Rakim vs. Biggie - Who has a better case for G.O.A.T.?

[themadlionsfan]

BIG doesn't have a case....he only has two albums and the second disc of Life After Death was lacking,....I have nothing against BIG.....he was GREAT...but material is just as important as skills to me......and BIG didn't have enough material

 

[BOSS KTULU]

only reason Rakim aint get shot is nobody gave a fuck about him

BIG is certainly the GOAT

 

[georgia boi]

BIG doesn't have a case....he only has two albums and the second disc of Life After Death was lacking,....I have nothing against BIG.....he was GREAT...but material is just as important as skills to me......and BIG didn't have enough material

The amount of material is irrelevant. The fact that Ready To Die and Life After Death were just as important to '90's Hip Hop as Paid In Full and Follow The Leader to late '80's/early '90's Hip Hop is enough for him to be considered. Jay Z, Nas, Fabolous, Jadakiss and an array of other East coast rappers used Life After Death and/or Ready To Die as a blueprint. Not to mention how many of Biggie's lines have been used. He's neck and neck w/ Rakim in that respect. A good argument could be made for disc 2 being better than much of Ra's catalog outside of Paid In Full and Follow The Leader. It's impossible to make a flawless single disc album let alone a double. In total Life After Death has about 2 wack tracks ("Playa Hater", "Another"), a weak song ("Nasty Boy") and a few songs that are just average ("The World Is Filled", "Miss U"). Then there's classics like "Notorious Thugs", "10 Crack Commandments", "Going Back To Cali" and songs that are just great like "My Downfall", "You're Nobody", "Long Kiss Goodnight", and "Sky's The Limit."

 

[G.R.I.P. Money $$$]

Biggie all the way...

Rakim is a lyrically dope but at the same time boring like a motherfucker

exactamundo...

 

[Stew]

Biggie all the way...

Rakim is a lyrically dope but at the same time boring like a motherfucker

He can be boring but to say Biggie is GOAT with 2 albums compared to Rakim's catalogue is just absurd.

 

[Fazeem_Blackall]

Still Rakim

 

[Idiopathic Joker]

Big is one of the greats, but Rakim's - My Melody - is one of the greatest lyrical displays in hip hop. That puts Rakim over the top

 

[jonoaries]

Rakim can be boring because his voice is monotone hes legendary and I wont be mad if niggas disagree but I think B.I.G changed the game in a way that his style still being used today. B.I.G was arguably "the blueprint" for the biggest artist after he died (Jay-Z, no pun intended) B.I.G isnt the greatest lyricist ever there was a few better but he had all around game. He had lyrics, flow, entertainment, he was pop, street, and emo all in one. And thats just with 2 albums. Rakim is the man, but B.I.G is just a better choice to me.

 

[rapmastermind]

The amount of material is irrelevant. The fact that Ready To Die and Life After Death were just as important to '90's Hip Hop as Paid In Full and Follow The Leader to late '80's/early '90's Hip Hop is enough for him to be considered. Jay Z, Nas, Fabolous, Jadakiss and an array of other East coast rappers used Life After Death and/or Ready To Die as a blueprint. Not to mention how many of Biggie's lines have been used. He's neck and neck w/ Rakim in that respect. A good argument could be made for disc 2 being better than much of Ra's catalog outside of Paid In Full and Follow The Leader. It's impossible to make a flawless single disc album let alone a double. In total Life After Death has about 2 wack tracks ("Playa Hater", "Another"), a weak song ("Nasty Boy") and a few songs that are just average ("The World Is Filled", "Miss U"). Then there's classics like "Notorious Thugs", "10 Crack Commandments", "Going Back To Cali" and songs that are just great like "My Downfall", "You're Nobody", "Long Kiss Goodnight", and "Sky's The Limit."

