They definitely went "pop" on the second album. Meth talked about this before. Videos where they were using CGI to transform into swarms of bees and climbing buildings like Spider-Man, etc. LOL!! They got away from focusing on putting out raw Hip Hop. Even visuals. Which is why RZA said that Forever was when they started making "more accessible records". They turned into MTV darlings then.
What ODB was doing with Mariah was cool. That's a feature. He made that song doper with the remix. That wasn't his track. Meth's joint with Mary was the same because that was a street record that he just happened to get a Grammy on. But it was raw. But once your own music starts getting softer and the same outlets that didn't embrace you as much before, start championing you after you crossover, that's when you know you've switched and gone pop. You've lost your edge.
It's not hate though. Typically when the white audiences start buying into sh*t, it's way after the fact, and when the artists or group isn't making the kinda sh*t they were before. It's not a hipster thing because hipster culture is poser culture. This is more about purists. Black audiences don’t want their artists to switch up to bring in people who weren't f*cking with the music at its purest or the beginning. That's why "crossing over" was such a sin in Hip Hop. You're not supposed to change your sh*t to bring in more people. They're just supposed to support you the way you are, not expect you to change to gain more coverage and ears. That's always been Hip Hop 101.
