Tupac was the better overall talent. Tupac was better actor, more charismatic. He was in Poetic Justice, Juice, Above the Rim..etc Plus I like all the cool pop culture and history Tupac dropped like the Illuminati. People started wearing headbands because of Tupac, he was a trend setter. Plus sampling Phil Collins? this dude is the GOAT. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lk2MyHFOGMU&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lk2MyHFOGMU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
I remember where I was when I found out Biggie was killed. Dude was one of my all time favorites. His grimey finesse with words was unreal.
this was one of my saddest days in childhood. i had just started liking him. then one day. well u know the story speaking of that. everytime i watch it on VH1 my eyes water up. but i can never cry on the tupac story. RIP BIGGIE one of the best rappers of all time
I remember the day he died and asking "who?" to my colleagues. And I was a couple months older than him. I learned this through my learned knowledge. And then I listened to his crap. He needed to be dead for anyone to listen. Children, please listen at the very least to other rappers. There was nothing "original" or "different" about either one of these idiots. Meh.
my KRS contrib classic I was never much into Tupac and his G-Funk style. But there's no denying he had depth of substance. And come on Special Ed's credited with producing one of his songs, thats always a status booster.
So what you're saying is...naivety about something is the same as that something being beneath you, which means its okay to open up the condescending attitude toward something. And form an enlightened opinion on it I'm sure there's musicians in your playlist that many people haven't heard of. Therefore their crap automatically isnt any different and automatically gets jeered. Oh well, no one's ever said tastes in music lacked subjectivity
"Mad question askin, blunt passin Music blastin, but I just can't quit Because one of these honies Biggie got to creep wit"
My thing is with guys like this is they are not the greatest of all time. That is a very debateable thing that could go round and round. But let one die while they are still semi-popular and they become legends that people think their greatness cannot be debated. Look at any of them. You got John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, B.I.G., Tupac, Selena and so on. You don't get to see any of them grow older, make fools of themselves, go broke, and put out albums that fail when their stuff isn't the fresh, hip, new thing. You only knew them while on top. You do not get to witness them fail, so in your mind they are always what they were when they passed, on top. Think how many of those 1 year wonders you don't even remeber anymore would be legends if they died while on top. John Lennon actually is a legend. I just put him up there so you can see the differrence in the way he is talked about/respected as opposed to any of the Beatles that grew old. Younger people see Paul McCartney as an old geezer, yet they see John Lennon as a legend. That is all I am saying.
thank you, QFT x 100000000 no one, and I mean no one, comes close to the lyricist that Tupac was.. people tend to misunderstand what a "lyricist" is, it's not dropping impressive witty lines like this one (which is one of my all time fav lines): "to all the ladies in the place with style and grace, allow me to lace these lyrical douches in your bushes".. this is something Lil Wayne is really good at, but that doesn't make him or Biggy among to top lyricist of all time.. Tupac talked about life, Tupac's songs were more like poems.. they weren't about hoes and cars and rims and illegal drugs and women, they were about his life style, his struggles, his ideas, his social beliefs, his values, his experiences as a troublesome "young black male" .. his vocabulary were that of a college professor, his delivery was by far the greatest for any artist in any type of music period.. I got mad love for Biggie, but Pac is always at the top, forever.. no one will ever come close to his greatness, and no one will become as "timeless" as this guy's songs are.. I get tired of listening to Dre's "chronic" after a while (even though I miss it after a while and start jamming it again because it's awesome ), but I NEVER get tired of any 2pac song.. I could jam all eyez on me or Thug Life all day every day for the rest of my life.. but back on topic, RIP Biggie, definitely one of the best of all time and a great entertainer.. "Juicy" is right up there with "starin' at the world through my rear view" and "changes" in my favorite songs of all time list.. he mastered the art of bad-ass one-liners and word-tweaking.. it's sad that him and Pac were gone long before they reached their potential and gave us enough of their awesome songs.. RIP
The only idiots are those who have been listening to music their whole lives and can still come to the conclusion that someone with a ton of fans sucks. It's pure stupidity in that you can't see that it's a difference of opinion, preference, and taste, none of which reflects on how "good" the artist is. By now, you should all realize that you can't call a song "good" until two people can agree on the definition of "good" music. That is the rule that sits above all musical debates. I HATE IT when someone asks why I don't have any "good" songs in my 6-cd changer (around 600 songs). Well, because it's MY car, MY music, and MY definition of good, that's why. Why are humans finding this so difficult to grasp?
