T.I.M.E. (The Inner Mind's Eye)

Elektra Records A&R Dante Ross revealed that aside from internal conflict, another thing that caused the group to disband was their insistence to release T.I.M.E. (The Inner Mind's Eye), against Ross' objections:

When Leaders of the New School turned in their second album it was bad – from me to you, it wasn't a good record. I tried to change the record, make it better. They went back in the studio, had to do it again. It wasn't working. Busta though, I knew was a star. Busta was killing it on the 'Scenario' remix, and when we went to make the second Leaders of the New School record I had Q-Tip ready to help me make the whole record with them, like the way he did for Mobb Deep's album. None of them dude's were with it except Bus, and I saw right there that Bus is smarter than these dudes – he's thinking. I'm gonna be honest with you, making that record – when they turned it in the first time, and I knew it was wack and I sent back in – I told Chris Lighty and Lyor Cohen, 'It's time to think about Busta doin' a solo record.' In the interim of that record comin' out, 'Flava in Ya Ear' [remix] came out, so I was verified that he was a star to me. I knew the record was bad, that when they turned it in the second time I couldn't make it no better – they would not let me. I was like, 'Yo, put the record out, it's not gonna perform but let's get Busta thinkin' solo deal'. And that’s what happened.[1]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
RapReviews	7/10[3]
The Source	4/5[4]

The Source critic dream hampton called the album "a rarity in hip-hop—a sophomore album that is better than the debut", further stating, "you can't help waiting for Busta to get on the mic."[4] Stanton Swihart of AllMusic described it as "an endlessly interesting listen", concluding that "T.I.M.E. is a much more mature work, both musically and lyrically" than A Future Without a Past....[2]

• Unreleased tracks "Emotional" and "Oooh Baby" were left off the album.