People always post this as the greatest rap diss ever -- Biggie had him killed for busting that line. +1 Biggie
2Pac was the James Brown of rap, the hardest working rapper in the biz. Or like the Bob Marley of rap, getting a lot of message and music across in a short amount of time. I wouldnt say he's one of my most favorite rappers, but he's reached out to many people men AND women alike where his impact is undeniable. So even though there might be better rappers, he'll always get more honors. (Side thought: We like Snoop Dogg the guy. I think if Snoop Dogg 2nd album "Doggfather" released around the time of their deaths was even 80% near his 1st album, he coulda been held in even greater reverence as a rapper than he already is)
I voted Pac - but mainly because of his lyrics and beats PRIOR to "California Love" - which I think was when he became just another cliched rapper. The content and harsh realities of songs like "Dear Mama," "Can U Get Away," "Brenda's Got a Baby," "So Many Tears" and the list goes on and on... really separates (to me) Pac from Biggie. I think it blows away anything Pac did after "California Love" and almost anything Biggie did - though "Juicy" ranks really high up there for me.
I wholeheartedly agree with this opinion. Pac's lyrics (again - I can't stress enough that I'm talking about music prior to "California Love") were really deep. But Biggie did deliver his rhymes better (in my opinion)
I think juicy is one of the greatest songs ever so I have to pick biggie. I just liked biggies flow better.
What is it with 20-somethings and these two?!? They were both just copycats of NWA and Public Enemy. In other words, if both hadn't killed each other, they'd be just another two lame-ass "gangsta" rappers. FYI, kiddos, there were rappers prior to these two "thug" wannabe losers.
Biggie was by far the best lyrically. Nobody tops biggie, for that matter. But Tupac was more important socially.
Completely agree with this post. Completely disagree with this one. Biggie and 2Pac are definitely comparable. It's like arguing whether Samprass or Federer was better. Each one was strong in different ways. Both were awesome overall.
Dospac important socially? He made a song to respect our women, then he still continued to call them Hoes and B**ches throughout his career. When I think of lyrics that meant something, I always think early fugees. So taking that out of the equation, I give the edge to biggie, who was a better story teller. And no, I don't believe his pickup line of, " I see some ladies tonight that should be having my baby" ever worked. It was still fun to listen to though. Also, messing around with faith evans is not much to brag about. However, I do think 2pac could have been an Oscar winning actor in his 30s.
They brought different things to the table. Shakur and Death Row mainstreamed gangster rap, which I honestly didn't think would ever happen in the very early '90s when people like Hammer, Vanilla Ice and Will Smith were still going platinum. It's tempting to say Tupac was more authentic, but I think a lot of his self-destructive personal behavior, including the Vegas brawl that indirectly led to his death, was just some kind of demented self-promotion. Biggie was better produced, had a better flow and was just a bit less dark. I'm gonna go ahead and add Snoop, Erick B. and Rakim, Jay-Z and the Beastie Boys to your "Greatest ever" list.
Lots of credit for acknowledging there was rap music before 1993; but Public Enemy was done by then and NWA didn't exist, so you have to give these two guys their due for actually keeping this genre alive. And don't forget that West Coast rap at that time wasn't so much a copy of NWA as it was, y'know, produced and written by exactly the same guys.
