Eminem and Tupac: The 2 Greats
Caden and I were talking about topics for our next articles when out of the blue we began comparing Eminem and Tupac. I then got the idea to write an article on the two GOATS, but I was torn between making it a versus article or a comparison article. I then settled on making it a two in one spotlight article where I talk about the inspirations of Tupac and Eminem. This is not to say however that the two of them won’t be getting their individual spotlight articles, because if there are any rappers that deserve an eternal spotlight it is the two of them, even if one of them (Eminem) is a guest of honour of the rap culture in my opinion. So let’s get to it!
Let’s start with one of the GOATS, the one we have to thank for continuing to pave the way for conscious rappers today, Tupac Shakur (may he rest in peace). If we are going to be looking at Tupac and Eminem it's a must that we look at each rapper’s influences, both musically and environmentally. Tupac Amaru Shakur (better known as 2Pac) was born in East Harlem, New York on June 16th, 1971. During his upbringing in Harlem, Tupac was surrounded by people close to him who were associated with the Black Liberation Army, including his parents Afeni Shakur and Billy Garland, who were active members of the Black Panthers. In 1986, he and his family moved to Baltimore where Tupac transferred to Baltimore School for the Arts. He studied acting, poetry, jazz and ballet.
His career started off under the alias MC New York where he spent most of his time recording songs when in 1991, he released his debut album titled 2Pacalypse Now. It didn’t generate a lot of sales but many acclaimed rappers, including Eminem, praised the album for it’s underground style. Two years later, he formed the group Thug Life., which included a number of his friends. In 1994 the group would release their only album titled Thug Life: Volume 1, which went gold later that year. In 1995, Tupac would release his second solo album titled Me Against the World, which was well received and many would claim it as one of the greatest rap albums of all time. It won many awards including the award for Best Rap Album at the Soul Train Music Awards in 1996. That year, Tupac would also release his fourth album titled All Eyez on Me.
Me against the world baby
Can you picture my prophecy?
Stress in the city, the cops is hot for me
The projects is full of bullets, the bodies is droppin'
There ain't no stoppin' me
Constantly movin' while makin' millions
Witnessin' killings, leavin' dead bodies in abandoned buildings
Moving onto another GOAT, paver of the way for conscious rappers. Marshall Bruce Mathers III also known as Eminem was born in Missouri in 1972, Mathers led a turbulent childhood and ended up dropping out of school in the ninth grade. Eminem did not know his father Marshall Mathers Jr as he abandoned the family when Eminem was still an infant. Despite all of that, Marshall found a way to express his emotions and passion for language, through hip hop. In his early adulthood, he would attend many underground rap battles in Detroit to gain the respect he thought he deserved for his highly skilled verbal sparring while at the same time working many jobs to make ends meet. Marshall was very critical of the way he was raised by his mother and the environment he was raised in.
In 1996, Eminem released his first project titled Infinite. It displayed a lot of the rapper’s lyrical talent but failed to turn a profit and gain exposure outside of the local crowd. After the birth of his daughter Hailey, he released The Slim Shady EP, which was discovered by legendary rapper and producer Dr. Dre in 1997. He was so impressed with the EP that he later signed Eminem to a record deal under his label Interscope record. Two years later in 1999, Eminem would release his project titled The Slim Shady LP, which was an immediate commercial success. The album contained childish humour mixed with abundant profanity and violence, which differentiated itself from the rest of the artists out there at the time. This would define Eminem’s early discography.
Following up his critically acclaimed work, he released The Eminem Show in 2002. This album was also critically acclaimed and won many awards for his work and included many hits that we associated with Eminem to this day. A song from ‘The Eminem Show” that I find very important in terms of the point of this article is “Soldiers”.
If it meant life or death, never live to regret what I said
When you're me, people just want to see if it's true
If it's you, what you say in your raps, what you do
So they feel, as part of your obligation to fulfill
When they see you on the streets, face to face, are you for real
In confrontation ain't no conversation, if you feel
You're in violation, any hesitation'll get you killed
If you feel it, kill it. If you conceal it, reveal it
Being reasonable will leave you full of bullets
Pull it, squeeze it 'til it's empty, tempt me, push me, pussies
I need a good reason to give this trigger a good squeeze
I don’t go in depth into both the artists lives, as the goal of this article was to introduce them both and their defining works, before I gave them each their own defining spotlight. I decided to do a 2 in 1 because of the similarities in their environments and how each of them led to the creations of their defining works. Also happens that Eminem is a big Tupac fan, so it just felt right.