The thing about hip-hop albums (or rock-crossover albums by hip-hop stars, I guess) is that there’s no upside to the “modestly-selling release for the fans.” Hip-hop is unabashed in its desire for big, fat hits once an act has reached a platinum level of success. So you have to keep delaying and delaying a release (cf. Nelly, 50 Cent, Busta) until it’s guaranteed to make a splash, because no one’s going to say — the way they do with, say, Beck when he does a low-selling quickie project — “Oh, that’s okay, this is his side project; he’ll be back,” They have to keep pushing this Weezy-rocks thing until they think they can get a fat first week, or else he’s perceived as over.