From 96-97, who was the better lyricist: Biggie or Hov?

[MooseMouthMthafuga]

BIG was way more polished at that point.

Isn't Jay like 4-5 yrs older than Big?

 

[MooseMouthMthafuga]

This song sums it up.Jay with a very good verse, but Big with the Hall Of Fame level bars.

Big just had more gravity than Jay.

 

[tuckgod]

IT's about to get even more interesting :prodigylol:
Prodigy was better than all tree of them :pdahellclean:
Put together :pwhitehat:
And its not even close :peeumad:

‘95-96 P is def in the convo

 

[Take It In Blood]

And Jay was older than Big, in the game years before Big. Jay was not on Big, Pac, or Nas level when they were all alive. Jay was a C teamer at BEST at that time, really a D teamer as far as fame and people checking for him.

No one outside of Brooklyn knew who he was till he was singing hooks for Foxy Brown.

I wouldn't call Jay a C or D teamer


He was a B teamer around that time. But Pac, Big, Nas were starting line up


Once Big died Jay became part of the starting lineup, along with DMX

 

[Cuban Pete]

Jay has always been a nicer lyricist thab BIG but BIGs voice plus the fact that he never was off beat or awky with the flow plus his penchant for storytelling makes him more rounded than Hov was until recently

 

[FrankieLymon757]

Prodigy !

 

[King P]

Biggie had the edge in flow/delivery/mic presence. But if we're talking straight lyrics, then Jay definitely takes IMO.

I've always said that when it comes to lyricism, Big has the most digestible lyrics of any top tier rapper. Which is his appeal lyrically. Biggie is the ultimate "sounds great" rapper. Like it's better to listen to Big's lyrics than to read them. Which isn't a bad thing at all (love Big, so I'm not trying to diss him). It is what it is.

But to me, 96/97 Jay is fukking amazing lyrically. There's just so much more layers to his lyrics. You could sit down and break down/decipher Jay lyrics for days.
Unfortunately Jay's lyrics aren't nearly as digestible.

I guess it depends on what's your cup of tea

 

[ronnie46]

jay-z technically was iller to me then notorious big in terms of bars and how it was structured


From standin on the corners boppin
to drivin some of the hottest cars New York has ever seen
For droppin some of the hottest verses rap has ever heard
From the dope spot, with the smoke Glock
fleein the murder scene, you know me well
from nightmares of a lonely cell, my only hell
But since when y'all nikkaz know me to fail? fukk naw
Where all my nikkaz with the rubber grips, bust shots
And if you with me mom I rub on your t*ts, and what-not
I'm from the school of the hard knocks, we must not
let outsiders violate our blocks, and my plot
let's stick up the world and split it fifty/fifty, uh-huh
Let's take the dough and stay real jiggy, uh-huh
And sip the Cris' and get pissy-pissy
Flow infinitely like the memory of my nikka Biggie, baby!
You know it's hell when I come through
The life and times of Shawn Carter
nikka Volume 2, y'all nikkaz get ready

 

[FromBillionsCameOne]

Jay was the better lyricist BIG the better rapper

 

[mobbinfms]

‘95-96 P is def in the convo

Argue all day about who's the best emcees
Biggie, Jay, P and Nas :prodigylol2:

 

[Bondye Vodou]

Biggie vs Biggie Lite®
.

I'm going with Biggie.

 

[Danie84]

Ain't shyt Change except the number after the dot on the Range

 

[ShaDynasty]

I think RD is a better LP than Life After Death. Biggie washed Jay on their collabos. Tough call. I'm giving it to Jay-Z though.

Biggie is one of my favorite rappers (above Jay-Z), so its weird to come to this conclusion but

 

[ISO]

this song pretty much deads anything..



Big ate his lunch.. Jay was a lil dude compared to B-I..

That trash ass 2Pac’s line disqualifies him

 

[Tom Foolery]

'96-Jay
'97-Big