Why does influence matter so much?

Good point about Jordan. Sometimes I think people, occasionally myself included feel obligated to some artists. I'm not that big of a Pac fan. Most people would just ume he's in the top 5. Everyone is gonna have different taste. But it should be on skill and not influence on other people. The argument will be well if there was no rakim there would be no Nas biggie etc..which prob isn't true, but hard for people to look past.