Bomani Jones makes a good point:
I’ve never been one to look for the next anything. Seems a futile mission, especially as nostalgia begins to obscure good sense. But still, where is the next Pac?
I ask that because it hit me a few minutes ago — how influential has Tupac really been?
Who do you hear that just drips with Pac’s influence? I hear him in T.I. I hear him a bit in Weezy.
But when I hear younger cats, I wonder if they’ve listened to a single Pac album.
So really, how influential has Tupac’s music been?
The only thing I hear is the de-emphasis of metaphor. I wish they would have soaked up some other part of Pac’s game.
On Tupacian disciples, what about Ja Rule? (No, really, what about Ja Rule? Is he okay? Does his family know where he is?)
My thought was always that Tupac the man (his authenticity, his charisma, his vulnerability, his career choices) was a lot more influential than his music. I think he would have been a massive movie star if things had worked out differently, but where could his rap career have gone from there? (He was only 25 when he died—I need to start living.)
If you were a young rapper trying to replicate Tupac’s success, how would you borrow from his music? Would you pay someone to punch you every time you considered throwing a simile into a verse? Take away Tupac’s incredible confidence and unstoppable flow, and there’s not much there.
September 24, 2008 at 10:37 am |
wow youre an idiot. and bomani jones has clearly never listened to music.
name a modern POPULAR (million plus selling) artist that has wrote a rap song as good as brendas got a baby, dear momma, trapped and so on. rapping isnt all about metaphors, which is why indy rappers fail and fail. you can only bash someone over the head with a metaphor so many time. i rap like i fuck, everyonce in a while. i fuck like i rap, with lots of spit. im from the streets, like traffic signals. come on. heard it before.
but when youre doing a song with social meaning, and thought, youre called un creative?
was there another rapper during tupacs time that was as popular and would have at least one song about a social problem? i cant t hink of any. it hurts that the only rapper that popular at the time was biggie, and he only rapped about killing and screwing. and hes the creative one?
“i make your mouth piece obese like della reece”
versus
“You know they got me trapped in this prison of seclusion
Happiness, living on the streets is a delusion”
which is more creative?
“The only thing I hear is the de-emphasis of metaphor. I wish they would have soaked up some other part of Pac’s game.”
has to be one of the most ignorant things ive ever heard, especailyl considering it proceeded this ” I hear him in T.I. I hear him a bit in Weezy.”
TI is not a good rapper, and sounds nothing like pac, and weezy is awful also. neither of them have any flow, which should be a top prioroty for an MC, and they arent telling good stories, theyre talkigna bout fucking and partying with models. if anything, these people have copied biggie and celebrity tabloids. they get more influence from wwtdd than NWA.
i really cant beleive that you posted this, and was agreeing with it.
so what did tupac bring? he showed you dont have to defen your listner with played similies and metaphors. you can tell a story, and make people think. i dont need to have people dance around subjects by comparing it with something, say what it is, that will make me want to think about it more.
Can you picture my prophecy?
stress in tha city
tha cops is hot for me
tha projects is full of bullets
tha bodies is droppin’
there ain’t no stoppin me
constantly moven while maken millions
witnessin’ killins
leavin dead bodies in abandoned buildings
caries tha children
cause they’re illin’
addicted to killin’
a near appeal from tha cap pealin’
what i’m feelin’
but will they last or be blasted
hard headed bastard
maybe he’ll listen in his casket
tha aftermath
more bodies being buried
i’m losen my homies in a hurry
they’re relocating to tha cemetary
got me worried
stressin’
my visions bluried
tha question is will I live
no one in tha world loves me
i’m headed for danger
don’t trust strangers
put one in tha chamber
whatever i’m feelin’ is anger
don’t wanna make excuses
cause this is how it is
what’s tha use
unless we’re shootin’
no one notices tha youth
It’s Just Me against tha World baby
September 24, 2008 at 11:23 am |
I think Bomani’s point, and what I was agreeing with, was that Tupac didn’t inspire a million other rappers. He’s not like Nas or Wu-Tang or Tribe in that there’s not a lot of people trying to duplicate his sound. So he’s not influential in that way. But no one’s saying he’s a bad rapper or anything.
September 24, 2008 at 12:19 pm |
right but exactly the opposite, hes more unlike other rappers, he doesnt rely on metaphors, and as a result, people are unable to replicate that because they are not good enough, creative enough, or have enough talent.
i think thats the point, that bomani and you are missing.
September 24, 2008 at 3:12 pm |
The title of that song shoulda been “It’s me and Zach against the world”