This some grade A hating
On both pac and cube. Passion makes you lyricst. If you can make people feel the emotions you're trying to convey with your lyrics and performance of said lyrics, you are a lyricist.
We can disagree with which carries more weight. Technical vs emotive. That's cool but we can't pretend that focusing on one more than the other makes or breaks you as a lyricist
Cause really it's all about balance. All the best rappers tap into both and know it's more than what you say. It's how you say it to the beat, how it serves the purpose of the song, how well it translates live, etc.