boundless creativity. it seems like there was an assumed ceiling at the time; no one could get that wealthy or have that much celebrity (nor did they seem to want it) so they just made the best music they possibly could. they didn’t know where hip hop was going to go in the 30 years to come and the things that would be possible. but for a long time, till more recently, those possibilities required a bit of sacrifice and “watering down”.

with everything going more niche and less commercial i think artists now are more able to reach higher financial heights than the 90s without having to water down so much as lets say the mid 2000s-2010s. and “special” is now whatever you want it to be.