At the time, and for years after, a large part driving various conspiracy theories, (though it's interesting there so many less on BIG, for whatever reason)
people (for the record far removed from the gang violence driving the murders) made so much of all the symbolism and death references, (7 Day THEORY) both rappers were using, rapping about, including as album titles, song concepts, album covers, videos, and some of that is just marketing rap as dangerous and provocative, BUT
it was also about the lives these guys were living. While they made charts, and embraced the love of white America and pop culture, and corporate America, UMG/Arista, they were, because of who and what they were, in the midst of death and violence, killings, jail sentences, courtrooms, gang feuds, drug traffickers and kingpins, straight killers in Versace suits, emptying clips at cars, executions, ambushes at A list parties
all that street shyt we hear about NOW, these guys were A list celebs, ordering murders, coming into after parties with 50 gang members, when you hear people say catch in traffic, that's exactly what happened to Pac and BIG.
Puff ran the longest and fastest, and he barely made it out.
and that's why the music sounded so urgent and desperate, haunted, and violent, because it was.
