Nelly but only cuz he had cats like Hammer to pave the way. Hammer with the endorsements, merch, and crossover appeal got a lot of hate in the late 80's/early 90's, but by the 00's every rapper that had the opportunity followed that blueprint. Nelly benefitted from not having that pop success be a hindrance, it actually was a badge of honor that allowed him to sustain a run much longer than I expected from him.
Old head here,
Hammer did have a cartoon




she the one in the pink swimsuit
.
,but as just a nice guy who made chicken commercials,and wack videos with Adams family,he's seen as a villian in hiphop.

?i just never hear about Prince being a thing like that,i remember Bobby Brown,hear about how huge Whitney was and witnessed some of that,i know about Michael,remember Hammer. even from watching old videos I can see where all these acts were that nikka at they peaks
