hey biggie fans....

[oats]

Pac's poetry is mostly wack tbc, but his poetic sensibilities transfer well into his music. Off the top, I can't think of any musician in or out of rap music that engages me intellectually. I listen to Tupac for the artistry, craft and the broad sense of humanity he was able to communicate. I wrote a (shitty) verse about it in the AOWL, but my first CD I owned was Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.S., and it made a teenaged white kid from a small beach town felt like he had a connection with something larger and completely different demographically (basically, I felt like one of his N.I.G.G.A.S.)

I love Biggie, and the older I got, the more I got into NY hip hop in general, since it is by far more literary in its writing and sound and I'm a nerd like that. But no other rapper, and hardly any musical acts period, hit me like Pac did and does. I could get college-thesis about why his music is (at times) genuinely good art, but I think it betrays the reason why most of his fans love his music; I prefer Pac cuz he gives me the feels.