The debate around the greatest rapper of all time often comes down to one question: 2Pac or Biggie? According to RZA, the nod goes to Pac when it comes to overall lethality of a lyricist, which he explained during a recent sit-down with The Art Of Dialogue.
“You go to Pac, once again,” the abbot said in reference to Pac’s influence. “Immaculate voice, but what Pac had, I think, was a way of touching us in all of our emotions. Like, Pac had the power to infuse your emotional thought, like ‘Brenda Has a Baby,’ ‘Dear Mama,’ but then he had the power to arouse the rebel in you. You know?”
RZA also compared Pac’s strengths with The Notorious B.I.G.’s, adding, “Actually, he was probably more dangerous than Big. Notorious B.I.G., we could party with him, to this day we’re still … but Pac, we’re probably, going to point, he was more going into the Malcolm X of things and society fears that.”
While RZA was sure to give the Notorious one his proper due, he highlighted the differing impacts of Biggie and Pac’s music, pointing to Pac’s power to spark the revolutionary in his listeners. “Big communicated love, but he wasn’t starting revolution,” RZA remarked.
Watch the clip below.