98-2000 he was hand down top 5. Biggie/Pac were dead. LL was hit or miss. He's a legend tho on commercial success. First two albums ...
It entered the charts at number one (and stayed there for 3 consecutive weeks) with 670,000 units shipped in the first week.
[7] The album eventually went
3x Platinum in the US.
[8] He is the second rapper to have two albums released in the same calendar year debut at number one on
Billboard's Top 200, the first being
2Pac with
All Eyez on Me (February 1996) and
The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (November 1996), although the latter album was released posthumously under the alias Makaveli making DMX the first to release two number one albums alive by the same name in under a year.
[9]
The album debuted at number one on the
Billboard 200, and sold 251,000 copies in its first week in the United States.
[10] The album became certified quadruple platinum by
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on December 18, 2000.
[11]
And for rap albums, there was nothing as raw as his fist two from a major label guy when rap was just very commercial. He did a lto of films and award shows in a short amount of time. I don't think the spotlight lasts forever for many rappers. he did his thing, but had issues with drugs and lust, and had to go broke. 3rd and 4th albums were like 3/4 times platinum, but I wasn't feeling them as much. He crossed over to film and other media quick.