MYTH No. 4: Biggie & Tupac Are Hip-Hop's Pillars
REALITY: Biggie and Tupac don't matter anymore.
For hip-hop, which has always prided itself on origin stories, the intertwining sagas of the Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur are key formative narratives.
Together, they've become a collective idea, the culture's most important dyad.
And yet, think of everything that's happened in the 12 years since their murders: hip-hop's full immersion into pop, the rise of the South, the reemergence of independent rap, Kanye West. None of these things would have been possible without the footprint Biggie and Pac left upon the collective consciousness, but none rely on their templates or modes for sustenance.
16 ROCK MYTHS DEBUNKED:
1. Radiohead
2. Nirvana
3. Lady Gaga
4. Biggie & Tupac
5. Marilyn Manson
6. Emo Oversharers
>> Gallery: 10 More Rock Myths
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Biggie and Pac have emulators, of course, from 50 Cent to Young Jeezy, but they're of an older generation, the first descendents in the ancestral line. For a teenager today, the Biggie/Pac axis might sound as foreign as references to Grandmaster Caz and the World Class Wreckin' Cru.
"I never cried when Pac died/But I probably will when Hov does," Drake raps on "Fear," from his So Far Gone EP. So much distance has been traveled -- musically, but really, psychologically -- that the likes of Soulja Boy, Drake, Plies, and even Black Eyed Peas are just part of the tapestry now.
In a world where hip-hop is lingua franca, it's hard to recall a time when a rapper could rupture the culture like they did. Now their gifts are part of the starter package: The ability to remain musically whole in the face of mainstream fame, their ease and utter lack of inscrutability, and as ever, the violence. But this particularly toxic blend that led to their murders isn't as pungent now. And the conflict Biggie and Pac came to embody -- East vs. West, in temperament and sound -- is less than a memory now. If anything, it's become the template of what not to do. The commercial success built upon Biggie's and Pac's backs has made hip-hop more financially ruthless, but paradoxically, perhaps a touch less life-or-death.
Which is why it's okay to let them go. It's time Biggie and Pac stopped bearing the burden of a genre that's swallowed their teachings whole and continued on apace. Let's let them rest.
Agree? Disagree? Tell us what you think below!
- Posted By GB 21419 GAnGStA
01.04.10 9:01 PM
Tupac and Notorious BIG both are tite rappers tupac is my favorite but biggie has his talent i give him his props and his rest in peace i bump them both but there is so much **** that points to tupac still being alive idk if he is or not but there mark they left will never die.
also on the article im confused were black eyed pees and drake compared to tupac and notorious?
- Posted By Anonymous
12.07.09 8:57 PM
First and foremost, I find it strange that Biggie or Pac are being listed in your #4 myth of "Rock" myths. How was their music rock, exactly? And I would ask the same of Lady Gaga's inclusion.
And I would also point out that the author has no clue what he's talking about. Just because enough time has passed since their deaths, does not in the least bit mean that they "don't matter anymore." That's actually pretty offensive. The 2 of them will always matter. Always. More so than just about any other hip hop artist. Pointing out a handful of ****ty current artists (Black Eyed Peas? Really?) and who influenced them as some kind of evidence is embarrassing, and doesn't do your argument any favors.
Stick to writing about rock. In the meantime, I'm gonna throw on an Otis Redding record. Oh wait, he doesn't matter anymore. Better stick to that new Miley Cyrus jam instead...
- Posted By EL
12.03.09 3:15 PM
Saying that Tupac and Biggie don't matter anymore is like saying that Led Zeppelin or The Beatles don't matter anymore. People still get inspired by Tupac and Biggie and the rivalry seen in rappers today stems off the rivalry between the east and west they created. We can never forget the past or say that the past doesn't matter anymore because the music of today is the past, present, and future. These two rappers matter as much now as they did back then and will matter a lot in the future as well.
And when i don't want to listen to the **** rap of today, i blast biggie or tupac from my speakers...need i say more?
- Posted By KB
11.29.09 10:24 AM
KW -- your comments were completely on point.
