Über Takes Have a take
Music · Hip-hop's eternal question · Take No. 014

Biggie or Tupac?

Two records against five. A technician against a prophet. Both gone before 26, both still argued about every single day. The hardest verdict on this site.

The case for each side, then the verdict. Then the floor is yours.
The case for

The Notorious B.I.G.

Brooklyn · 1972–1997

  • 2Studio albums, Ready to Die and Life After Death. Two, and both are on every list ever made.
  • 1Voice. The most imitated flow in the history of the form; nobody has matched the pocket.
  • 'Juicy'The story of the genre in one song, told so plainly it still sounds like a conversation.
vs
The case for

Tupac Shakur

Harlem · Baltimore · Oakland · Los Angeles · 1971–1996

  • 5Albums released in his lifetime, including All Eyez on Me, the first double album in rap.
  • 75M+Records sold worldwide, among the best-selling artists of any genre.
  • 'Dear Mama'Added to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry: the first solo rap record so honoured.

Cast your take

——
The verdict

It's Biggie, as a rapper. Tupac was something bigger than one.

Tupac was a cultural force: actor, poet, lightning rod, the most important figure the genre has produced. His reach is bigger than Biggie's and bigger than almost anyone's. If the question is 'who mattered more,' it's Pac.

But the question is who was better on the mic, and verse for verse, Biggie is the most complete rapper who ever lived: the writing, the humour, the breath control, the storytelling. Two albums, no misses. Biggie, with Tupac as the bigger story.

Disagree? That's what the buttons are for.

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