people still talk about somebody like nas when nas commercially hasn't mattered to rap music in about 10 years baring his attempts to remain relevant with "shock" album titles and cashing in on his reputation aka getting 5 mics for his first LP.

yet you venture outside of OKP and you won't see anybody championing somebody like fabo as being the game-changing rapper he actually was because then they would have to acknowledge the actual "impact" and "influence" he had on mainstream rap music and what changes he helped usher in without any of the "buzz" or popularity that aided the success of his music on his side due to how much time has past.

it's odd to me that 10 years later, we're still championing a lot of the same acts we were championing 10 years ago.

what indirectly does this say about all the acts who existed in the time between?

maybe the focus on lyricism i'm discussing mattered to actual FANS and the lasting impact of their music in fan's hearts and minds way more than when people tried to pretend it didn't matter at all back in the 00's as evidenced by the "staying power" you alluded to...

that's my 2 cents, but i'm trying to stay objective in the OP.