I agree with a lot of what Jon Caramanica said in his article about hip hop having changed since Pac & Biggie, and no one relying on "the greats" as 'templates or modes of sustenance.' But to claim that Biggie and Tupac don't matter anymore is downright ludicrous. Maybe if some of these half-assed, ****-for-brains rappers did use Pac & Biggie as 'modes of sustenance' they'd produce some music worth listening to. How dare Jon even mention commercialized, autotuned **** like Soulja Boy, Kanye, etc. in the same breath as someone as innovative and original as Biggie. I'm not saying those two mongoloid excuses for rappers don't have a place in MUSIC...but they indubitably do not deserve the honor of being in the same category as Big & Pac.
Drake may not have 'cried when Pac died' and 'probably will when Hov does'...and for good reason, only because Hov is more relevant to his generation.
But when JayZ does die, do you really think there'll be fans lining the streets of Brooklyn to play "Big Pimpin" or "Hard Knock Life" as the hearse carrying his coffin rolls down the street? Hell no. Only a one-of-a-kind, genuine artist like Biggie could inspire such an impromptu memorial.
- Posted By K.W
11.24.09 10:20 PM
The ‘myth-reality’ review for 2Pac and Biggie ended well, but the subtitle ‘Biggie and Tupac don’t matter anymore’ is just plain insolent. They may have not started the hip-hop game, but it is hard not to argue that they were its most talented.
Their coast war was B.S. and it is all of us that have lived on who know how good it was when they were here and how bad it is now that they are gone. Hip-hop and rap have had heroes such as Nas, Jay-Z, Dr. Dre, and Eminem livin’ things up every now and again to let true fans and critics know that there is still important hip-hop out there to be made, but that is few and far between. Any of them would tell you that the two fallen icons in your article would still be at the top had they not ignorantly set up their own fatal demise.
Kanye is talented, but belongs behind the mixing board. Jay-Z is proof of that (D.O.A says it all). Little Wayne can flourish only because, let’s be frank here, there isn’t anything else better being made and that is just sad man. We need artist like Jay-Z and Nas to keep making albums because they truly care about hip-hop. Think they have forgotten about Biggie and Tupac? Don’t think so man. Show some respect, legends never die.
Sadly, the 90's were the best time for rap/hip-hop and I say that with true conviction. The beats are ten times better, but the content is as weak as Puffy trying to be Prince and start a band.
Hip-hop has the ability to be great and could really dominate, but the true MC's are still living in the streets or have to keep coming out of retirement to keep is genre's head about water.
Where are the albums like Ready to Die, Reasonable Doubt, Thug Life Volume 1, Wu-tang Forever, Doggystyle (c'mon Snoop, get back to your roots), Down and Dirty, Muddy Waters, The Firm, etc? Music (not just rap) today sucks.
- Posted By R.T.
11.23.09 4:53 PM
First off, I'm a Biggie fan, not a 2Pac fan. But I think everybody's missing the point, which is that Spin got this one wrong. And while I'm grateful they can call out Radiohead for the average, unspecial and overrated people they are, I think Biggie (and Pac) matter more than ever.
At the time, I didn't care for 2Pac. But today, I'll listen to any of his discs over the crap they're pedalling as rap today. Lil' Wayne? Kanye West? Rap today is a joke.
Every once in a while, Jay-Z, Eminem, or Nas will decide to make a relevant record, but those are few and far between. I think they're the only rappers that mean anything any more.
Auto tune has ruined everything and every song is about bouncing in the club.
Democrats draw inspriation from FDR, Republicans from Reagan. And with rap in the absolutely sorry and god-awful state it is, we have to draw from the Greats. Biggie and Pac DO still matter.
- Posted By Anonymous
11.20.09 4:19 PM
Tupac wasnt this intellectual poet that you have all made him out to be. Dude was clearly bi-polar. as much as he made songs like Brendas Got a Baby, he made songs like Hit em Up and I Get Around. He was clearly just a crazy ass dude, who only became a thug to further his career. He never got arrested till he started rapping, before then he was a ballerina and back up dancer. Biggie doesnt get the credit he deserves. He not only was the better technical rapper, he also featured some social commentary in songs like Everyday Struggle and Things Done Changed. Although each rapper embellished their personas, biggie actually lived the thug life
- Posted By J.T.
11.20.09 6:45 AM
If you truly love hip hop for what it is and embodies, and do not merely listen to it for popularity sake and because it is what everyone else is doing, you would know that even though both Pac and Biggie did play an important part in the growth of the genre (popularity and media wise), the movement itself would have progressed along pretty much the same path with or without their feud, albeit with less drama.
