you can go back to any decade and see it for yourself. with the exception of thriller of course. Stevie was probably the top black artist in the 70's but i'm almost positive that you can find several white acts that sold more. their fan base is naturally bigger. the success of the beastie boys and eminem in hip hop is the same thing. were the beastie boys better than run-dmc at that time? was eminem better than jay or nas? they definitely sold more. with that said, the beastie boys, eminem and adele are all talented but being white is also part of their success. that can't be ignored.