The man was just good. Have you ever listened to his magnum opus, "Me Against the World"? A lot of people know him from his "All Eyez on Me" album which had more songs about money, fame, and the gangsta lifestyle but make no mistake about it if you listened to some other songs they had more depth than just that too. A lot of his material released posthumously is great as well.
Also, a lot of people feel Cobain created the popular-alternative scene. For better or for worse, he was an extremely influential artist. I still see what you're saying, though. And I really like BIG. . .Maybe he makes it into my Top 5 rappers. Might be hard to sneak him past all the Wu-Tang guys...
as others are saying . .. it comes down to Criteria 1. Lyrical Content - You gotta be talking about something 2. Content Variety - Gotta be more than a 1 trick pony 3. Lyrical 'Swagger' - the ability to turn a nice phrase 4. Delivery/Flow - Ability to get your lyrics out without sounding like you got marbles in ya mouth . .or Dr. Suess 5. Music 6. Originality - taking on at the end Biggie Excelled at #3, 4 and 5 - If that all you care about. . then you can argue him being Top 5 but sucked at #1 and #2 He don't talk about anything but Bullets and Bull***** - His influence is the 'Bling' Rap . . the bragging about what ya got . ..etc He didn't invent it .. but he blew it up Tupac excelled at all of them Scarface to a lesser extent hits all of them . . .Chuck D's Swagger is not as strong but his content was much better KRS - I always found his delivery to be a bit Herky Jerky - His Flow was not the best Rakim - Slipped my mind. He would be above Kool Moe Dee Nas is basically a Rakim-lite - Not as deep . . .not as original Rocket River
Music is a reason for people to come together I think, locally or nationally. Its also something that gives people identity. Which for a lot of people counts more heavily than caring if a song's really good or not. I always say real classically trained musicians who can read sheet music must have hearty chuckles with themselves over this kinda stuff. Good points. Thats how it is with Jeff Buckley for sure, who the heck was that guy before he died? Though I DO think for the most part artists that are more celebrated after their deaths usually HAVE contributed something. No one's calling Soulja Boy the best ever if he gets shot tomorrow. (Speaking of, just shows the magnitude of all the BIG/Tupac era deaths. Imagine if TI, Lil Wayne & Kanye West all got killed within the last 3 years? )
Mateo- I understand that about Lennon, that is why I said he actually is a legend as opposed to the others. He was actually around for a while and had a major contribution to music. Like I said above I just threw him in there in comparison to the other Beatles. Mister Pink- That is my point exactly. What is the differrence in him, Eddie Vedder, and Chris Cornell other than the fact he blew his brains out. They all came about the same time, from the same place, playing the same type of music. The others are irrevelant now. Hell, Dave Grohl is probally the only one playing anything relevant from that genre. How much influence did he have in Nirvana? Doesn't matter, because Kurt Cobain blew his brains out while on top so he is the greatest musical mind in history. Look at Lane Staley from the same era/genre. He died after the fact but is still semi worshipped in some circles, but your average person has no clue who he is. What is the diferrence in him and Kurt Cobain other than the fact one died while on top and the other after the grunge scene had died? Nothing, other than human emotion. Look at Stevie Ray Vaughn. Nobody really cared much for him before he died, now he is a musical icon. It is almost a politically correct way of dealing with the dead coupled with human emotion.
Lennon's wife screwed up the Beatles and I think Lennon lost his marbles for letting her sing too. Have you heard Yoko Ono sing? At least McCartney busted out this awesome duet <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5gWvBXS2t4A&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5gWvBXS2t4A&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
RIP to BIG <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KjflFJcAWL0&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KjflFJcAWL0&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
