The album was received moderately from a critical standpoint and was a commercial success. It reached number three on the US Billboard 200, with 185,000 copies sold in its first week.[2]Street Dreams had four charting singles. Produced by Just Blaze and guest vocals from Lil' Mo and Mike Shorey, "Can't Let You Go" reached number one on the Rhythmic Top 40, and number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. "Into You" with the help of Ashanti/Tamia also reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100. The remix of "Trade It All", which featured P. Diddy and Jagged Edge reached number 20 on the chart.
Street Dreams was met with "mixed or average" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 51 based on 13 reviews.[3]Billboard found that Street Dreams was a "little too padded for its own good, and a handful of tracks suffer from all-too-familiar samples that have been used in recent hits by other artists. Luckily for the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based rapper, the appeal of the album's best moments, coupled with its star power, compensate for any shortcomings."[9] Nathan Rabin from The A.V. Club called the album "disappointing" and wrote: "While a delight on guest appearances, he has yet to prove that he can construct memorable songs, let alone a solid album. Fabolous may not be in Jay-Z's league lyrically, but as a conspicuous consumer, he's poised to give the Roc-A-Fella big shot a run for his money."[10]Entertainment Weekly's Ta-Nehisi Coates found that "the ideas are thin and the beats thinner [...] Fabolous himself comes off as being lighter than Jared from Subway — with all of Jay-Z’s arrogance, but none of his charisma."[1]
Street Dreams debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 with 185,000 copies sold in its first week.[2] This became Fabolous' second US top-ten debut.[2] In its second week, the album dropped to number seven on the chart, selling an additional 92,600 copies.[11] In its third week, the album dropped to number eight on the chart, selling 64,000 more copies.[12] On September 22, 2003, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over a million copies.[13] As of August 2004, the album sold over 1.3 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen Soundscan.[14]
