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killaguwop;5202714 said:Undergroundraplegend;5202545 said:U gotta also love how the Big dickriders probably heard no futher then Pacs comercial material.lol
BIGGIE's fans only admit that pac's classic albums are MAGT, AEOM and makaveli which is true.because pac's stans always be telling that BIG' is wack because he only has two albums.
blackbloc;5221113 said:some people think flow>>>>>> anything else on a rap song. that the only reason why some say big is a better raper then pac which is not true.
SHAYDEEEE;5218564 said:i was a little kid when biggie was around but a question for any old heads...
wasnt biggie considered bubblegum rap back then, the way ja rule was 5 years later? compared to the other shit that was comin from the east coast at the time it sure seems that way.
za'kiss;8130688 said:Not sure why this was bumped, but hell, since I missed it the first time around, I'll jump in.
2Pac has an underrated skillset as an MC. Most of the examples given in here defending Pac point to internal rhymes. Apart from that, most everyone seems to just say he has better content where Biggie had punchlines, metaphors, and wordplay. But 'Pac wasn't just good at internal rhymes.
Someone mentioned alliteration, and I don't see any reason why to dismiss that as a powerful technical skill, especially when poets use it, which Pac was. Take "If I Die 2Nite" for example (one of the greatest rap songs of all time IMO).
They say pussy and paper is poetry power and pistols
Plotting on murderin motherfuckers 'fore they get you
Picturing pitiful punk niggas copping pleas
Puffing weed as I position myself to clock G's
My enemies scatter in suicidal situations
Never to witness the wicked shit that they was facin
Pockets is packed with presidents, pursue your riches
Evading the playa hating tricks, while hitting switches
Bitches is bad-mouth, cause brawlin motherfuckers is bold
But y'all some hoes, the game should be sewed
The sickest psychotic society somebody save me
Addicted to drama so even mama couldn't raise me
Not only is this a masterful use of alliteration (and internal rhyme), but 2Pac was one of the only MCs to really employ it so intricately in his raps. He's unique in that sense. And it's not just used arbitrarily, but informs the meaning and content in the verse. The way he plays on the ironies in the English language where nearly the same sounds and consonants strung together can communicate otherwise seemingly unconnected and even opposing concepts, such as poetry and power, or pistols and pleas, is crazy. This all while communicating substantive ideas and themes. It's simply brilliant.
Now, as to the claim that 2Pac wasn't proficient in wordplay, similes, metaphors, and punchlines, this is also false. He just didn't use them as often as Biggie (just as Biggie didn't use alliteration as often as 'Pac). They emphasize different skillsets, playing to their strengths as MCs. For instance, 'Pac holds his own on "My Mind Made Up" alongside punchline happy East Coast juggernauts: "So mandatory my elevation/My lyrics like (an) orientation/So you can be more familiar with the nigga you facing").
Also, let's not forget: 2Pac was a fierce battle rapper, and we all know his deadliest, most lethal bars at his enemies never appeared on Hit 'Em Up. It's ironic that the 2Pac / Nas beef was based on a misunderstanding they ultimately resolved, because 'Pac had his wittiest punchlines and most venomous lines directed at Nas, effectively deconstructing his whole style in but a few lines:
"Lord listen to me
God don't like ugly, +It Was Written+,
Ayo Nas, your whole damn style is bitten (You sound like Rakim man)
You heard +My Melody+ (double entendre), read about my life in the papers
All my run-ins with authorities, felonious capers
Now you wanna live my life, so what's a Hausa Nas?
Niggas that don't rhyme right, you've seen too many movies" (these last two lines are a Scarface reference)
I don't know how you can break down some of these verses and argue that 2Pac wasn't a skilled technical MC in the traditional sense of punchlines and metaphors when he wanted to be. It's just that most of the time he focused more on content, experimenting with song structure, and other technical elements drawn from literary traditions such as alliteration, allusions, and symbolism. Just because punchlines blew up on the East Coast in the early 90s, that doesn't mean that's the only way to be a technical MC, nor that 'Pac wasn't more than capable of it when he wanted to be.