A 2Pac and DMX rivalry would have been the wildest rap beef of all time.

[⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐]

You're bugging... with the amount of times Tupac rhymed Hennessy with enemies and young black male and crack sale

Rappers, sorted by the size of their vocabulary

The number of unique lyrics used within artists’ first 35,000 lyrics

pudding.cool

DMX is under the 3000 word mark and Tupac is right in the middle between 3000 and 4500

25% bigger lexicon per first 35,000 words

When I said DMX 3 to and Tupac 5 I was estimating but it looks like that statistics back this up

 

[King Sun]

As a big fan of both I think there’s a lot of similarities between X and Pac

Aggressive, bald, tatted up, stayed with his shirt off, rocked bandanas and leather vests, yelled on songs and dissed nikkas in a brazen way similar to Pac

X rapped a lot about death, the devil, the struggle, etc like Pac and he would write story/metaphor joints like Damien and The Convo like Pac

Not to mention Dee & Wah have that flick with Pac in 96

Also if you listen to X pre-RR demo shyt, you can see that they took a page out of Pac’s book to rebrand him. I think it just worked because of who X naturally is, so it didn’t feel fake like Ja

There was a lot of dudes rocking that style before Pac though. Bald heads and bandanas was a thing.

 

[FreshAIG]

So we have to go to interviews to find evidence if his extensive vocabularly .. it didn’t make it to his songs. Nonetheless he’s irreplaceable and one of the all-time greats

There are DMX-style punchlines and more examples of wit and quips throughout his catalog than can be found in Tupac’s

It did in his earlier work when he was heavily influenced by Kane/Rakim/LL but once he got his own style he didn't as much

 

[⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐]

It did in his earlier work when he was heavily influenced by Kane/Rakim/LL but once he got his own style he didn't as much

1000% pre-fame raw DMX is a specimen to behold but eventually many artists settle into their wheelhouse, which is important in offering a consistent product to your fanbase

 

[Budda]

X was a better overall rapper than Pac. He had more wider skill set imo. He was more clever, better storyteller, more authentic in his raps, better delivery, etc.. that's just my opinion.

X wasn't done but the third album (The Great Depression was a good record), but his run was short compared to other legends of his ilk because the drugs became overwhelming. Had nothing to do with not being versatile. He was a functioning drug addict but it became unmanageable once he got a shyt ton of money and had yes men around him.

He wasn't a better storyteller, i barely think he was more clever but any differences are marginal, both aren't known for being top tier lyricists. I never said DMX didn't have versatility he just didn't have it like Pac, compare their runs regardless of DMX drug traumas the timespan of their runs were prettych much the same, Pac came out in 91 and was gone by 96, DMX dropped his first album, compare his work from 98-2003, and its no contest imo.

Tupac managed to fit in so many different sounding albums with different themes in that short space of time, All Eyez on Me sounds so different from 2pacalypsenow which sounds different to Thug Life which sounds different from Me Against The World.

The fact that Tupac was constantly on the move and had spent several years in different coasts in America showed in his music, and he has music for all occasions on a level which neither DMX or really any rapper outside his rival in that era Biggie has.

 

[⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐]

Keep in mind none of my posts should be construed to detract from DMX

Fact of the matter is fan base came to expect songs like Party Up and X Gonna Give It To Ya which were huge hits that nobody would ever cite as sell out records. When it came to that X literally delivered and those songs wouldn’t of worked the same way if he had a wide ranging lexicon, gotta keep it tight

 

[Budda]

stop being greedy is about robbing dudes. Lol

That’s dmx past time lol

So no Tupac can’t make that record unless it was about him he being robbed like Warren G

Rappers make songs about things they never did all the time, i mean do you think I Got A Story To Tell was a true story?

