly rooted in reality, but play like scene from a movie'. Many critics applauded his story-telling ability such as AllMusic writer Steve Huey, who stated 'His raps are easy to understand, but his skills are hardly lacking—he has a loose, easy flow and a talent for piling multiple rhymes on top of one another in quick succession'. The Notorious B.I.G.'s lyrics on the album were generally praised by critics.