Jean Grae didn't blow up. She was so nice on the mic.
Not necessarily the same level of talent as Jean, but Rapsody is in that same kinda of lane. It would be a struggle for Rapsody to blow up.
Rapsody can rap, she just don't make music that connects with the masses.
It is not female thing though. We've seen over the years male artists just like Rapsody. Hip-Hop darlings who never blew up because the game is "watered down" and they "weren't promoted right".
That is key. Does your music, your style, etc. connect with people?
There are many ways to do that. Kendrick and Travis Scott: two different type of artists. Yet, they connect with people on a large scale.
Plus, Rapsody is down with 9th wonder. His style of music was throwback 90's sh*t when he first came out with Little Brother. He never really made commercially appealing music like that. Yeah, he did the joint for Jay, did "Girl" for destiny's child, and "Honey" for Badu, but he was mostly an underground/niche type cat with the beats.