 

[Budda]

nikkas said stop being greedy is generic... wow......I like Pac but the Stanleys are making it hard lol. If I ever get the time to go back to the first page to find out which one of these dudes grouped DMX with Lil Zane im negging him on site for eternity

Look at the verses,


I thank the Lord everyday that I'm blessed with the gift
I'm the best, so, unless you wanna rest with the stiff
Don't touch that, uh-uh, leave it alone
When you walk past the doghouse, leave it a bone (come on)
Dogs bite, dogs fight, dogs knife (what?)
Scratch, shake, and hold all night (what?)
So when you hear that arf, arf, start running (come on)
'Cause when you hear that arf arf, I'm coming (come on)
But I don't like drama, so I stay to myself (uh-huh)
Keep focused with this rap shyt and pray for the wealth
I want the money and give me the honeys with big asses (yes)
The most expensive champagne you got in big glasses (yes)
I'm drunk, so I'ma bash his head wide open (uh)
Begging me to stop but at least he died hopin' (uh, uh)
Didn't get his wish, now he's a dish for the pack (Come on)
Two glowing red eyes, everything else is black


Dmx is not better lyrically than Pac, he is just as basic, he relies on other elements to elevate his greatness.

 

[FreshAIG]

He wasn't a better storyteller, i barely think he was more clever but any differences are marginal, both aren't known for being top tier lyricists. I never said DMX didn't have versatility he just didn't have it like Pac, compare their runs regardless of DMX drug traumas the timespan of their runs were prettych much the same, Pac came out in 91 and was gone by 96, DMX dropped his first album, compare his work from 98-2003, and its no contest imo.

Tupac managed to fit in so many different sounding albums with different themes in that short space of time, All Eyez on Me sounds so different from 2pacalypsenow which sounds different to Thug Life which sounds different from Me Against The World.

The fact that Tupac was constantly on the move and had spent several years in different coasts in America showed in his music, and he has music for all occasions on a level which neither DMX or really any rapper outside his rival in that era Biggie has.

Agree to disagree, I thought X had way more imagery in his storytelling and bought you in more. As far as cleverness, I don't think it's up for debate really. Were they top tier lyricist on the level of a Jay or Nas, no. Both were lyricist though. But they displayed it very differently. I just thought X was better at it because to me he had better wordplay and using more literary devices like compound syllables, flipping off the last word, etc...

 

[FreshAIG]

Look at the verses,


I thank the Lord everyday that I'm blessed with the gift
I'm the best, so, unless you wanna rest with the stiff
Don't touch that, uh-uh, leave it alone
When you walk past the doghouse, leave it a bone (come on)
Dogs bite, dogs fight, dogs knife (what?)
Scratch, shake, and hold all night (what?)
So when you hear that arf, arf, start running (come on)
'Cause when you hear that arf arf, I'm coming (come on)
But I don't like drama, so I stay to myself (uh-huh)
Keep focused with this rap shyt and pray for the wealth
I want the money and give me the honeys with big asses (yes)
The most expensive champagne you got in big glasses (yes)
I'm drunk, so I'ma bash his head wide open (uh)
Begging me to stop but at least he died hopin' (uh, uh)
Didn't get his wish, now he's a dish for the pack (Come on)
Two glowing red eyes, everything else is black


Dmx is not better lyrically than Pac, he is just as basic, he relies on other elements to elevate his greatness.

Lol that verse isn't basic. You're conflating him being simple in word usage with being basic, when it's not at all the same. He's literally switching between topics of good and evil and fighting within himself. There's nothing basic about that.

If you're just looking for the 5 syllable words then you're going to miss the talent of being able to convey a split personality disorder by switching out his delivery and content every 3-4 bars into a different persona. That's not basic bro.

 

[Complexion]

at the in this thread.

On the one hand its "Simple is a skill" but elsewhere its "Hennessy and enemies is all he writ". The hateration!



They both got skills, both went direct and relied mainly on saturation of emotion to convey the message but artistically they're quite different.

 

[Cladyclad]

Rappers make songs about things they never did all the time, i mean do you think I Got A Story To Tell was a true story?

And they don’t feel genuine and for the most part are panned

 

[FreshAIG]

at the in this thread.

On the one hand its "Simple is a skill" but elsewhere its "Hennessy and enemies is all he writ". The hateration!



They both got skills, both went direct and relied mainly on saturation of emotion to convey the message but artistically they're quite different.

Being able to convey a complex idea into a digestible verse takes a lot of skill

 

[trillanova]

We're romanticizing beefs on dead people now?

 

[Complexion]

Being able to convey a complex idea into a digestible verse takes a lot of skill

I agree. Its the irony of the fact that some people on here hate Pac so much that they'd flip the same things they diss him for and frame it as a skill when its being used against him.