50 Cent Comments on Tupac in Rolling Stone

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By: 50 Cent

Every rapper who grew up in the Nineties owes something to Tupac. People either try to emulate him in some way, or they go in a different direction because they didn't like what he did. But whatever you think of him, he definitely developed his own style: He didn't sound like anyone who came before him.

My favorite Tupac album is Makaveli. It was recorded after he was shot and spent time in prison. It was like a doctor told him he was going to die, and he was trying to get it all down on paper. That's something the average rapper just could not do: build an entire album around that concept, and stay in that negative space. Everybody knows that they're going to die. But after you're in a life-threatening situation, you think about it a little more.

Tupac's aggressive records are my favorite. "Hail Mary" is just perfect: "Picture paragraphs unloaded/Wise words being quoted." Most artists now just aren't smart enough to write that, or honest enough to write a line like, "I ain't a killer but don't push me." These days rappers will just tell you, "I'll kill you."

Tupac was like a camera. It's incredible how much he wrote -- how much he documented. To me, 'Pac was more of a poet than a rapper. You can always tell when you're hearing Tupac verse. He wrote those lyrics without any music. Notorious B.I.G. was more melody-driven -- I'm sure he wrote his **** without a pen, and over the music -- but 'Pac was just hashing out his life. The thing was, he was doing that when the public eye was on him, and everything he was hashing out just expanded, and that's when things got out of control.

All of us on the East Coast loved Tupac. The music was all that mattered. That East Coast/West Coast feud was just personal beef. I didn't even believe he was really dead when he died, because he had been shot before. I thought, "He just got shot again, he'll be all right."

But now that he's not here, he's bigger than ever. I can still listen to two or three Tupac CDs straight -- just throw them in the changer. Sometimes I build one CD with Tupac's best songs, and one with Biggie's best songs. Then I listen and get ready to go into my next project.

Laurence Fishburne told me once that he didn't like Tupac. I couldn't understand why. He told me it was because Tupac was so much smarter than everyone around him. He said he didn't like the way Tupac behaved because he knew that Tupac knew better. I understood what he meant. But I still gave him a look like he was bugging...

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Good read, thanks.

I think Me Against The World is better than Makaveli, and it's just as (if not more) personal imo.
 
Icesolated.Com said:
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... Most artists now just aren't smart enough to write that, or honest enough to write a line like, "I ain't a killer but don't push me." These days rappers will just tell you, "I'll kill you...

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That's what I always been saying about Pac, that what makes him so great. He is not afraid to be venerable...

But yeah Me Against The World is my favorite too.

But props to 50 on his comments about Pac. Cause all the talk about him being cocky and selfish, at least he admits and appreciates who he was influenced by.
 
Wiggum said:
That's what I always been saying about Pac, that what makes him so great. He is not afraid to be venerable...

But yeah Me Against The World is my favorite too.

But props to 50 on his comments about Pac. Cause all the talk about him being cocky and selfish, at least he admits and appreciates who he was influenced by.

[color=sky blue] Yeah, that line is real, because who can't relate to that...The article made me appreciate 50 a whole lot more...

I wish artists today would embody what Pac was about in a sense, where he just bared his soul...I wish music could still be entertaining, but a bit more honest...

"I slang crack, I shoot you in the face"...Thats a reality of a situation, but why is that real to you...What's behind your anger, your struggle, your hustle...To me that's whats REAL...

I don't know if that made sense, but I wish more music could be like that...

On the topic of 50 being selfish and cocky...I find that funny that people won't give him the objective eye and the benefit of the doubt like they give Hip-Hop's Golden Boy "Kanye West"...This dude crys, whines, b!tches and moans, about everything, but the crusaders defend him tooth and nail..."That don't mean he dont make good music, he should be cocky, he made 5 beats a day for 3 summers, he struggled to get here"...lolol...

Back on topic...Me Against The World was beautiful, cause dude was vulnerable and bared his "REAL" soul...but Hail Mary is one of my fav. top ten hip hop cuts of all time...

