It's obvious that Nas had more of a reverence for Pac than Pac had for him.
Pac is the nikka Nas dreamed of being in his music.That whole "intelligent, but thug" shyt....Fiery/revolutionary...bold & defiant.
Considering his ancestry,Pac was born with that shyt.It was in the essence of who he was.He sat at the dinner table with true life revolutionaries and soaked up the game first hand.Nas had to pick up a book read about it
No matter how many books you've read or how smart you think you are, a nikka with experience will always be able to school your ass.To me, that's the difference between Pac & Nas.
Nas seems like a cool/laid back/ highly observant cat with crazy creative writing skills.You can tell every line is well thought out.I believe he said it took him 2 years to write Illmatic.At the end of the day, all I'm able to say is that Nas is more technical than Pac.
He didn't have it in his gut like Pac, though.Pac was more original IMO.That's why he could write whole albums in only 3 days.He didn't have to sit for months/years and brain storm.He just hashed out his life.He had the game inside him.nikkaz like that never run out of things to say.There's no brooding around in a notepad for 2 years with cats like that.Brooders don't have the same grace as "naturals".Brooders stress over "concepts" and coming up with clever/smart things to say.When I hear the word "technical", that's what I see, but hey, some people appreciate that shyt.
When it comes to creative writing, Nas is probably shytting on everybody.You have to appreciate all the work that goes into his music.You can tell he's a perfectionist at heart.As I said before, every line is well thought out.
BUT look at it like this.....It took Nas 2 years to write Illmatic and it took Pac 3 days to write Makaveli...honestly, after listening to both albums, which one seems deeper/more introspective to you?
You could compare Makaveli to any Nas album and I don't think your answer would change.
Pac was a natural, breh