Now Jermaine Dupri on the other hand...
That negro didn't have an original bone in his body. He was THEE trend-hopper of the '90s. One year, he had these kids from Atlanta wearing Yankees hats and rappin' like Treach, the next year they're dressin' and rappin' like Snoop Dogg over funk beats... if they had made it to '97, you woulda seen 'em in shiny suits just like he was
To play devil's advocate maybe he was just adapting to the times.
Biggie came out on some hardcore hoodies and timbs shyt cuz that was the style in 93
Next thing you know he's Coogi down to the socks rings and watch filled with rocks in 95
To the million dollar videos in 97
To the point of this thread, that "ruff rugged and raw" image and sound took over in 93 and rappers risked falling off (some tried going hardcore and fell off anyway). But for new rappers coming in like Biggie it was natural to look and sound like that. Same with Wu-Tang.
Notice the ones that blew up from that image (Onyx) couldn't adapt as the 90s progressed whereas Biggie and to a lesser extent Wu did (never shiny suits but they and specifically Method Man had women on lock)