It's a new phenomenon though...
When Special Ed recorded "I Got It Made" people weren't trying to find out if he really owned and Island in Tahiti and had a dog with a solid gold bone... I guess the internet changed the game in that regard...
Dudes started treating rappers like their favorite sports teams in the late 90's...I guess the only way to keep score is by watching their pockets..
Well, we live in the internet age now. Where if so and so rapper makes a claim we can google shyt or w.e. if gunplay says he hasn't been gotten got a few times, there's proof right in front of us to discredit his claims.
plus, after rappers started bragging about how many albums they sold that had a part in it, as well. its like if you're not selling 500k plus on your first album and have 3 plat singles, with just 1 mixtape out prior you ain't shyt or irrelevant to some people. it's dumb, but it's the way it is.