2Pac vs Biggie: An Illustrated History of Rap's Greatest Battle

Jeff Weiss · Evan McGarvey

May 2013 · Quarto Publishing Group USA

About this ebook

Hip hop icons and rap innovators, the Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur continue to influence, define, and change the genre years after their deaths. Despite the controversies surrounding the murders of Tupac and Biggie, ultimately it’s their art that remains their biggest legacy. The music of Biggie Smalls and 2Pac has inspired the likes of Jay-Z, Kanye, Eminem, Dr. Dre, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross and more. The legacies of Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace—a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G. —live on. So does their rivalry, one of the greatest in music history. In 2pac vs. Biggie, hip hop experts Jeff Weiss and Evan McGarvey take an entirely new approach to investigation of that rivalry. Rather than focus on the countless conspiracy theories, they study the artist as artists, dissecting the lyrics of their hits (“California Love,” “All Eyez on Me,” “Changes” for 2pac, “Mo Money Mo Problems,” “Hypnotize,” “Big Poppa” for Biggie) and lesser-known works, performance and rhythmic styles, aesthetic appearances and what those meant, rises to power, and of course, their lives after death. The feud between 2pac and Biggie is broken down and looked at from all new angles, bringing to light little-known and surprising sides to each rapper’s persona and inner world. Illustrated throughout with photographs, memorabilia, and artwork inspired by Tupac and Biggie, and with insert “versus” pages dissecting topics such as each artist’s presence in movies, critical reception, and literary influences, this book is a must-have for all rap and hip hop fans.

Ratings and reviews

This app is the coolst app ever it features all of tupacs lyrics,if yo niggaz realy lav 2pac u should gt dis app-Thug lyf

Great book that shows the difference between pac and biggie,biggie was a great rapper,pac was real 100 percent 2pac definitely stands out more than biggie,2pac is the greatest

Nice book

About the author

Jeff Weiss (Los Angeles, CA) is the editor-in-chief of the website The Passion of the Weiss. He has written about music and culture for many publications, including Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, Spin, The Hollywood Reporter, and Details.PassionWeiss.com Evan McGarvey (Boston, MA) is a writer and teacher whose work has appeared in The Village Voice, Pitchfork, The Michigan Quarterly Review, and Green Mountains Review. Jeff Weiss (Los Angeles, CA) is the editor-in-chief of the website The Passion of the Weiss. He has written about music and culture for many publications, including Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, Spin, The Hollywood Reporter, and Details.PassionWeiss.com Evan McGarvey (Boston, MA) is a writer and teacher whose work has appeared in The Village Voice, Pitchfork, The Michigan Quarterly Review, and Green Mountains Review.