I wish I would have bet that Mobb would chart. The name, the demand, Alchemist involved, Nas features all over the project. Grats to Mass Appeal, Mobb Deep, Nas, everyone involved.
They also had a loooooot of promo. And you could tell that a lot of the traditional media, which often has no one to truly interview in depth, really enjoyed the process. Shade 45, Big Boy, Jada & Fat Joe, Hot 97, etc.
We keep getting proof that there's a clear market for older rap artists, and the infrastructure is in place to market it. There are always going to be fans who just don't know an artist they loved 10+ years ago dropped a new album. I was talking to somebody a few months ago who had no idea Nas dropped multiple albums in the last 5 years lmao. A lot of these older people (often men with lives/jobs/family/etc) don't know when something is coming out but they stumble across rap media. So going out and working records to ACTIVATE your fanbase is key. Maybe you chart. Maybe you don't. But history says you're going to at least get those people to come to a show/concert. So it's worth it.