Tupac is a MUCH, MUCH bigger icon than Will Smith..more influential and much more loved. Will Smith never stood for shyt but getting a paycheck. Tupac was calling out the govt and empowering blacks while roasting a coast. Untouchable. No wonder mumble skinny Jean nyggas cant relate to Tupacalypse.
Were you not alive in 1997?
Will Smith was the biggest star in the WORLD. And I don't mean just rapper. Overall star. Nobody was bigger than him. He had multi-platinum records and multi-billion dollar movies coming out at the same time. Pac is a bigger Hip Hop legend. But he was never as big as Will Smith was overall. Old white women in Nebraska knew who Will Smith was and hell they also liked him. Pac didn't have that wide spread appeal where he transcended both race and age. Pac just transcended race. He was population with all young people. But he wasn't beloved by the old grandmother living in Nebraska like Will.
There's a reason Kobe said to Shaq when he was younger that he was gonna be the "Will Smith of the NBA". Will had an appeal that prolly nobody has ever had. White people loved him. Black people loved him. Old folks loved him. Young folks loved him. Men loved him. And obviously women loved him. There wasn't a single demographic he did not appeal to.