Why Tupac is unmatched, according to Shock G
Few know about Tupac Shakur and his life before fame, and one rapper who played a huge pasrt in the Death Row rapper’s success was Digital Underground founder Shock G. The ‘Do for Love’ musician is widely considered one of the most iconic hip-hop artists of all time, and his music is still as relevant today as it was 30 years ago.
Still, before signing with Interscope and releasing 2Pacalypse Now, the lyricist played a different role in hip-hop. In fact, he would have been considered a bit of a sideshow to something much bigger than himself.
While 2Pac lived in Oakland, he became part of the alternative hip-hop outfit Digital Underground. Formed by the Oakland rapper Shock G, Digital Underground had a lot of different members coming in and out of the group, and 2pac was one of them.
Most known for their 1990 song ‘The Humpty Dance,’ Digital Underground was quite eccentric with their image and took an uplifting approach to performances. 2Pac was a backup dancer and hype man for the group in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
As such, the collective’s leader, Shock G, got to know 2Pac very well and was aware of the emcee’s style early in his career. That said, to this day, he is able to remember 2Pac’s strengths and weaknesses as an artist. Therefore, it was unsurprising that in 2002, Shock G was asked to appear in the Tupac Shakur: Thug Angel documentary.
During an interview for the documentary, the Digital Underground frontman was asked to end the contentious debate about who was the better emcee between Biggie Smalls and 2Pac.
However, surprisingly, Shock G didn’t immediately conclude that 2Pac was better because he knew him. Instead, he took a nuanced approach, explained each artist’s strengths and weaknesses, and came to a sensible decision.
Speaking in the documentary, Shock G explained, “To all the Biggie and ‘Pac heads. First of all, Biggie’s gonna win hands down when you’re talking flow! Strictly from a rhythm standpoint, Biggie is a swinger.”
He continued, “He swings like a hornplayer over jazz. When people say ‘Pac is the best rapper of all time, they don’t just mean he’s the best rapper; they mean what he had to say. He was the most potent, the most relevant, and a better humanbeing.”
The Digital Underground member then reflected on how 2Pac’s mother was a black panther and explained how the emcee was influenced by the American civil rights movement, elaborating, “2Pac pulled from Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, all of the good speakers. It’s like pouring those words out because you mean it!”
The Bay Area legend concluded by detailing how grounded 2Pac was in his delivery, reflecting, “‘Pac rhymed from the pit of his stomach. ‘Humpty Hump’ and Slick Rick rhymed from the nasal palette, Nas rhymed from the back of his throat, Pac rhymed from the pit of his stomach!”