TonyVanDam said:

Are you on crack??? Biggie didnt cause the east west division. There was never a record were Biggie dissed the west coast. He was friends with Warren G, and a few other west coast artists. No one could touch B.I.G unlike the hype that 50 cent has now B.i.G had the talent to back it up. The 2 pac comparisions are riduclous also because Biggie was clearly the better MC, while 2pac had more feeling in his rhymes than most rappers, his wordplay couldnt compare to Biggies. Overrated...Maybe in his fame but not in skill. You have to remember also that at the time 93-95 especially 1994 we were in a golden age as far as hip hop was concerened. So many ill and original mcs came out at that time or were poular like Jeru THa Damaja, Nas, Mad Skills, Raekwon, Common Sense (Common), Pete rock and CL Smooth the list goes on for BIG to shine thru all of these dope MCEEs says something.

Stymie said:

We're always going to disagree on this. I like Biggie and own both Ready to Die and Life After Death. It's not that I don't think he's good - I like his delivery. When he first came out he reminded me of Snoop Dogg. Not that their styles were similar, but they were both distinct; their styles and voices were instantly recognizeable. Biggie was fun to me. Yes, he had songs that went deeper than being fun (I Got a Story to Tell and Last Day from Life After Death come to mind), but on the whole I think of his music as party music. That doesn't make him any less an artist, but it made records like those I mentioned seem obligatory in a way.

He was a storyteller and a good one at that, but he just wasn't one of my favorites. Just cuz he's not a favorite of mine, doesn't mean I don't like him. Sometimes people don't see past the "he's not a favorite" and take it as a slam against the artist. Not the case at all.

I once saw a shot of Faith Evans without makeup--scary.

RipHer2Shreds said:

Naw, I don't take 'he's not a favorite' as a slam against the artist at all and you know I hold your opinion in high regard. The question is whether or not Biggie is overrated. Some of the posts on this thread and the thread title itself are overlooking the impact Biggie had on the hip-hop world and I am curious, like I said before, how many people actually listened to all of Biggie's albums. Biggie made some party music, yes, but people also had to step up their game because of him.

Stymie said:

I gotcha now! There's no denying his impact on hip-hop, that's for sure. Unfortunately, it also paved the way for lesser wannabes like Half Dollar.

RipHer2Shreds said:

Unfortunately. But my opinion is that he paved the way for Jigga and Nas. some of their stuff I can't stand but some of it's brilliant.

TonyVanDam said:

To me, there was no reason to compare and contrast

pac had that won upon breathing into the mic..

Soulchild82 said:[quote]

TonyVanDam said:

ummm he didnt say that. he said big HELPED PUT the east coast division on the map, not that he CAUSED the division

Moonwalkbjrain said:[quote]

Soulchild82 said:

meaning???

dreamfactory313 said:

Alot of people forget that when talking about Biggie, they forget how much the West was running the rap game around 94 when Biggie and Wu-Tang blew up and brought it back to the East. Both are very important in the landscape of Hip Hop indeed!!


His story telling is some of the best ever in hip hop too
[Edited 10/4/05 21:56pm]

TonyVanDam said:

Gotta brush up on my music terms, huh

Soulchild82 said:

:eyeroll: meaning that biggie didnt CAUSE the east and west to hate each other. but he put the east coast division or section back on the map

Soulchild82 said:

What the hell are YOU talking about?

I NEVER said anything about Biggie provoking anything.

My point is all about the music industry & it's marketing!!!

Face it: Before Biggie came along, the hip-hop west coast division was beating the hell out of the east coast in the Billboard USA charts, MTV, BET, and The Box in the TV video ratings & album sales.

