Both X and Juice got most of their success from outside the hip hop stratosphere. That's why you have people thinking x was never that popular when he was going platinum before he died, hip hop fans weren't the ones listening to him so his stardom seems strange, almost plant like from the perspective of the average hip hop fan. Same thing with juice, you would have never know just how big he was if you only paid attention to hip hop.Xs rise was bigger, and shyt he had a probably more dedicated fanbase and that’s saying a lot because Juice rose quickly and gained a loyal fanbase before his death as well. With that said Lucid Dreams was bigger than any X song before his death, and X couldn’t be bigger because of his charges and shyt. That’s why Xs posthumous albums like Skins sold well but nowhere near Juice album or Pop Smoke, even though he is by far the more interesting artist than the other two, his charges and what people think he was holds him back
That's what makes someone a popstar in my opinion. Popularity and support across musical boarders. DaBaby might be more popular than they were among hip hop fans, gets more play on hip hop platforms, but I dont know if people outside of rap really know his music like that. Most of his fanbase seems to be fans of hip hop.