First and formost there is a lot of false information being said here so let me clear some things up. Let me just say I really do like T.I., I love how his career has gone thus far. He's not the strongest lyrically but he makes up for that with a great flow and voice. He's also very good at picking the right beats and productions. With all that said, T.I. isn't holding Biggie's Mic cord. First and formost. "Life After Death" out sold T.I. entire career thus far by itself. "Ready To Die" has sold half of T.I. discography. That's Impact. T.I's highest selling album is Double Platinum "KING". Biggie Has sold more than T.I. just off his singles alone if you include his features Here's a looke at B.I.G.' Entire Sales Discography:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Notorious_B.I.G._discography
The Notorious B.I.G., an American rapper. He is one of the best selling hip hop artists of all time with over 30 million albums sold worldwide and 20 million in the U.S. The Notorious B.I.G remians the only artist in Music History to have two posthumous #1 Billboard Hot 100 singles. His album "Life After Death" is 1 of only 3 rap albums certified Diamond by the RIAA. It also made the largest jump to number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart in history, jumping from number 176 to number 1 in one week.
Album sales:
LAD: 10 Million Domestic, 17 million Worldwide
RTD: 4 Million Domestic, 8 Million Worldwide
BA: 2 Million Domestic, 4 Million Worldwide
DTFC: 1 Million Dometic, 2 Million Worldwide
Greatest Hits: Gold
Notorious Soundtrack: Gold
JM: Platinum Domestic, 2 Million Worldwide
= 19.5 Million Domestic, 32 Million Worldwide
Single Sales:
Juicy: Gold
Big Poppa: Platinum
One More Chance: Platinum
Hypnotize: Platinum
Mo Money, Mo Plroblems: Platinum
Sky's the Limit: Gold
Nasty Girl: Gold
= 5.5 Million single Sales
Featured Singles sales:
Get Money: Platinum
Playa's Anthem: Gold
Crush on You: Platinum
Been Around The World: Platinum
All About The Benji's: Platinum
Victory: Gold
Only You: Gold
Can't You See: Gold
Real Love: Gold
Flava In Your Ear: Gold
=7 Million
The Fact that Biggie sold half of Pac's and Eminem's Discography and sold just as much as likes of Jay Z and Outkast speaks volumes of his Legacy. Sure he sold a lot of records after his death but while he was alive. "Ready To Die" was certified 2xPlatinum in 1994 during a time Eastcoast rappers were barely going gold. Factor in the fact Biggie was a strong "Singles" artist. His singles sold very well while he was alive. His singles charter higher than his competition like Tupac and other popular rappers as "One More chance" was the highest debut single in Billboard History at the time tying Michael Jackson's "Scream". Speaking of MJJ, Biggie was his favorite rapper and he featured him on 2 of his albums. Sorry T.I. has released 6 LP's and none of them can see "Ready to Die" or "Life After Death". Biggie is superior to T.I. in every catagory, it's not even close. Lyricism, Storytelling, Flow, Versitility, Classic Albums, Classic Songs, etc. I can't think of one thing T.I. does better than Biggie besides release more albums cause he's alive, LOL. Also one of T.I. Biggest Hits "Bring Em Out" which samples Jay Z sampling Biggie. This is obviously a Shock Thread. T.I. is a dope artist who will most definitely go down as one of the South's best but Big is a Legendary artist that got the attention of Legends like Michael Jackson and will go down as one of the blueprints of our genre. Big Different. You will never see a T.I. album talked about on the Level of any of Big's albums. I can't think of one T.I. single seeing "Juicy", "Warning" or "One more Chance". Shock Thread, try again.