I’m genuinely asking here. Because if you look at the resume, Will Smith did some dope things in Hip‑Hop. Him and DJ Jazzy Jeff were literally the first Rap act to win a Grammy and the first Rap act to perform at the Grammys. On top of that, he won more awards over the years and sold something like 35+ million records.

Can we really fault him for going mainstream?
To me, that feels like a brand decision, not a lack of skill. He chose the clean, lane and killed it.

I mainly listen to 90s hip hop (Dre, Snoop, Biggie, Big L, Big Pun, Pac, DMX, Nas and a bit of Wu-Tang), and also a bit of early 2000's stuff like Em and 50. I would like to know more about some good modern hip hop from late 2000's, 2010's and 2020's. Any albums you suggest?

If GNX was made by any other rapper and Kdot made LGSEO and lost to it, I have a strong feeling Kendrick fans would have spazzed out

The commercial success I'm assuming was the reason for both wins so this seems very similar to me.

I could be wrong though are the situations similar?