I agree with what KoffeeBlakk said about Petey Pablo. I got his first album and I fairly enjoyed the album. But the difference between "Raise Up", and "Freak-a-leak" just turned me off. One point I will disagree with you on is getting past somebody's single. The whole point of a single is to turn people on to your album. It's just not everybody chooses to promote a different kind of single nowadays.
And 50, I thought his albums held up as far as mass appeal. "The Massacre" got a mixed reaction but everyone around me that I knew seemed to want it. And when I read a review between 'old school' and 'new school', "A Baltimore Love Thing" was actually a good song, even tho he personified being a drug. And anyway, Ted, 50 is not oging to change. It would take something miraculous but it's not going to happen. 50 and others have already dug a hole for their image. And with that, it's going to affect their personal lives a bit.