territories like that, it's not always because there's no creative wiggle room left there.

Sometimes an artist can, understandably, imo, feel like no matter how crazy you flip a jazz record, for example, people will ALWAYS say "TROY better".
It happens, whether it's warranted or not.
Even if What Goes Around was 400% better than it is (and I really like it), legacy wise? It'll never go in the same sentence as Low End Theory or Mecca & the Soul Brother. & if he repeated that feat several times over, Statik still would never join the ranks of Q-Tip or Pete Rock. We hip hop heads don't believe in that kind of post-golden era upward mobility.

Just like how any poppin, lockin pop/r&b dude, no matter how much he elevates the game, will ALWAYS be considered a MJ wannabe at best.

I'm just sayin, maybe the jazz that's dead is the culture (including the amount of critical & commercial props available to even the most exemplary practitioners), not just the music.