Incorrect. Mase's album was still selling all the way through when DMX dropped. You also have the Harlem World group album that came in between that, that did solid for a bunch of nobodies and Mase. People were listening to both of them at the same time, the sold units reflect that and I believe they dropped within half a year of each other.
You can't tell me that Mos Def was some obscure Hip Hop artist that people were not rocking with then.
It was the mtv pop fans who only listened to Mase and didn't listen to Mos Def or Talib who were not as poppy but we don't care about non-Hip Hop heads around here, right?
im not talking about mtv pop fans. im talking about the average black mase/bad boy fan. rawkus didn't inherit the bad boy audience at all.
mase/bad boy lost their spot to people like DMX, ruff ryders, jay-z, etc.
Im not saying that they instantly abandoned mase when those arists blew up. im simply saying they took mase/bad boy's spot.
and that harlem world group album was not poppin.
I never said rawkus was obscure. youre the one saying all of that. but they weren't as big as youre trying to make them out to be either.