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- Mar 13, 2008
First off, I'm a writer, if you are not a reader -- don't get mad at me. Yes my post is long. It's meant to analyze 13 years of history, what'dyou expect? Anything less than 2 pages wouldn't be fitting for adressing issues about the "King of New York", right?
Spoiler [+]
I feel like Big gets surplus hype and Beans gets overlooked by the same amount of people. Biggie is pretty good, but I'm not that impressed. He's like Penny Hardaway (my former favorite player) to me. Yeah, clearly he was on his way to greatness, but he never quite got there to me. And when I did get a chance to see greatness develope in Kobe, I was able to look back and understand that you can't put nearlyy as much weight on potential as I previously thought. But this thread isn't explicity a Beans > Biggie argument. I'm about to explain why although Biggie is a damn good rapper, he was never the GOAT MC to me.
I know how NY biased this forum is, so this WILL start a war, but I'm about to be honest.
Biggie is the 90s version of Young Jeezy. But before you go off yapping about Biggie being "lyrical" (hate that word), read this:
I remember thinking Jeezy was the 2000's Tupac because he, unlike any other rapper at the time, had a SOLID grip on people's attention spans. The hood was following Jeezy to death back in 05.He was the voice of every black dude I knew. Look how that turned out. IMO, he's not even important anymore. He sounds different now. It's not the same message or the same delivery that captivated the hood. He doesn't sound like he's "in" the game. He sounds like he's "from" the game -- like Jay-Z in a way, except it worked out in Jigga's favor. It's the difference you get when comparing Reasonable Doubt to The Blueprint. I like BP much more because it tells a complete story, before and after, not just the rising action of the plot. But, Jeezy isn't nearly as good of a story teller, so I preferred him back when I could still believe he was "in" the game. It's easier to tell the "truth" as it's happening than it is to recall it later. That's why I like Gucci right now. But I digress.. I also want to note, and I'm staring at Lupe when I type this... story telling is easy. Very easy. if you are as creative as Big, or Lupe, or Jay (or even me) it ain't that hard to make up a story and make it rhyme. So "I got a story to tell" and other songs (and albums like The Cool) don't really impress me. It's MUCH harder to make real life rhyme, while recounting actual events that other people would relate to (hence, F&L >>> The Cool).
Biggie had all the making's of a star. He had the appeal, the voice (I hate it personally, but the consensus is that it's dope), and the flow (unquestionable flow
). His lyrics are a bit on the surface though. He's a throwback Lil' Wayne in that his wit lies in his ability to simplify brilliance. He's no Lupe. He doesn't compound creativity and layer his rhymes beneath the surface (which I too tire of at times. No one style is perfect in my eyes). He makes quick, catchy,
-type rhymes that make you think for a split second, then nod in approval..
I like Beans because he doesn't rely on "word-trickery". Word-trickery is what happens when you confuse lyricism with cleverness. Lil Wayne is clever. Lightbuld do indeed ge hot, so "hot like light" is clever. Case & point. So yeah... Biggie was clever too. And as far as rhyme styles go, Tupac wasn't. Tupac sacrificed being clever for a higher purpose - being REAL (defined in this sense as "relating to the common man and his issues") and passionate about it. Beans doesn't make the same sacrifice. Beans has all three qualities. Whereas Biggie is VERY clever in the way he rhymes, to me it takes away from his music at times because bars get "wasted" on ++%% that sounds clever but has no real significance or substantial message (Wayne is the poster child for this
). I'm not saying all music has to be important (I did say I was a Gucci fan,. right?), but to be considered the greatest at a craft grounded in reality and self-expression when your best songs are "just entertainment", is blasphemy to me. My favorite Beans' songs use cleverness to deliver realness through passion. My favorite Biggie songs are witty. I wouldn't live by them though. I live by alot of the things I learn from my favorite Jay-Z song (Never Change) or even Eminem's songs (I.E. Rock Bottom).
So in conclusion, though Biggie may be one of the craftiest, wittiest, clever-est __s to ever grace the stage...... all he did was entertain. He didn't do much in the form of inspiring, enlightening, or affecting lives. He just made __s heads nod ferociously, for what it's worth.
Big is just a musician to me.. he never transcended that.
I know how NY biased this forum is, so this WILL start a war, but I'm about to be honest.
Biggie is the 90s version of Young Jeezy. But before you go off yapping about Biggie being "lyrical" (hate that word), read this:
I remember thinking Jeezy was the 2000's Tupac because he, unlike any other rapper at the time, had a SOLID grip on people's attention spans. The hood was following Jeezy to death back in 05.He was the voice of every black dude I knew. Look how that turned out. IMO, he's not even important anymore. He sounds different now. It's not the same message or the same delivery that captivated the hood. He doesn't sound like he's "in" the game. He sounds like he's "from" the game -- like Jay-Z in a way, except it worked out in Jigga's favor. It's the difference you get when comparing Reasonable Doubt to The Blueprint. I like BP much more because it tells a complete story, before and after, not just the rising action of the plot. But, Jeezy isn't nearly as good of a story teller, so I preferred him back when I could still believe he was "in" the game. It's easier to tell the "truth" as it's happening than it is to recall it later. That's why I like Gucci right now. But I digress.. I also want to note, and I'm staring at Lupe when I type this... story telling is easy. Very easy. if you are as creative as Big, or Lupe, or Jay (or even me) it ain't that hard to make up a story and make it rhyme. So "I got a story to tell" and other songs (and albums like The Cool) don't really impress me. It's MUCH harder to make real life rhyme, while recounting actual events that other people would relate to (hence, F&L >>> The Cool).
Biggie had all the making's of a star. He had the appeal, the voice (I hate it personally, but the consensus is that it's dope), and the flow (unquestionable flow
I like Beans because he doesn't rely on "word-trickery". Word-trickery is what happens when you confuse lyricism with cleverness. Lil Wayne is clever. Lightbuld do indeed ge hot, so "hot like light" is clever. Case & point. So yeah... Biggie was clever too. And as far as rhyme styles go, Tupac wasn't. Tupac sacrificed being clever for a higher purpose - being REAL (defined in this sense as "relating to the common man and his issues") and passionate about it. Beans doesn't make the same sacrifice. Beans has all three qualities. Whereas Biggie is VERY clever in the way he rhymes, to me it takes away from his music at times because bars get "wasted" on ++%% that sounds clever but has no real significance or substantial message (Wayne is the poster child for this
So in conclusion, though Biggie may be one of the craftiest, wittiest, clever-est __s to ever grace the stage...... all he did was entertain. He didn't do much in the form of inspiring, enlightening, or affecting lives. He just made __s heads nod ferociously, for what it's worth.
Big is just a musician to me.. he never transcended that.
