I think that's just it..he didn't have an established 'lane' or 'wave'. And right, there was no shenanigans.
Lincoln Way Nights was pretty much a c-word album to me. I wore it all the way out. Supreme production and the raps were right in the pocket from where I sat. Ohio and the first MMG mixtape/album were money too. I don't know what happened really.
I fell into Stalley at the same time I did with the current rendition of Curren$y for instance. I thought they both blazed Address from Pilot Talk and was in on them both ever since.
Maybe he's too much of a 90s rapper with the spaced out releases where Curren$y is so prolific that he wins on sheer volume, show money, and side hustles. Also, Spitta has managed the hell out of his relationships to get the producers and collabs to keep him around. Meanwhile, it seems like Stalley had his main crew and that was him at his best even when he got with MMG. And even though it didn't work, I saw the MMG move as logical at the time. But hey, can we say for sure that Wale won out via MMG after the initial run? Is Ross himself winning when he's one of the few dudes messing around with major label stuff (changing singles, rejecting albums/songs) in 2019? Maybe the lump sums makes it all okay in his case.
3. "I'm still a fan...but he seems to have an identity crisis." In response to Reply # 0
I was (and still am) big on his work with Rashad - LWN, Ohio, a gang of B-Sides. It was a distinct, quality sound. Ohio just wasn't marketed correctly IMO and wasn't as successful as it could have been. But during that run he had a gang of good, focused projects - Honest Cowboy, Savage Journey, Saving Yusuf, some I'm not remembering...then after his MMG breakup, he drops the Tell the Truth series which he's just going all the way left and really not sounding like himself, a disappointment to say the least. His recent work finds him getting back into his groove, so hopefully he can find his legs again.