What if Jay-Z died after The Blueprint and Biggie and Pac were still alive?

[DaHeezy]

Where does he rank all time? How will he be seen?
Dying seems to elevate an artist's legacy. People generally rank Biggie and Pac over Jay-Z. To emphasizee Ben more let's say he was allegedly murdered by a rival. How would this change his career, or does it?

[GIF REACTION]

DaHEEZY!

[longhornfan1234]

Jay Z would be ranked higher if he retired after Black Album. He was on an all time high.

[Tarik One]

Pac will have made more money acting by now than he ever would have doing music.

[NBAplayoffs2001]

Pac will have made more money acting by now than he ever would have doing music.

Agreed. Pac was a good looking dude and could act. He had potential to be how rich Jay Z became.

Either way, Jay Z was a brilliant businessman. That's why he's way more relevant than arguably more talented NY rappers like Nas. I like Nas's music a lot more personally. His '96 album, It Was Written, is probably my favorite of his.

[kurple]

Pac will have made more money acting by now than he ever would have doing music.
you are tripping if you think Pac would have become a "full-time" actor


he would have been a political spokesman. he wanted to change the world, not win golden globes


everyone knows how ****ing popular Pac was in the 90's.... Imagine that with todays social media.

[kurple]

Agreed. Pac was a good looking dude and could act. He had potential to be how rich Jay Z became.

Either way, Jay Z was a brilliant businessman. That's why he's way more relevant than arguably more talented NY rappers like Nas. I like Nas's music a lot more personally. His '96 album, It Was Written, is probably my favorite of his.
Illmatic is the greatest rap album of all time


Nas is a musician, Jay is a buisnessman.. I'd rather be Nas

[Uncle Drew]

Biggie would be so good we'd no longer have discussions about who's the greatest mc ever. He was already great and was only getting better. That verse on Victory was legendary.

[NBAplayoffs2001]

Illmatic is the greatest rap album of all time


Nas is a musician, Jay is a buisnessman.. I'd rather be Nas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKjj4hk0pV4

[RidonKs]

tupac would have lost all his mystique
biggie would have died a few years later anyway
jay-z would be considered the goat

[hateraid]

tupac would have lost all his mystique
biggie would have died a few years later anyway
jay-z would be considered the goat

Agreed 100%

[outbreak]

I know the name but I don't even know who Jay-Z is or any songs he's done.

[Joyner82reload]

Nas is a lowkey businessman http://qbvp.com/

He's invested in a lot of tech stuff. http://www.fastcompany.com/3038113/nas-the-investor-the-rap-mogul-talks-about-the-importance-of-supporting-diverse-start-ups

pretty much all athletes and entertainers are businessmen. some are more successful and open about it, others stay lowkey.

Yet 75% are broke within 5 years out of their leagues. Some businessmen.

[plowking]

you are tripping if you think Pac would have become a "full-time" actor


he would have been a political spokesman. he wanted to change the world, not win golden globes


everyone knows how ****ing popular Pac was in the 90's.... Imagine that with todays social media.

I struggled to read this whole post without cringing the entire time. Jesus this was bad.

[DonDadda59]

If Jay-Z had died at that point, he would be regarded the same way Big L is.

Pac would be one of the leads on a network cop procedural, a law and order or one of the many CSIs and he would occasionally tweet his outrage over cop killings or some other social issues in between selfies with the hashtag #PictureMeRollin.

Biggie would be retired, maybe even dead from health complications due to his weight. He'd be regarded as the clear cut GOAT.

[NBAplayoffs2001]

If Jay-Z had died at that point, he would be regarded the same way Big L is.

Pac would be one of the leads on a network cop procedural, a law and order or one of the many CSIs and he would occasionally tweet his outrage over cop killings or some other social issues in between selfies with the hashtag #PictureMeRollin.

Biggie would be retired, maybe even dead from health complications due to his weight. He'd be regarded as the clear cut GOAT.

At that point, he was considered bigger than Big L ever was. Big L only had one album out when he died.

[DonDadda59]

At that point, he was considered bigger than Big L ever was. Big L only had one album out when he died.

No f*cking way.

Here's L and Jay (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4SrjRPJ5gQ) doing a freestyle together a year before Reasonable Doubt dropped. Now you tell me who was better.

