Biggie Smalls’ lyrics were “out-of-pocket” according to Lord Jamar
Prior to his death, Biggie Smalls was considered one of the best lyricists of all time, and when MCs are asked who their favourite rappers are, he regularly clinches the top spot. Although he was a great musician and emcee, until now, no one has questioned the quality of his lyrics.
That said, over the years, the Brooklyn icon has maintained legend status, and no one has tarnished his name. However, in a recent in-depth discussion about Bad Boy Entertainment, former Brand Nubian member Lord Jamar insisted that some of Biggie Smalls’ lyrics were “out-of-pocket.” Furthermore, he suggested that Diddy could have inspired some of the artist’s more sexual lyrics.
During his conversation about the label that has come under immense scrutiny, the New Yorker, who witnessed Biggie’s rise first-hand, admitted that although there was nothing strange about Biggie’s lyrics at the time, since Diddy’s arrest, he has seen some of them in a new light. Furthermore, he insisted that some of them haven’t aged well.
Diddy and Biggie Smalls were inseparable during the 1990s, but Jamar believes that, even then, the ‘Juicy’ rhymer was probably aware of his boss’ “freak offs.” Still, in the face of alleged sex trafficking and racketeering charges, Diddy has maintained a not-guilty plea.
Speaking with The Art of Dialogue about Biggie Smalls’ early lyrics, Jamar began, “Biggie has some of the most out-of-pocket lyrics of any rapper ever, and hopefully there will never be a rapper with worse lyrics.”
He continued, “But there’s so much sh*t that Biggie said that people just overlooked at the time, and now, when we fast-forward to where we’re at, and hear about all the sh*t with [Diddy], now, certain things are not ageing well.”
Delving into how he personally felt some of his sex-related lyrics were atrocious at the time, Jamar told the host, “It was bad back then, but it’s ageing even worse!” The One For All creator then addressed a specific verse that he found disturbing when he first heard it, highlighting, “I don’t care how good a woman looks, I would never give fellatio to her father because she’s so beautiful.”
However, the former Brand Nubian did enter the realms of conspiracy when he brought up a rumour about a transgender model allegedly appearing in the music video for ‘Big Poppa.’ This claim is still unsubstantiated, and none of Diddy’s cases reference music videos.
Lord Jamar’s comments were controversial and provoked quite a reaction online. One user responded to the rapper on X by writing, “Nahhhh, don’t connect it to Puff. Biggie was intentionally being provocative because he could. His wordplay was out of this world, and sometimes he had to dabble in darkness for emphasis.” Another commented, “Lord Jamar talking about Big and Puff are the only way he’s getting any attention. He’s not even saying anything original smh.”