Thing about it is... the album version of most of the songs on this particular album were different (read: watered down) than the radio versions, which was an annoying habit with him for over a decade. Made some really cool grooves (and had some hilarious and legendary on-air "beefs"), but seemed to always undermine his popularity with compilations with modified tracks.

On the other hand, his collabs with LL and former rival KRS-ONE were on point...

Good point. And especially with LL.