I look at pac differently. I see him as probably the most charismatic rapper ever which explains his popularity. As a person though, he was a charlatan, a buffoon, and hypocrite who made his own death bed. As a rapper he was never a big deal to me. He was a better actor than he was a rapper, which says a lot.
All the people I've come across who idolize tupac have been whites, suburban hip hop fans, or foreigners.
He was a flawed character as I would expect a young black man in his early 20s from a dysfunctional family, a by product of dysfunctional society, to be
A charlatan? I dont see how the record supports that. How can a person who was the most genuine rapper, who spoke the most freely, put his life on the line, poured emotions over beats be involved in trickery?
I can appreciate hes not everyones cup of tea. Especially for a kid who grew up in NY in the 90s. Yall had your own shyt. I was a west coast head through and through so I have my own biases
I grew up in the 90s, I was raised in that era, the Nas, Bigs, Wu Tang, Lost Boys, Mobb, BCC etc. It never appealed to me musically, lyrically etc
So I can appreciate diversity in tastes.
And I definitely dig what youre sayin about his fans. Being from Toronto, I cant speak on what the Black American experience was with regards to Pac, but from everything Ive heard and read and understand Pac was loved. Maybe not in the tri state area as much but pac was loved. My cousins from the Bay, they love him out there. I been out there. I know Pac was loved.
Over here though, yeah it was white boys and immigrants. The white boys for their own reasons, I cant speak on the white boys. But us immigrants, fukk yeah we fukked with Pac, Pac was a soldier, Pac spit real shyt, all my boys, Africans, Afghans, Arabs, Russians etc. Hence his global appeal to this day,.
Big was comfortable in his own skin and his music reflected that. Pac was always screaming for attention like a bytch. I'd listen to big over pac any day of the week.
Again, I dont see how you can say Pac wasnt comfortable in his own skin. Are we talking about the same rapper? Hows the man who made Shed So Many Tears, If I Die Tonight, Death Around the Corner, Hail Mary, etc not comfortable in his own skin? Hell yes, he had a larger than life personality, hell yes he was a character, hell yes he had a battery in his back to some degree. I dont dispute all that, I just understand why he was that way