Tupac/Biggie Appreciation -- Check In

[hiphopnation]

The two reluctant warrior poets, the both of them. They didn't lift up the race, they didn't advance a positive agenda, they didn't outline a path for young black males that was outside the well-trodden way that's littered with drugs, violence and misogyny.

What they did do was make their lives a tragic poem. They were bold enough to take their own existence and fill it with dangerous poetry in an attempt to warn forthcoming generations. They also made party music that encouraged celebration of their legacy -- a reluctant acceptance of the life they had very little choice but to accept.

Send the love to the two reluctant warrior poets...

[sasquatch]

1. Tupac is dead, and it's that simple

[hiphopnation]

3. no doubt

i'm not one of the "tupac is alive" ers. though the dave chapelle sketch where the tupace remix is playing and he's describing the clothes that the dude on the dance floor is wearing is pretty farkin' hilarious.

i just think pac and big should be honored from time to time...so as not to be forgotten.

warrior poets similar to the tradition of the japanese warrior poet, imho...

[hiphopnation]

2. and to add to this

the very rare tupace and biggie FREESTYLE captured on video...this is, quite simply, inspired

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KB_gEA7nDE

[hiphopnation]

4. kick

:kick:

[hiphopnation]

5. kick again

cuz i know some duers wanna show pac and big some love...

[Omphaloskepsis]

6. I always thought Tupac was fantastic.

The Notorious B.I.G. (not so much)

[hiphopnation]

11. pac had a real knack for the turn of phrase

and he infused a lot of meaning into his rhymes.

he was not the best freestyler, however. big was a mad freestyler, check out the video posted above.

[IndianaJones]

7. Tupac was genius. nt.

[Bryan]

8. In solemn remembrance

Biggie's St. Ides commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUnMQq7BFvI

Tupac's St. Ides commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76DTRKr480A

Valuable texts, in that they underline the centrality of commercialism in the mainstream hip-hop narrative, and, in the broader context of black American life, point to the toxic subsumation of communitarian values by the seductive draw of individual gratification, the paradoxical lure of the consumer society even to those who are most marginalized by it, and-finally, and perhaps most forcefully-that St. Ides will fuck you up, particularly the Blueberry.

[hiphopnation]

9. oh my

that is most brilliant. thanks for the addittion.

i'm guessing that's Michael Eric Dyson, but if it's you then my apologies and hats off. :bounce:

[Bryan]

15. Thank you!

That was all me.

[ghostsofgiants]

10. I was never a big fan of either, but there's no denying their importance to rap.

Big L also, though he did try to advance a positive agenda and outline a path for black youth in some of his songs.

[hiphopnation]

13. I wasn't 'poor', I was po', I couldn't afford the 'o-r'

R.I.P Big L, another great freestyler, one of the best in fact.

[bigwillq]

12. I am much more a Tupac fan

but Biggie made some really good tracks. I saw him once in concert and he was very, very good. He could spit for a long time despite his size. I was impressed.

[sniffa]

14. tupac is crap

biggie forever!!1!