Old heads, what was big and pac's presence in the music scene like when they were alive?
- Thread starter Votti
- Start date
Homeboy Runny-Ray
From Around The Way
Re-read my posts.Thanks for proving my point though. Like i said even with much bigger hits he couldn't even move half the album units of his peers which proves people knew Pac they just weren't checking for his music like that
who were all these artists that were out-selling pac? it wasn't a whole lot.
more importantly, are we really about to get into an argument about sales from 1993-94? you do know that nobody cared about sales like that back then, right?
I remember mad people bumpin pac over here ON THE EAST COAST, and most of them chits was bootlegs. lets be real, the only west coast rappers getting more east coast spins at the time were snoop, dre & maybe cube.
This is both true and false. Illmatic had much critical acclaim and anticipation. Thug Life Vol. 1 sold like 3 copies in 1994. S4MN did better but 2Pac wasn't nearly as hot as Snoop, Warren G, Coolio, Domino, Wu Tang, Biggie, BTNH, etc.
Homeboy Runny-Ray
From Around The Way
yea, if we talk 1994, then you gotta give warren g the nod over pac.
coolio dont really count. kinda like the fugees.
domino wasn't a rapper.
coolio dont really count. kinda like the fugees.
domino wasn't a rapper.
god shamgod
Veteran
Illmatic debuted at #12 2pacalypse now debuted at #74 
but pac ran hip hop 
.I wasn't referring to sales I was talking about nas's buzz.Illmatic and Ready to die were the most anticipated albums on 94.Creepin on the come up,funkdafied and the diary were also
Ready to die and thuglife were released weeks apart and bigs debut shytted on thuglife vol 1 sales wise which was pacs 3rd album which further proves that pac was a nobody
but pac ran hip hop .I wasn't referring to sales I was talking about nas's buzz.Illmatic and Ready to die were the most anticipated albums on 94.Creepin on the come up,funkdafied and the diary were alsoReady to die and thuglife were released weeks apart and bigs debut shytted on thuglife vol 1 sales wise which was pacs 3rd album which further proves that pac was a nobody
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How the hell you gonna pick and choose who counts and who doesn't? What kind of bullshyt logic is that? Coolio was a rapper. Domino was considered a rapper.
god shamgod
Veteran
You can tell who was old enough to remember back then that reciprocal nikka is a revisionist fan dikkriding.Lol @ thuglife being the most anticipated album
fohTical had more anticipation than thuglife too
god shamgod
Veteran
just checked thug life as of the last riaa update in 2011 still hasn't even gone gold.
To me thuglife and 7 day theory were his best albums.Son said thuglife was the most anticipated album of 94 and illmatic wasnt and tried to use sales as the barometer 
That's where he sonned himself
Techniec
Drugs and Kalashnikovs
im not understanding this thread, its like every person in here is making quasi sense but then they fukk it up with some nonsense statement\
from same song to 1995, pac was a moderately successful rapper
he was NOT an upper echelon rapper. there were countless rappers who were bigger than pac from 91-94, snoop, dre, eazy, cube, cool j, wu tang, warren g, etc
but for some reason dumb ass motherfukkers want to dismiss a presidential controversy, numerous arrests that had him in the public eye, THREE movies that were of some significance in the hip hop world, and 2 solo albums, both of which got plaques and spawned known hit songs
so how that makes him a fuking nobody is beyond me
and for some reason, the haters seem to forget 95 and me against the world, they forget dear mama, shed so many tears, and the critical reception that album got. the fact that dude was in prison when this was happening\
see what alot of yall have to understand is that, rappers getting in trouble was nothing new but a rapper being shot 4 times, especially a KNOWN one was some new shiit...a KNOWN rpper being convicted off some serious sexual assault shiit was some new shiit
so by the time 95 turned into 96, pac was definitely BEYOND the early 90s level he was on....his music had made that jump, his online controversies similarly became more pronounced, AND most importantly there was a VOID at the time in the mainstream
Dre had one song on a soundtrack since Doggystyle
Snoop had a few cameo appearances and had the murder trial
Biggie was still riding the success of RTD but nothing new was happening (well junior mafia keep his buzz active)
Ditto Nas, but on a much lower mainstream profile tip
the early boom bap native tongues movement was starting to get played out
the older 80s heads werent doing much
the west coast had alot of 2nd tier, gold artists but no breakout stars
BONE were mega stars (def bigger than Wu)
Wu was big
Cool J was still holding it down
in 96 Coolio and Fugees blew up but no one was really considering them like that
96 was Pacs for the taking and he took it
