I am new to this forum, so I don't know if it has been explored but...

I have always wondered if Biggie and Aalyiah were still alive, would JayZ and Beyonce have become as dominant on the scene as they are today?

I was never deep into rap/ hip hop, but I used to hear that Biggie was the king of New York and his skills were sick.

I never thought Aalyiah was the best singer, but she was a great total package. She was very pretty and could also dance her a** off! She was known for being a nice person. After her first movie, she was positioned to have a good acting career. I bet if she were around longer, she would have had a clothing line. I am not sure Beyonce would have risen to fame so quickly.

Curious what you think.

Today, people would be saying stuff like "I like Biggie's 90s shit".

I think Destiny's Child and Beyonce would have blown up anyway.. if you remember how popular "Bootylicious" was when Aaliyah was still around?

I think if Biggie was still alive, the rap game would be whole lot different. First, Jigga would not be as big as his is today and there would be no such rapper known as Nas. Yes, I know that he was around when Biggie was here but, BIG's only competition would have been the Jigga Man. As for Beyonce and Aliyah, it would have been a case of friendly competition. I could see them doing a duet together or even writing together. Both of them, would have been a force to be reckoned with.

I would disagree. Biggie to me has become bigger in death than i think he every really would have been. Sure Rap would be different if 2pac and Big were still alive, but the same could be said of anyone. If John Lennon were still 90% of musicians were never have been since they cite Lennon and his death as influence on becoming a musician. Biggie to me was really only 2 albums in, people tend to forget that, and i think if he would have stayed with puffy, Biggie would have been "commercial" to a sickening point.

If Biggie was still alive, I think he would be a better rapper than Jigga, but I don't know if he would be the better business man. Jay-Z has his own copyrighted color and RocaWear. Maybe Biggie would have jumped on the bandwagon, but Jay is pretty well-rounded in more areas than just rapping. I do think that Biggie would have blown 50's ass out of the water though. 2Pac would have become a great actor, because I love him in every movie he was in (except "Nothing But Trouble"; That cameo was pretty depressing). He played the villian and the hero and made them both believable. I would rather have Pac and Biggie around than 95% of the morons in hip-hop today and that is including Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Dippy dog, whatever he's calling himself today.


Aaliyah and Beyonce really didn't have anything in common IMO. Aaliyah was always the underdog and many people ("fans"?) didn't give a crap about her or her music until after she died (which still to this day pisses me off ), but she still managed to release songs and videos that grabbed people's attention and she did it in a sexy, yet classy way. At this point, Beyonce is overexposed, overhyped, and over her 15 minutes in the spotlight. Please Sit Down! I will admit that Beyonce has a far better vocal range than Aaliyah, but Aaliyah had a waay more interesting personality than Beyonce. They are both beautiful women. Aaliyah may not have been curvaceous, but she worked with what she had and I'm still trying to do that belly twirl move of hers. Beyonce is representin' for the voluptuous ladies of the world. I think Aaliyah was a ten times better actress than Beyonce, because Beyonce is never really acting to me. She's just playing characters who are singers. She's played a singer in almost all of her films. "Carmen" - Singer; "Austin Powers"- Singer/Secret Agent; "Fighting Temptations"- Singer/Single mom; "Pink Panther" - Singer; "Dreamgirls" - you get the idea. Is it really a stretch to play a character that does the exact same thing that you do everyday on a normal basis? Aaliyah could have become a talented actress had she not have left us soo soon. She was good in "Romeo Must Die" and was unforgettable in "Queen Of The Damned". She was set to star in the "Matrix", but died before filming. I'll put Aaliyah before Beyonce any day of the week. Aaliyah just seemed more humble and real to me.
[Edited 3/11/07 23:49pm]