And I'm talking about a run that was mostly between 1988 to 1994! Remember the west coast all-stars:

2pac
NWA
Ice Cube
Dr. Dre
Eazy-E
Snoop Dogg
Warren G
JJ Fad
Too $hort
MC Ehit
Spice 1
Ice-T (who can claim the west [LA] and the east [NJ])
MC Hammer
Sir Mix-A-Lot
Compton's Most Wanted
Digital Underground
The Dogg Pound
DJ Quik
Yo-Yo
E-40
Kid Frost
Cyprus Hill
....and many more that even I can overlook!

And with all dues respect to the Wu-Tang Clan & Nas, the east coast division didn't have a true hip-hop savior that could beat the west coast division at their own game (read: gangsta-style) until Biggie came along.

And you know it!

Sdldawn said:

And lets not forget that 2pac has written (or co-written) way more songs than Biggie ever did.
[Edited 10/5/05 14:08pm]

TonyVanDam said:

Well let's see why that is Biggies Career only spans 1993 - 1997. only one LP in his lifetime (he was dead when the 2nd LP came out.) 2pac came out in 1990 with digital underground. he had more time in the industry they're deaths are 5 months apart. So ther was no way 4 big to have that many songs. While pacs persoa is bitten most biggies rhymes are bitten the most (ie Jay-Z)

Moonwalkbjrain said:

sorry if i misunderstood. I thought you ment division as he caused the beef.

Sdldawn said:

Now how can you say this? 2pac was not as good of an MC. In personality and passion he had biggie beat. But toe to toe in a freestyle pac couldnt touch biggie. if you heard the madision square garden freesytle with big, kane, pac, and shyheim you can see this. (kane had the best verse though)

TonyVanDam said:

cough:new yorker:cough

haha fucking retards

anyone heard "hitemup"

the greatest put down and diss record ever?!

2pac destroyed Bad Boy and Biggie on 1 track

Biggie failed to respond

2pac won,

2pac is the greatest rapper ever, flows,ryhmes, lyrics etc

big wasnt no rapper,just a pussy who thought he was tough

2pac left thousands of songs,
sheer dedication to his art,

what did Biggie leave?


only his ex wife and a shitty fuck head producer friend Puffy wank combs who still to this day is fucking shit!

fuck p diddy

he can suck a dogs dick

Soulchild82 said:

BTW, 2pac was writing songs long before his days as a roadie/backing dancer with Digital Underground. And there are a lot of CD bootlegs to prove this fact.

Universaluv said:

No, actually I'm from the Dirty South (like the city formerly known as New Orleans).

TonyVanDam said:

How did this thread turn into my dead rapper is better than your dead rapper?

They're both very dead.

They're both very overrated.

TonyVanDam said:

Not you Tupac

Universaluv said:

I wish I was 'Pac right about now. He's within the top 5 richest dead recording artists ever.

And if he "fake" his death, he'll never be broke.

I think Puffy should stop riding on Biggie's dick

I think Faith Evans should stop complaining in magazine interviews that she is constantly trying distance herself from her dead ex-husband's shadow because they were "separated when he died" anyway...and then participate in every tribute that they have for the man

Sure Biggie's rhymes and flows stood out from most rappers, but like Chris Rock said "Biggie wasn't assassinated, that nigga got shot, there is a difference".

If i see one more tribute to Biggie i'm gonna throw up all over the place.

I don't know why people hype up Biggie to be this "great rapper" who left too soon, when Biggie beat up his women, and proudly told the world in his songs. Did he even try to help his community while he was alive? Did he even do any humanitarian work not just for his people, but for ALL people? Does anybody know, because to my knowledge he didn't, and therefore for these reasons is very, very, very OVERATED!!

[quote]

missfee said:

co sign most of it. i actually like the biggie tributes

TonyVanDam said:

No, no. He was saying that he was referring to Tupac when he said "New Yorker," not you!

RipHer2Shreds said:

OK, sorry!

I don't listen to a lot of "Biggie" but based on what I've heard I'd say he was overrated. I don't really listen to the lyrics but how can I when the duide sounds like he's gonna have a heart attack with every word. Dude struggled for breath with every syllable almost, how can you "flow" when that's happening?