Every time you turn around, someone is always calling him the greatest rapper of all time. Too hyperbolic, if you ask me. What say you?

I think he was good but I prefer Tupac over him

babybugz said:

Co-sign.

Timmy84 said:

And i'm a new yorker

babybugz said:

I'm from NC lol The South always loved 'Pac.

scriptgirl said:

He was one of the best. His flow was like no other.

Timmy84 said:

. I don't have any of his music except for this mixtape of some of his songs , what in the world is wrong with me I need to get some of his albums

Great wit

Great storytelling style

Great flow

Great charisma

Combine all these elements toghether, and you have a great affect on people.

I think people compare Pac with him because they were the leaders in their time, but they're apples & oranges IMO,,,,,their style is NOTHING alike.

Harlepolis said:

co-sign

Harlepolis said:

Double co-sign...

He was great but, in my opinion, there´s no such thing as "greatest rapper". There are at least a dozen "greatest rappers", depending on what one considers great....some have a great flow, some come up with witty puns, some are very good freestylers, some are great storytellers...and some have almost all these qualities but then again, there´s always someone else who also combines all these qualities.
And unfortunately he didn´t live long enough to give us a lot of material.

Was he one of the greatest? Most definitely.

There are rappers who call Biggie the greatest of all time but I must say that I think that some of those rappers who call him the greatest are, in my opinion, actually better than him...but that is my personal opinion and taste.
I´ve been listening to rap since I first bought Whodini´s debut album on cassette in 1983 and have seen a lot of great rappers come and go....some say MFDoom is the greatest but personally, his raps do absolutely nothing for me.Some think that Ice-T is a whack,played out rapper which is probably true today but they have probably never heard such masterpieces as Squeeze the Trigger or Rhyme Pays.
Some thought Kool Keith was the best in the late 80s but it took me ten years to really get into his lyrics, and now I love them but still can´t get into his Ultra stuff.
I have an interview on VHS tape where a coked out Melle Mel thinks that he´s the greatest rapper of the past, present and future and in the whole universe( he goes on to say that he´d battle and defeat any rapper from outerspace).
Some say Rakim is the ultimate GOAT but he disappointed me big time when he went on tour and lipsynched to playback tapes...horrible.
A good rapper should be able to convince his audience on stage, that´s what separates the good MCs and the BEST MCs...there are cool studio rappers who can focus much better in the studio and create musical masterpieces but some of them suck ass on stage.


It´s a complicated thing, really.

But I miss Biggie.

Harlepolis said:

exactly, biggie told a story like no other, it was like watching a movie. he is indeed imo the best.. i admit im a lil bias coming from bed stuy, but B.I.G was the greatest of all time.

But Nas is a good storyteller too. Do you think that Biggie was better? Much better?

KoolEaze said:

Subjective, really

I mean take Slick Rick and KRS-One,,,,they're technically better storytellers than both of them(and maybe I'm reaching ).

But with Biggie's case, I personally love how he incorporated wry sense of humor to present his story(Hence the classic black & ugly line).

See, this is the thing,,,alot of people got caught up with the "hardcore image" and didn't realize that the man had crazy sense of humor.

Nasir Jones, great lyricist,,,,,but they sound monotonous coming from his mouth(to me). Sure, words are essential,,,,but the presentation is as essential.

Harlepolis said:

You´re right about KRS One....he was really great in his prime, still is sometimes.His spiritual change confused me a bit though.

And yes, I loved Biggie´s humor and the fact that he didn´t seem to take himself too seriously...or at least it seemed that way.

yes

babybugz said:

Me 2. And Tupac > Biggie.

Great minds think alike.

Biggie say "ladies pee pee when they see me"


I say "I doo doo when I see you"


he was an aiight rapper!

DesireeNevermind said:

Stooooopid

Harlepolis said:

She stole that from somebody. I think it was a female comic.

Anyway, I think B.I.G. was a great rapper.

I was one of those Tupac fans that never understood or got what the big deal was about B.I.G, but one thing I realized about him was that nobody except maybe Rakim could flow like him. People talk about Jay-Z and Nas, mainstream media made Eminem something special but Biggie already perfected it and could outflow all of them. As far as the battle, that's a tough one, because you have too many rappers to choose from.

It's the same with storytelling, you could go back to Melle Mel for great storytelling, there are too many great rappers to choose from. Pac was the greatest WRITER of all time in hip-hop, nobody could touch him when it came using metophors when telling a story.

But Biggie was the master of delivery. The DJ Pooh beat (New York, New York), given to both him and the Dogg Pound, and I'm from the West Coast, but there's no comparison, Biggie killed that beat, and it was just a commercial.

Sick flow.....

"I spit on your grave then I grab my Charles Dickens"

I really don't like 2pac like that. Sure he had some good songs but I like Biggie more. However, I've always been a Nas fan so there you go.

BTW, I've always thought Rakim was a better lyricist than Pac, BTW I'm from NY. LOL Holla!
[Edited 11/25/09 15:51pm]

uPtoWnNY said:

That was SIIIIICK!

Timmy84 said:

Man, the rap game was SIIIIICK back then, wasn't it?

uPtoWnNY said:

HELL YEAH!

uPtoWnNY said:

90s was the "manic depressive" period,,,,esp when it comes to R&B and rap music.

Everything was so,,,,,dark and moody.

Harlepolis said:

Yeah it was.

I think Biggie was and IS one of the greatest rappers, but I prefer 2Pac (not because I'm from LA)