- 3,094
- 128
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2004
Here's the thing with this.
It's kind of become cool to say this about Pac lately. And while people may see a glorified gangster rapper, I see otherwise. I see an artist who was extremely versatile, and was the voice of Young America during the mid 90's because of that versatility. He made Brenda's Got A Baby, Keep Ya Head Up, Then I get around, and Me against the world, and Do For Love, and How do you want it, Unconditional love, countless others. All huge records that covered a myriad of topics.
So yes, his music was groundbreaking at the time because no one was really showcasing this kind of variety in their music. He wasn't a gangster rapper. The media labeled him as that, but the records mentioned above aren't gangster. He had some gangster records, but they pale to the number of other records that he had. He has a stellar discography IMO, including his posthumous albums most of which were really good.
Ice Cube had just as much variety in his music as Pac did...so did Scarface and Outkast...Pac wasn't the only person speaking on the black condition in all forms...his production wasn't anything to write home about and he wasn't really lyrical at all...his persona, energy, and passion carried him, which isn't a bad thing...but when we're talking in terms of people who changed the climate in hip hop, yeah Pac had amazing tracks no doubt, but there are people who did it better than him from a pure musical standpoint...
it's easy to see the clear shifts in music and the hip hop culture every time Kanye dropped an album...whether you agree with the direction it took or not, you can't deny the impact that it had on the hip hop scene...i only really care about a artist body of work...all that other **** isn't important in the grand scheme of things, and Kanye just has a better discography which ,in my eyes, makes him the better artist...i don't think Kanye is extremely lyrical, but I can't understand half the **** that comes out of Thom Yorke's, but Radiohead is still undeniably one of the greatest bands because they know how to put together an album...it's about the music, man...