In light of the succes of the Notorious soundtrack and movie, a question has reappeared in my mind. Rap in the 90’s was obviously at its peak. Things were great. Creativity was at a maximum and everybody was making money. New York and Cali were on top of the world and everything was great. But the killing of both of the game’s frontrunners changed everything for the worse.
Since the deaths of BIG and Pac, both of their former labels have basically gone bellyup. Their crews are non-existant. WTF happened to Lil’ Cease and Lil’ Kim? WTF happened to the Outlawz and all them? In recent interviews, Diddy admitted that since BIG’s death, he hasn’t looked at music the same. He said all of the love was gone from it for him. Even though every single artist in music did not personally know both BIG and Pac, everybody was definitely effected. But did the deaths effect their creativity too? Did the deaths make everybody more money hungry because they realized that life was short?
The media is very much so the culprit for the East Coast v. West Coast beef, which subsequently led to the deaths of two of hip hop’s greatest artists but people seem to forget that. I never try to bring religious views into the blogging world but one of the rules I abide by, is that everything happens for a reason. Were Biggie and Pac’s death’s both needed in order for everybody to relax? Were the deaths necessary for people like Jay-Z and Snoop to have a chance to be stars?
Think about it, as soon as BIG passed, Jay jumped right in and filled the void for New York like nothing stopped. Before that, Jay was just an afterthought and was seen as that guy outta Brooklyn that was spitting some hot sh*t but nobody cared because BIG was around and Puff Daddy basically owned the city. On the West Coast, I’m not too sure who came directly after Pac but I know he led the way for people like Dre and Snoop and a loser like E-40.
The way I see it is, even if BIG and Pac were not taken at the peaks of their career, the turmoil would have just carried on through rap. Maybe Method Man or Dr. Dre would’ve met the bullet. Their deaths were monumental for the hip hop movement and culture because it made the artists realize that music is just music at the end of the day. Nobody wants to lose their life because of something they’re trying to make a living off of. Think about it, rap has had many beefs, from big to small (no pun intended), but none have ever been taken to the extent of BIG and Pac. Even, Ether Boy (Nas) and Hov cooled things down and never mentioned gun play because of their beef.
Hip Hop has changed because the martyrdom of the people who made the biggest impact made artists wisen up. Apparently, their lives made more of an indentation in the rap world than just their music.
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