Best Posts: "Tupac Wasn't A Lyricist". The Biggest Myth In Hip-Hop.

  1. Sahara
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    Mar 23, 2018
    I see this a lot. Particularly on this forum. Especially from the younger generation. I used to think this myself because of how much it was parroted, honestly. It just isn't true though.



    I'm not a fan of Crooked I myself but he makes very, very good points here. Lyricism is about storytelling... painting pictures. Poetry. Something Tupac did very well. He was also able to tackle complex ideas and topics in a simplistic manner with his words. You felt his words. They carried real weight. That's a very important aspect of lyricism. A good poem isn't a good poem just because of big words (not that Tupac didn't have a relatively big vocabulary) or because it's complex. A good poem is a good poem because you FEEL it. Or maybe it just makes you think.

    Here's some examples of lyricism in his discography.... I could go on though.





     
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  2. Big Dangerous
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    Big Dangerous World Heavyweight Champion

    Mar 23, 2018
    Tupac was a fantastic lyricist.

    People just say he isn't now because they just want to act like he didn't have everything, when in reality he did. So it gets repeated over and over until people start actually believing it.
     
    #3
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  3. Chrollo
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    Chrollo

    Mar 23, 2018
    Agreed. Painting pictures with his lyrics was one of tupacs greatest strenghts
     
    May 12, 2025
  4. Sahara
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    Mar 23, 2018
    This post is pretty insulting tbh... but I'm gonna put it down to ignorance. If we're talking intelligent rappers... Tupac was one of the more intelligent ones. He was well educated and very articulate.
     
    May 12, 2025
  5. Sav Stanfield
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    Mar 23, 2018
    the term lyricist doesn't mean anything. everyones a lyricist if they write lyrics.
     
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  6. GCasper
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    Mar 23, 2018
    Tupac was a poet. A lyricist can spit rhymes and witty punchlines, but a poet paints pictures. A poet and revolutionary. New age black panther who made bad choices hanging with gangs. He should have just stuck to being a leader and having people follow him instead of getting caught up in the bs, but he was young, very young. Young people make some dumb a--- decisions, but at the same time, he was so smart and ahead of his time, its crazy.
     
    May 12, 2025
  7. airmax
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    Mar 23, 2018
    next thread : Nas has no flow.
     
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  8. airmax
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    Mar 23, 2018
    Everybody listen to "me against the world", and close this thread.
     
    #16
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  9. Sahara
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    Mar 23, 2018
    Depends on your definition of a lyricist. The lines are blurred. I don't value punchlines in songwriting nearly as much as I value storytelling and being evocative.
     
    #5
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