8. "I didn't know he worked w/Dan the Automator !! That's great." In response to Reply # 5
Also, to the point of the tweet about grinding for many years, that's like a running theme of this year's hip-hop deaths. DOOM, DMX, Black Rob ... all were grinding in the early 90s, and didn't really pop or hit their strides until the late 90s.
9. "yeah it's pretty nuts when you compare then to now." In response to Reply # 8
and you're right, i was also thinking about how those specific artists you mentioned had all recently passed and all have good music from that early 90s/mid 90s time frame yet didn't become recognized names until years later, and how that's different from what today's artists can do.