Artists like the Wu-tang Clan and Rakim owe nothing to the likes of Biggie or Pac (while respecting both in what they did), and they are perfect examples of the true hip hop we know and love that in no way copied or followed the tapestry of the aforementioned and helped us to hold on know that good rap wasn't dead!
- Posted By Anonymous
11.19.09 1:43 PM
"None of these things would have been possible without the footprint Biggie and Pac left upon the collective consciousness, but none rely on their templates or modes for sustenance?"
Are you crazy? EVERYTHING that hip hop does today relies on Pac's templates and modes for sustenance. The greatest rapper who ever lived once described hip hop as poetry over music. That was as true when Pac said it as it is today, and no one did it better than him. Shakur will stay around because he will always be relevant as long as human beings, with all of our virtues, vices, emotions, passions, and reason continue to exist.
- Posted By Hard Drugs
11.19.09 12:57 PM
Tupac's beats are unlistenable. his lyrics are pretty good when he's not saying the same thing over and over.
Biggie was the real deal. His beats were raw and actually reflective of his style and delivery.
That's my 2 cents.
- Posted By Anonymous
11.19.09 12:11 PM
What the hell is wrong with you people?!!! Pac and Biggie were the most important rappers in history. Their rhymes kicked ass and all these new rappers kind of suck dick hard!!! When will you people realize that rap today except for Jay z of course sucks!!!
- Posted By Karol
11.18.09 6:31 PM
To me, comparing the two is like comparing Meryl Streep and Lindsay Lohan. Sure, Lohan has a following, but are the two actresses anywhere near the same level of talent?
I also just find Tupac so outrageously fake. If you watch that Tupac Resurrection documentary, it's just amazing how privileged his life was and how he had to pretend to be a thug to get attention in rap. Fine, he might have turned into a serious actor. Like Will Smith, doesn't mean he should have any credibility in rap.
- Posted By Jeremiah
11.18.09 5:50 PM
I've long felt that the Biggie-Tupac connection was based more on their feud and deaths than their artistic works.
But to put Biggie on a pedestal and claim that Tupac is a clown as Karol has, and to claim that Tupac is overrated as Reality did is extremely simplistic. Biggie was TECHNICALLY a much better RAPPER than Tupac. Absolutely. But he was himself quite a caricature (as Darryl Zero suggested) and he didn't have nearly the depth or versatility that Tupac did.
Tupac had a legit blossoming acting career. He was a captivating speaker. And while Biggie could rap circles around him, Tupac was capable of connecting with people through music in a way that Biggie wasn't even interested in. And I would argue that in interviews Tupac often confronted mainstream society for its responsibility for things being the way they are (and in his music to a lesser degree). Tupac was hip hop's Paul Robeson.
If you're only interested in lyrics, then I can understand feeling like Tupac has an undeserving reputation. If you're interested in ANYTHING else, then you'd be a fool to begrudge him his place in history.
- Posted By darryl zero
11.18.09 4:50 PM
The truth is that Biggie and Tupac do represent the essence of what Hip-Hop has become in the decade-and-a-half since their deaths. To call them the "Pillars," however, is a bit of a misnomer--everything Hip-Hop was had been built long before corporate record industry folk decided they were marketable.
Biggie and Tupac, while certainly not the only ones, were probably the most high-profile instances of Hip-Hop culture becoming a commoditized caricature of itself, lacking the "this is NOT the way things should be" caveats of an Ice-T or the intelligence of a Chuck D (who, it should be noted for Karol's sake, is the closest thing to a "best rapper who ever lived."). Mainstream audiences could stomach the two because, while they certainly mimicked the cartoon-ish hyperbole of N.W.A. and the Geto Boys, they didn't directly confront mainstream society for its responsibility for things being the way they are, nor did they sufficiently turn their lens inward to honestly examine how their marginalized communities could turn their situation around. Interestingly, what little commentary the two did manage to offer quickly washed away in favor of the flashy trappings of gangsta-dom.
So, sure--I agree with this insofar as, while Biggie and Tupac's legacy certainly contributes to how rap and Hip-Hop have become so ubiquitous, no one really follows their template anymore.
01.22.10 12:12 AM
I disagree because both rappers are big influences for modern day rap