Reasonable Doubt was Jay's first solo project. Before that, he was Jaz-O's Flava Flav, prancing around in Hawaiian shirts (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emlDKySa8GE) :facepalm

If he dies after releasing just one album, he's not considered anywhere near GOAT level like some here are claiming. Nas laid out the dude's whole fraudulent life story in Ether. He went from dick-riding Jaz-O while wearing Hawaiian shirts then became the guy who brought Big Daddy Kane his newspaper in the morning. No record label wanted him, but luckily his buddy Big Daddy Dame Dash had the business acumen to go a different route.

If it wasn't for that, he would've faded into obscurity as less accomplished version of Flava Flav.

[navy]

Big L is lowkey the GOAT. Only W New York ever got.

[NBAplayoffs2001]

Big L was on another level. NYC hip hop died once he got gunned down. 50 Cent and Ja Rule picked it up a bit in the early 2000s but it died quickly after both kinda fell off.

[kurple]

I struggled to read this whole post without cringing the entire time. Jesus this was bad.
care to elaborate? what did i say that wasnt true?

Pac loved acting, but he never wanted to be a fulltime actor. Music and people were his passion in life

You dont think Pac would have been an political activist?


And Pac was as popular as MJ in the 90's, are you saying the social media we have today wouldnt have made him even more popular.. Just ****ing look at how popular losers like the Kardashians and that bearded Dan Blitzsomething have become

[kurple]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQlGDJBJIZE


listen to this. Its Pac talking about his future plans in november 95... didnt say shit about winning Golden Globes

[SexSymbol]

Pac and Em would improve each other and compete till they're like 60 providing a ton of good music.
Biggie would still produce mediocre stuff like he did.
Jay Z is and was trash anyway

[NBAplayoffs2001]

It's pretty crazy how wealthy Suge Knight and P Diddy got off of them and other talented rappers. I think Suge Knight was worth like a $100 million by the early 2000s and P Diddy was worth like $54 million already at 30 years old.

Death Row Records vs. Bad Boy Entertainment. I barely followed hip hop as a child but I knew of these names growing up.

[NBAplayoffs2001]

No f*cking way.

Here's L and Jay (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4SrjRPJ5gQ) doing a freestyle together a year before Reasonable Doubt dropped. Now you tell me who was better.

Reasonable Doubt was Jay's first solo project. Before that, he was Jaz-O's Flava Flav, prancing around in Hawaiian shirts (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emlDKySa8GE) :facepalm

If he dies after releasing just one album, he's not considered anywhere near GOAT level like some here are claiming. Nas laid out the dude's whole fraudulent life story in Ether. He went from dick-riding Jaz-O while wearing Hawaiian shirts then became the guy who brought Big Daddy Kane his newspaper in the morning. No record label wanted him, but luckily his buddy Big Daddy Dame Dash had the business acumen to go a different route.

If it wasn't for that, he would've faded into obscurity as less accomplished version of Flava Flav.

I've heard that freestyle. Yeah, I remember reading up on why it took Jay Z that long to take off. He apparently use to hustle in the late 80s because he wasn't getting too many gigs too. It can be argued he just got lucky and took his opportunities and made the most of it.

People say Big L owned Jay Z but Jay Z had some really sick lines too.

[Nastradamus]

you are tripping if you think Pac would have become a "full-time" actor


he would have been a political spokesman. he wanted to change the world, not win golden globes


everyone knows how ****ing popular Pac was in the 90's.... Imagine that with todays social media.

I'm sure Pac would have been outspoken on Twitter and the like, but in terms of career I doubt he'd have left music and acting any time soon. He definitely would have had a long movie career while using his fame in a George Clooney/Sean Penn sorta way.

[Nastradamus]

People get remembered for what they really are/were, especially after this long.
Layne Staley doesn't get remebered the same way as Cobain. Big Pun died, ODB died,Easy E died(was a great, but his legacy never changed post death),

Pac and Biggie were true legends, still arguably 1 and 2 all time in Hip Hop. Pac's flow,energy,charisma,range and song writing were unmatched as a combination. The way he could explode on to something like U Can't C Me or Troublesome is still something we've never heard from another rapper. Its incredible. Then he could come back with something chill like All Eyez on Me and then get deep with stuff like Dear Mama or Better Dayz.

What's incredible about Pac is, only on All Eyez on me was he really working with any producers who were on his level. So much of his music is so raw and directionless, as he was working with 2nd rate people or didn't get a chance to fine tune it before dying. Suge limited his potential while he was with Death Row basically. Plus he let the terrible Outlawz on way too many songs.Even still, he has probably 4-5 CDs worth of high quality, often legendary, which is pretty incredible at 25.



