I mean, he went platinum. The Suge Knight / Puff Daddy war aside, all of the top acts of the late '80s and'90s were remarkably similar in talent, in good part because they were still true successors to the original hip hop movement. In a more authentic hip hop / rap musical space, there's no cover for bad rhythm and poorly conceived lyrics. Just as Combs and Notorious BIG intoned with "Hypnotize", rappers have to be able to engage their audience on their own lyrical / rhythmic merits, much as any other musician would with his or her own instrument. There's a reason why guys like Combs or Dr. Dre can have careers as a producer with the same kind of success they had as artists. The introduction of EDM with its pop vocal overlays has somewhat helped less talented rap artists to achieve mainstreau success, so it could be argued that some of the more recent acts are not as good as their success indicates.