end of story
from same song to 1995, pac was a moderately successful rapper
he was NOT an upper echelon rapper. there were countless rappers who were bigger than pac from 91-94, snoop, dre, eazy, cube, cool j, wu tang, warren g, etc
but for some reason dumb ass motherfukkers want to dismiss a presidential controversy, numerous arrests that had him in the public eye, THREE movies that were of some significance in the hip hop world, and 2 solo albums, both of which got plaques and spawned known hit songs
so how that makes him a fuking nobody is beyond me
and for some reason, the haters seem to forget 95 and me against the world, they forget dear mama, shed so many tears, and the critical reception that album got. the fact that dude was in prison when this was happening\
see what alot of yall have to understand is that, rappers getting in trouble was nothing new but a rapper being shot 4 times, especially a KNOWN one was some new shiit...a KNOWN rpper being convicted off some serious sexual assault shiit was some new shiit
so by the time 95 turned into 96, pac was definitely BEYOND the early 90s level he was on....his music had made that jump, his online controversies similarly became more pronounced, AND most importantly there was a VOID at the time in the mainstream
Dre had one song on a soundtrack since Doggystyle
Snoop had a few cameo appearances and had the murder trial
Biggie was still riding the success of RTD but nothing new was happening (well junior mafia keep his buzz active)
Ditto Nas, but on a much lower mainstream profile tip
the early boom bap native tongues movement was starting to get played out
the older 80s heads werent doing much
the west coast had alot of 2nd tier, gold artists but no breakout stars
BONE were mega stars (def bigger than Wu)
Wu was big
Cool J was still holding it down
in 96 Coolio and Fugees blew up but no one was really considering them like that
96 was Pacs for the taking and he took it
end of story
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Techniec
Drugs and Kalashnikovs
i speak from a certain perspective...i was a pac fan when he was still alive. he was my favourite rapper when he died. and yes i had tears in my eyes i remember that day vividly to this day, i was a youngsta 13 at the time
there are many like me who had the similar progression as me
in 92-95 i was a HUGE dre/snoop head, snoop was my favourite rapper and i loved eazy and cube. i liked pac, i fukked with pac with keep ya head up and brendas got a baby and i used to have the above the rim poster in my room and all that, but he wasnt on that snoop level to me cuz he never dropped anything that was chronic or doggystyle
BUT
something about dude...he had that "it" that Snoop lacked but he didnt have the remaining components to be the upper echelon
i remember by the time 95 rolled around i was 12...and the chronic/doggystyle...although still getting rotation from me...wasnt getting stale but...there was a market for some new shiit
me against the world and him getting shot and arrested and all that...made us fukk with pac heavy...STILL not enough to pass Snoop or even Eazy in my eyes..(i loved eazy)...
then eazy died and around that time pac came out
and i remember the news n shiit that pac was out...i didnt understand death row signing him, like all i knew was that he was joining snoop and thems crew i had no idea who suge was i just recognized the logo
when all eyez on me dropped it was over
over
to me he was the best from that day, he didnt relinquish that title since and never will
and then when he died
and then makeveli dropped like 1-2 months after
over
there are many like me who had the similar progression as me
in 92-95 i was a HUGE dre/snoop head, snoop was my favourite rapper and i loved eazy and cube. i liked pac, i fukked with pac with keep ya head up and brendas got a baby and i used to have the above the rim poster in my room and all that, but he wasnt on that snoop level to me cuz he never dropped anything that was chronic or doggystyle
BUT
something about dude...he had that "it" that Snoop lacked but he didnt have the remaining components to be the upper echelon
i remember by the time 95 rolled around i was 12...and the chronic/doggystyle...although still getting rotation from me...wasnt getting stale but...there was a market for some new shiit
me against the world and him getting shot and arrested and all that...made us fukk with pac heavy...STILL not enough to pass Snoop or even Eazy in my eyes..(i loved eazy)...
then eazy died and around that time pac came out
and i remember the news n shiit that pac was out...i didnt understand death row signing him, like all i knew was that he was joining snoop and thems crew i had no idea who suge was i just recognized the logo
when all eyez on me dropped it was over
over
to me he was the best from that day, he didnt relinquish that title since and never will
and then when he died
and then makeveli dropped like 1-2 months after
over
I was a teenager when they died.
