Kevin Cott, Bill Simmons’ intern at ESPN.com, has been getting a lot of e-mails about what he wrote in praise of Tupac. He’s been getting roasted for saying that Pac was the first rapper to bring social awareness into the mainstream. That was erroneous, and he has even admitted as much. Here’s hoping the e-mails have stopped.
Well, that got me thinking about this Pac vs. Big debate that has been omnipresent for about ten years now. Where do I stand?
Wait, why do we even keep having this damn discussion?
Here’s my problem with the debate–it’s always posed as though this is the 1 vs. 2 comparison, like comparing Russell and Chamberlain before Shaq came around. Neither of them is the best of all-time. Matter of fact, neither of them is second.
Why isn’t Pac the best? Five albums released around his life (Makaveli was about done before he died, so I don’t lump that with the other posthumous records). From here, two of them leave a lot to be desired–Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. and the Makaveli album. Strictly is inconsistent, and the same can be said for Makaveli. Oh yeah, and Makaveli is frequently whiny and childish, as is the overhyped “Hit ‘Em Up.” My buddy Gizzy used to say that song was like, “calling someone a bitch in the cafeteria. Everyone says ‘ohhh,’ but what have you really said?”
That was dead on the money.
Also, his repetoire was limited. His significant contribution to the game was his ability to convey emotion, and he was probably the first rapper to use emotion as a device. However, his talent with words wasn’t that great on the mic. Pac’s dope as hell, probably top fifteen. But top ten? We don’t talk about the biggest stars of all-time. We talk about the best emcees. Pac doesn’t cut it.
Why not Big? Two albums aren’t enough to allow for any sort of discussion. Had LL Cool J died after two, we’d be talking about him like Jesus. Who’s doing that now? He’s top 20, maybe even top 10, but the best? Only Chuck D thinks that.
Talk all day about how dope Big was, and I’ll agree with you. But almost anyone is good for a couple of bad albums. Can you say Electric Circus? How about Phrenology? Had B Real died in ’95, we might even be saying the same things about Cypress Hill. The body of work just wasn’t strong enough.
But after Pac and Big died, they were thrust to the top, and that’s insane. KRS-ONE must be mad as hell, being that he is to hip hop what Al Gore is to the Internet. Scarface, too, even though he lacks the arrogance or concern for what anyone else thinks.
So, my quick request to the world–listen to more hip hop, please. In fact, go back and listen to Pac and Big some more and think about what’s being said. Perpetuating this debate can be fun and nostalgic, but put it in the context of those two cats. Making it a debate about the top of the pantheon ignores a lot of folks.
More on this around 3/9/2007.
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Random–“Unfaithful” was on TNT last night. Did anyone watch it? I can’t figure out how they could put that movie on basic cable and make it any good. No other way to say it–the movie’s a fuck-fest. Now, I dare you to go through the site and see if I’ve ever used the word “fuck” like that. I’ve got nephews, nieces, and young cousins that read this site–along with their friends and parents–so I don’t go too far on profanity. So, for me to say that should tell you the deal on that movie. And in fairness to the filmmaker, the sex is crucial to the story. Would someone that watched it please tell me if it was worth the time to watch? I’m betting that it wasn’t.
2 Comments
by hseuss3000
Unfaithful without the uh… “cuttin”? That’s like The Rolling Stones getting sick 10 minutes before a concert and a reunion of Wham being the only cats being around to replace them. Either way its some garbage I’ll be missing.
Anyway, the Pac and Big argument is another case of people thinking with their hearts instead of their heads. I’m a huge Pac fan, and while his best material has transcended the years and made him a bigger star than when he died nearly a decade ago, I think we can all agree we could have gone without “Just Like Daddy” and a few other of his infamous misses. Furthermore, I completely agree with Young Baba about Biggie. If I go to Bennigans and order potato skins as an appetizer and eat just one I can’t rightfully say its the best meal I’ve ever had. Biggie was that guy though, don’t get it twisted, and given time he might have ascended to the top of the MC mountain but he never got the chance. Plus Jay-Z wouldn’t be the star he is today and fellas I can’t hate a man that put Bun-B and Pimp-C on TV in places that weren’t Port Arthur.
by alldaydre
Why can’t you resist that incessant urge to include Scarface in “top emcee” discussions? You’re right, KRS must be mad now, but seeing his name mentioned with Brad’s in this context won’t do much to help his mood. I’d tend to agree with you about most of the rest. Except that it seems you’re implying the only thing keeping Big from the crown is that, given time, he’d have probably fallen off. Maybe, maybe not. His abilities were masterful. But my biggest knock on his work has always been content. I can’t recall a Big verse that gave some recognizable nod to uplifting our community. It was all pretty self-centered stuff. And on occasion, disturbingly violent…even by our standards. Puff had to censor a lot of his early material because it went a little too far. Another issue I had, albeit slightly more trivial, is that he sounded like he had some stubborn cheese eggs that refused to be coaxed down his throat. Eventually I got used to it, but at first I really wished he’d wash it down with a few more quarts of Welch’s grape.
Misunderstanding–I’m saying we can’t put Big up there because there’s no telling what would have happened, not that he necessarily would have fallen off. We just don’t know enough to say he’s that good definitively. I still give him top ten, though.