Compare And Contrast 2pac And Tupac

One of the most popular music genres today is Rap. Over the past five decades it has evolved from its roots in Jazz music to become what we now recognize as “mainstream music”. As with many music genres, Rap has had several eras of varying influence and popularity. While the importance of each era is subjective, many will agree that the 90’s are a period of great importance in the genre’s history. One of the main reasons for this is the introduction of two very famous artists: Tupac Shakur (2pac) and Christopher Wallace (Biggie). They are most popular for their association with the great conflict between East and West Coast Rap. Although Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace shared many similarities, their feud highlighted important differences

Musically, Tupac and Biggie had very unique styles of rapping and instrumentals: Many of Tupac’s songs were fast-paced compared to the loose and easy flow of Biggie’s. An example is Tupac’s 1996 hit diss track “Hit Em Up”, recorded by Can Am Studios, LA. This song is directed towards Biggie and features a moderate tempo of about 95 beats per minute, with a simple guitar bass line that is sampled from "Don't Look Any Further" by Dennis Edwards (Motown Records, 1984), as well as occasional piano and synth accompaniments. The percussion is also very simple, consisting of drums complemented by a few hi-hats and

At first glance, these lines seem like shallow insults about Biggie’s personal life and entourage. However there is a deeper meaning behind each line. In the first line, the statement “You claim to be a player” is important because it creates a contradiction with the second part of the lyric. According to the commonly known street definition, a “player” generally refers to a male who is sustaining multiple relationships with different girls, each one unaware of the other. For a “player” to have a wife is contradictory as it implies that they have become attached enough to that person to make the decision to marry them. Thus, to the “player”, in this case Biggie, this person must be more important than any others. Tupac’s claim is further strengthened by the fact that Biggie’s wife Faith Evans had been in LA with Tupac to record a song some time prior to the release of “Hit Em