Pac and Big were huge. Everybody loved them. That GOAT talk didn't start until after they died, though.
Also, white kids in small towns in the Midwest blasted their albums - whoever said that Pac and Big were "local" artists is a fukking idiot, and totally wrong. If you were a teenager in the 90's, Pac and Big and NWA & etc were THE rebellious music you listened to. Nothing pissed off your parents more.
People were really obsessed with the beef, picking sides, arguing about who was better. And when Pac died, a lot of people really didn't believe he was dead lol
All Eyez On Me was a huge album. You couldn't get away from it. It was the soundtrack to a generation. Doggystyle, The Chronic, Ready To Die, 36 Chambers, and LAD were up there too.
Pac and Big were huge. Everybody loved them. That GOAT talk didn't start until after they died, though.
Also, white kids in small towns in the Midwest blasted their albums - whoever said that Pac and Big were "local" artists is a fukking idiot, and totally wrong. If you were a teenager in the 90's, Pac and Big and NWA & etc were THE rebellious music you listened to. Nothing pissed off your parents more.
People were really obsessed with the beef, picking sides, arguing about who was better. And when Pac died, a lot of people really didn't believe he was dead lol
All Eyez On Me was a huge album. You couldn't get away from it. It was the soundtrack to a generation. Doggystyle, The Chronic, Ready To Die, 36 Chambers, and LAD were up there too.
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intilectual recipricol
Killin fake hip hop
The GOAT talk didnt start for ANYONE until LL dropped that forgettable ass album GOAT. It just wasnt a conversation that nikkaz really had.
ISO
Pass me the rock nikka
Thug Life is my favorite Pac album, but at it being much bigger than Illmatic.
Illmatic was the most critically acclaimed album of '94, it didn't got Plat immediately because it was Nas debut, East Coast wasn't selling like that, and it didn't have great promotion. Most people felt Nas deserved lyricist of the year. People knew Illmatic, and Nas was highly respected. I remember the first time I heard One Love, red light on my block bumping out a whip the xylophone had me with my ear to the window.
Pac wasn't huge initially, stop fronting Pac stans. Snoop had the biggest movement in the West Coast, Dre, Eazy, Cube, Cypress Hill, Coolio and others were all bigger than Pac from 91 to 94. Pac's early stuff was socially consious, and had good lyrics but the beats were garbage for the most part. Biggie was a star out the gate, and I would say the most popular MC on the East Coast. Wu was huge and they were all eating, Bone Thugs was huge. Pac at his peak was bigger than Big tho. I roll with Big more, and always felt like Pac was overrated. Pac stans act like Pac dropped nothing but classics, when not a single one of his albums has universal critical acclaim.
Both Pac and Big, especially Pac have had their legacies enhanced by their deaths nobody deny that shyt. Neither is the GOAT IMO.
As much as Jay-Z haters like to say Reasonable Doubt isn't classic, the Source changed their rating from 4 to 5 Mics because Jay influenced the too the same thing happened with Pac's album. MATW got 4 Mics initially, and in '02 it was changed to 5.
at it being much bigger than Illmatic.Illmatic was the most critically acclaimed album of '94, it didn't got Plat immediately because it was Nas debut, East Coast wasn't selling like that, and it didn't have great promotion. Most people felt Nas deserved lyricist of the year. People knew Illmatic, and Nas was highly respected. I remember the first time I heard One Love, red light on my block bumping out a whip the xylophone had me with my ear to the window.
Pac wasn't huge initially, stop fronting Pac stans. Snoop had the biggest movement in the West Coast, Dre, Eazy, Cube, Cypress Hill, Coolio and others were all bigger than Pac from 91 to 94. Pac's early stuff was socially consious, and had good lyrics but the beats were garbage for the most part. Biggie was a star out the gate, and I would say the most popular MC on the East Coast. Wu was huge and they were all eating, Bone Thugs was huge. Pac at his peak was bigger than Big tho. I roll with Big more, and always felt like Pac was overrated. Pac stans act like Pac dropped nothing but classics, when not a single one of his albums has universal critical acclaim.
Both Pac and Big, especially Pac have had their legacies enhanced by their deaths nobody deny that shyt. Neither is the GOAT IMO.
As much as Jay-Z haters like to say Reasonable Doubt isn't classic, the Source changed their rating from 4 to 5 Mics because Jay influenced the too the same thing happened with Pac's album. MATW got 4 Mics initially, and in '02 it was changed to 5.