Online comments ain't new.

Sure, you can read them on this site, Twitter, Facebook and Instgram now, but people have been using the Internet to voice opinions for years. Many times, those comments aren't positive. And that’s exactly what Nas received in 1994 when he dropped Illmatic. And yep, you read that right. There were Internet comments back in those days too.

Here's why negative comments about this album are particularly surprising (for those who weren't around then). Today, Illmatic is widely considered a classic. Last year, the rap world celebrated its 20th anniversary. There was even a critically acclaimed film - Time Is Illmatic - made all about it. But back when it was unleashed, the LP wasn't unanimously celebrated, and thanks to some online detective work by DJ Booth.net, we can all see what the 'Net was saying about Nas way back then.

While some folks thought Illmatic was "dope," others saw it as less than stellar. Just check out this comment by someone in a '94 chatroom.

yo I thought it was a let down... lyrically, it's all that, but beat wise

it's only a'ight... the pete rock song, halftime, and it ain't hard to tell

are the phattest joints on the album. the others are like too sparse or like

too damn slow with like singing and shit.

plus it's like 9 songs and 39

minutes, is that wack as hell or what? he shoulda chopped a few pages off that

big ass cd booklet and hooked up two or three more songs if you ask me...

but I have to admit, the lyrics are nice as hell.

That commenter wasn't alone. Others asked if Nas lived up to the hype and some wondered if AZ was a better rapper than Esco. Meanwhile, a track-by-track review shows some fans weren't exactly enamored with Nasty's beat selection.

While we looked back at these comments, we couldn't help but relisten to Nas' classic (despite what these folks thought back in '94). So, here's a little trip down "Memory Lane" with a stream of the entire phat album. Let us know what you think of the project in the comments.