Biggie was just a sick MC. Great flow, great storytelling. Not sure he had much left in him in terms of song writing. Life after Death was a huge hit, but so much of it is trying to be poppy more than great hip hop. Ready to Die is just so much better as a hip hop album. Its possible Biggie's career would have gone something like Snoop's IMO, where he guest starred on a lot of songs and made a cool pop hit here and there, but never really made a strong album again. He also could have been Jay Z, but better and with Diddy making the money instead of BIG himself.

[NBAplayoffs2001]

Biggie would be the first one to "fall off." If he was still alive, P Diddy probably would have been a billionaire by now instead of hovering around $700-800 Million now. I still can't believe how he pulled this off after dropping out of college after 2 years. Seemed way more educated than his counterpart in the late 90s, Suge Knight.

[Akrazotile]

No f*cking way.

Here's L and Jay (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4SrjRPJ5gQ) doing a freestyle together a year before Reasonable Doubt dropped. Now you tell me who was better.

Reasonable Doubt was Jay's first solo project. Before that, he was Jaz-O's Flava Flav, prancing around in Hawaiian shirts (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emlDKySa8GE) :facepalm

If he dies after releasing just one album, he's not considered anywhere near GOAT level like some here are claiming. Nas laid out the dude's whole fraudulent life story in Ether. He went from dick-riding Jaz-O while wearing Hawaiian shirts then became the guy who brought Big Daddy Kane his newspaper in the morning. No record label wanted him, but luckily his buddy Big Daddy Dame Dash had the business acumen to go a different route.

If it wasn't for that, he would've faded into obscurity as less accomplished version of Flava Flav.


This stuff wouldnt affect the view of the general public that much. Reasonable Doubt was considered a landmark album and instant classic. It was very popular. The average person - probably the average rap listener - has never even heard of Lifestylez ov da Poor and Dangerous.

Even tho Big L was a great lyricist, he was a lot like Canibus in that his style was probably never going to have a lot of mainstream commercial appeal, even tho for me personally theyre two of my favs.

If Jay Z dies after The Blueprint thered be a lot more hype around his "what if" mystique than Big L among the general rap discussion. Album success is like rings in basketball - the average person weighs it too heavily.

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

Some of the sht on blueprint wouldn't even make sense if PAC and big were still alive. There'd prolly be no ether either


Illmatic is the greatest rap album of all time


Nas is a musician, Jay is a buisnessman.. I'd rather be Nas
Illmatic ain't the GOAT
LOL if u rather be Nas than jay. Jay is way more successful , richer and he somehow claimed and fcking Beyonce. Yeah Nas is easily a better MC and lyricist but who cares at the end of the day....."real" hip hop fans?:roll: :roll:

If skills sold, truth be told, I'd probably be / Lyrically Talib Kweli / Truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense / But I did 5 mill' - I ain't been rhyming like Common since

I went from the favorite to the most hated / But would you rather be underpaid or overrated?

I dumbed down for my audience to double my dollars / They criticized me for it, yet they all yell "holla"

[Akrazotile]

Some of the sht on blueprint wouldn't even make sense if PAC and big were still alive. There'd prolly be no ether either


Illmatic ain't the GOAT
LOL if u rather be Nas than jay. Jay is way more successful , richer and he somehow claimed and fcking Beyonce. Yeah Nas is easily a better MC and lyricist but who cares at the end of the day....."real" hip hop fans?:roll: :roll:

If skills sold, truth be told, I'd probably be / Lyrically Talib Kweli / Truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense / But I did 5 mill' - I ain't been rhyming like Common since

I went from the favorite to the most hated / But would you rather be underpaid or overrated?

I dumbed down for my audience to double my dollars / They criticized me for it, yet they all yell "holla"


So true.

Philistines are the populace.

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

care to elaborate? what did i say that wasnt true?

Pac loved acting, but he never wanted to be a fulltime actor. Music and people were his passion in life

You dont think Pac would have been an political activist?


And Pac was as popular as MJ in the 90's, are you saying the social media we have today wouldnt have made him even more popular.. Just ****ing look at how popular losers like the Kardashians and that bearded Dan Blitzsomething have become

It's a different era PAC wouldn't be as big now. He would go back to stripping before he ever became a relevant politician

Put the weed down PAC was never close tO MJ popularity wise