Well the thing is Born To Reign really isn't that much of a ground breaking attempt to be different.
Wasn't exactly the freshest sounding album released at the time. So i don't know why people keep saying Will was terying something new, cos live instrument based recording was hardly a new thing in Hip-Hop.
It was a slight change for WIll, but not drastic. It was just not on a par to pervious albums in quality