Great comments. This is a tough debate for me cause I feel Rakim is the only rapper from the 80's/Golden Era that can be considered Top 5 GOAT STATUS. LL, KRS One are in the bottom half of the Top 10 to me. I think Rakim 2 Classics and Biggie's 2 Classics can cancel each other out. Both had massive Impact and influence in their respective Era's. I think Rakim was very influential in lyricism. Biggie was very influencial in Flow and wordplay. I wouldn't really be mad at a fan saying Rakim is the GOAT just as I wouldn't be mad at anyone saying Biggie was. They are both Top 3 sampled lyricist in Hip Hop History. This one could be a draw but the only reason I think I would give Biggie the slight edge is during the early 90's when the West Took the hell over. Rakim went M.I.A. and completely disappeared. NYC needed one of it's Lyrical Gods/Giants to bring NY back and again he went M.I.A.. Rakim Disappearing created the void for NaS to drop "ILLmatic" and take Rakim's lyrical crown. Biggie then came out after that and changed rap forever. Since Rakim bailed out in the 90's, Biggie gets the nod for me. LOL @ Rakim dropping an album AFTER Biggie and Pac died. SMH. Rakim 92-97 = M.I.A. and let NY Fall off.

 

[Punisher__]

A lot of blasphemous statements posted in here.

 

[Focal Point]

[video=youtube;a91rv2vTl4o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a91rv2vTl4o[/video]

damn....................

 

[DB Cooper]

rakim easy

 

[onepunch]

only reason rakim aint get shot is nobody gave a fuck about him

big is certainly the goat

real niggaz don't die...

 

[Skeratch]

Some people are confused, you're not choosing your favourite of the two, you're choosing who has a better case for GOAT. Biggie brought a little something, a little Chubb Rock pop, but Rakim was a revolutionary, the god on the mic.

Anyone saying Biggie has not listened to Rakim's catalogue. Rakim wins this without breaking a sweat or even thumbing through his crate.

 

[contemplate]

rakim

biggie is only popular because of tupac

 

[Punisher__]

rakim

biggie is only popular because of tupac

Um...what? If anything, you have it backwards.

You do know Biggie reached the top 40 before Pac did, right?

 

[NothingButTheTruth]

Rakim, he's better.

 

[contemplate]

Um...what? If anything, you have it backwards.

You do know Biggie reached the top 40 before Pac did, right?

i'm sure others got there before tupac too, but it's not where you start it's where you end and in the end tupac is more popular and biggie is known to some people only because of his beef with him.

 

[Mumo X]

The amount of material is irrelevant. The fact that Ready To Die and Life After Death were just as important to '90's Hip Hop as Paid In Full and Follow The Leader to late '80's/early '90's Hip Hop is enough for him to be considered. Jay Z, Nas, Fabolous, Jadakiss and an array of other East coast rappers used Life After Death and/or Ready To Die as a blueprint. Not to mention how many of Biggie's lines have been used. He's neck and neck w/ Rakim in that respect. A good argument could be made for disc 2 being better than much of Ra's catalog outside of Paid In Full and Follow The Leader. It's impossible to make a flawless single disc album let alone a double. In total Life After Death has about 2 wack tracks ("Playa Hater", "Another"), a weak song ("Nasty Boy") and a few songs that are just average ("The World Is Filled", "Miss U"). Then there's classics like "Notorious Thugs", "10 Crack Commandments", "Going Back To Cali" and songs that are just great like "My Downfall", "You're Nobody", "Long Kiss Goodnight", and "Sky's The Limit."

How Exactly did Nas use Ready 2 Die & LAD as his BluePrint? I thinks its the other way round. B.I.G is the one who used Illmatic & IWW as his Blueprint

 

[Mumo X]

Smh @ Georgia Boi saying Subject matter dont matter...I dont care how lyrical an Emcee is, if he aint droppin Knowledge then i dont fucks wit son. Rakim is the god of this rap shit.Only Pac,Nas,Krs One,Cube threaten Ra's status as GOAT...