IMO...To all the cats who think 50 is an idiot, dude has a lot interesting views on life, music, etc...I would say he is a very brilliant person...I would like to sit down and talk to dude one day and just shoot the sh!t...He seems to have depth in his personality...

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Icesolated.Com said:


[color=sky blue] ...I don't know if that made sense, but I wish more music could be like that...

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Naw, it made total sense. I agree with you 100%...
 
Icesolated.Com said:
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By: 50 Cent

My favorite Tupac album is Makaveli. It was recorded after he was shot and spent time in prison. It was like a doctor told him he was going to die, and he was trying to get it all down on paper. That's something the average rapper just could not do: build an entire album around that concept, and stay in that negative space. Everybody knows that they're going to die. But after you're in a life-threatening situation, you think about it a little more.
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umm...no 50. All Eyez On Me was recorded right after he was shot and in jail. Makaveli was recorded after that.
 
pac is a great. no doubt, altho i still think biggy was the greatist to ever hit the mic. good post, good read.
 
I think 2pacalypse now was his best work. That's when he was really true to himself and his vision. Songs like Trapped, Holla if Ya Hear Me, Words of Wisdom, If My Homie Calls. People don't focus on that 2pac, but I think towards the end of his career he was going back to that.

Some quotes:

"pump ya fist like this, holla if ya hear me! pump pump if youre pissed!"

"They got me trapped in this slavery
now I'm lost in this Holocaust headed for my grave G
I told Sam he could **** the war
and got a busted jaw for sayin' **** the law
and if you wonder why I'm mad check the record
What's a nigga got to do to get respected?"

"Poppa need brand new shoes
but what the **** can a nigga do
My little boy got to eat too
So why must I sock a fella
Just to live large like Rockafella?
And did you ever stop to think
I'm old enough to go to war
But I ain't old enough to drink
Cops want to hit me with the book
And you're hooked on my eye don't give a **** look
Make your rules I'm a break 'em
No matter how much you make 'em
You show me bacon I'm a take 'em
So don't you ever tempt me
I'm a fool for mine nigga and my pockets stay empty"

"All through high school, girls by the dozens
Sayin we cousins, knowin that we wasn't
But like the old saying goes
Times goes on, and everybody grows
Grew apart, had to part, went our own ways
You chose the dope gaaaane, my microphone pays"

"But now I don't wanna down my homie
No matter how low you go you're not lowly
And I, hear that you made a few enemies
But when you need a friend you can depend on me, call
If you need my assistance there'll be no resistance
I'll be there in an instant
Who am I to judge another brother, only on his cover
I'd be no different than the other"

"My homies is making it elsewhere
Striving, working nine to five with no health care
We both had dreams of being great
But his deferred, and blurred and changed in shaped
It's fate, it wasn't my choice to make
To be great, I'm giving it all it takes
Trying to shake, the crates and fakes and snakes
I gotta take, my place or fall from grace
The foolish way, the pace is quick and great
Smiling face, to hide the trace of heat
But my homie would never do me wrong
That's why I wrote this song, if you ever need me it's on
No matter who the foe they must fall
Us against them all I'm down to brawl if my homies call"

Seriously. Read those lyrics. Don't just skim through that sht. Who the **** writes like that today (in the mainstream)? Nobody.

2pac didn't rap. He just wrote poetry and rapped it. That's why his lyrics are so powerful sometimes.
 
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to me all tupac albums are good....i can listen to him and just vibe with his tracks
 
Strictly For My N.I.G.G.A.Z is my favorite. That and Better Dayz is pretty good.
 
"Holla if Ya Hear Me"


That song wuz on Strictly 4 My Niggaz, his second album.

Good read, nice post. :)

And there is no best Pac album, they're all great.
 
*off topic* Does anyone ever play violent in the whip. that bassline be having everything shaking.
 
Daredant said:

And there is no best Pac album, they're all great.
you said it the best. I just didn't listen to any Pac album that eminem produced yet,but all of the Pac albums was fire, from his first one to his last one.
 
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