Chesstown King's Reviews and Thoughts

Jay Z vs. 2pac How did we get here? Jay Z R1: Jay Z defeated Jadakiss R2: Jay Z defeated Kid Cudi BF: Jay Z defeated Eminem SemiFinal: Jay Z defeated Kanye West 2pac R1: 2pac defeated Rick Ross R2: 2pac defeated T.I. BF: 2pac defeated Drake Semifinal: 2pac defeated The Notorious B.I.G. Prediction: Either heavyweight could win….let’s get it! Flow: Tie. Both rappers are really good here. I wont give an edge here. (5-5) Creativity: I feel Pac has a 7-3 edge here. His music is a little more creative than Jigga, albeit not too much more. (8-12) Storytelling: It’s no secret Pac is a better storyteller. However, its more like a split…(12-18) Impact: I think these are the 2 most impactful rappers the game has ever seen. Pac inspired so many, as is did Jay. Tie. (17-23) Collab: I’ll have to give Jay the full 10 points here. Pac just doesn’t have the collaborations like Jigga has. (27-23) Versatility: These are some of the most versatile rappers in th...

New Criteria Rules The categories are the same but if not a tie, then a category can be split 7-3 or 6-4 or 8-2. Criteria Flow: How well the rapper articulates on beat. Creativity: How creative is the artist’s music compared to their peers. Storytelling: Self Explanatory. Impact: How have they affected the game. How are they influential. Collaboration/Guest Feature: How much fire do they typically bring to other people’s tracks. Versatility: How many kinds of songs are they effective at making Albums: How many good albums do they have, and how good are they. Commercial Success: How well have their albums/mixtapes/singles sold. Kanye West vs. Jay Z How did they get here? Round 1: Kanye defeated Young Jeezy….Jay Z defeated Jadakiss. Round 2: Kanye defeated Common….Jay Z defeated Kid Cudi. Bracket Final: Kanye defeated Kendrick Lamar. Jay Z defeated Eminem Semi Final Prediction: I predict Jay Z will win but it will be close. Flow: ...

The categories are the same but if not a tie, then a category can be split 7-3 or 6-4 also. Bracket C The Notorious B.I.G. vs. Nas- Another predicted matchup and a rematch…Nas won last year…lets get it! Flow: Tie. There’s no way I can give leverage to either rapper here, flow wise. (5-5) Creativity: Biggie was very creative, but I’ve got to give Nas a 6-4 edge here. (9-11) Storytelling: As a great a storyteller as Nas is, Biggie was also that great. Tie. (14-16) Impact: Ooo sh** that’s hard to call. Both are all time greats for sure. I’d have to say Biggie has meant a lil more to the game, but it’s close ie. 6-4 split. (20-20) Collaboration: Biggie wins this category 7-3. He literally always gets the job done, but not enough to give him all 10 points. (27-23) Versatility: Biggie is really really versatile. But so is Nas…tie….f*** it. (32-28) Albums: This is where having more albums comes in handy. Nas wins this category decisively. (32-38) Commercial Success: B...

S1)2pac vs. S4)T.I.: T.I. called himself the hottest rapper since Pac but lets see if he’s hotter lol. Flow: These are 2 very different rappers. I feel Pac is great, but so is TIP. So Tie. (5-5) Creativity: I feel T.I. is pretty creative, but only to a certain degree. Pac wins here. (15-5) Storytelling: Pac destroys T.I. here. T.I. is a dirty south rapper where they don’t storytell much. (25-5) Impact: Pac again!!!!  (35-5) Collaboration: T.I. is really effective as a guest rapper, I’d have to say even more so than Pac. (35-15) Versatility: Tie. Both rappers are very very versatile. Yes T.I. makes more than club bagners. (40-20) Albums: Believe it or not, T.I. has the edge here. King and Paper Trail are really good. While Pac has Me Agaisnt the World, and All Eyez on Me. Its close but the King of the South has more going on in his discography. (40-30) Commercial Success: This is where Pac distances himself. It’s not close. All Eyez on Me went 10x platinum by itself...

- A 2pac album produced entirely by Eminem…hmm doesn’t sound that great on paper, but its actually a good album. Pac’s lyrics are what make the album. His delivery is great, and flow is really good too. Em’s beats are inconsistent sometimes, but are good for the most part. The 4 remixes are produced by other people than Em, and are all good.  My personal favorite songs are Out on bail, and Ghetto Gospel. They are great because they showcase his 2 of his sides. The thug and then the socially conscious rapper.  Overall this is an album that’s well balanced, and with good replay value. You’d almost think the man had never passed… 8.1/10

4)Ice Cube vs. 5)2pac 4 th seed Ice Cube: In Round 1 Defeated Eazy E 5-1, In R2 he beat Schoolboy Q 5-2, He beat Dr. Dre 4-2. 5 th seed 2pac: In Round 1 defeated Jay Rock 4-2, he beat Kendrick Lamar 4-3, and The Game 4-3. Flow: It’s a tie. Both rappers are legendary….1-1 Delivery: Hmm Cube and Pac attack each beat when they want to, but Pac seems just a little more versatile in that regard. 1-2 Albums: Ice Cube wins by  hair. He’s got 2 classics and some other great albums, while some of Pac’s posthumous works counts against him(while it didn’t count againt Biggie). 2-2 Story: Another tie folks. Ice Cube could really story tell, especially early Ice Cube. Pac is known for that as well…..so yeah 3-3. Legacy: Another tie breaker based on Legacy. While I love Cube’s legacy, he’s known more for being an actor than a rapper. So yeah Pac wins this category. 2pac wins 4-3              ...

Verdict: 9/10. Look for me! The first Posthumous 2pac album. TDKT7DT is better than I remember it was when I first heard it. It features a hardcore Pac, but he’s soft on some of the latter songs, like White Man’z World. Just Like Daddy is a song for the ladies…as is Toss It Up. Me And My Girlfriend is a terrific song. Its actually the song Jay-z sampled for 03’ Bonnie & Clyde. Bomb First and Against All Odds are great songs. To Live and Die In LA is a terrific anthem to the city of angels. The best song though, is Hail Mary. The production is really good, but the lyricism is great. I mean what do you expect from rap’s Greatest to ever do it?

Known as Pac’s magnum opus. The album is a double disc. The album is a little on the long side, but there’s a lot of bangers on both both discs. The first disc is the better of the 2. It’s got Ambitionz As  A Ridah, How Do U Want It, I Ain’t Mad Atcha, 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted, and a remix to California Love. I like the remix but the original is better. There is some filler here, but not much. It’s just a terrific album from arguably rap’s most complete rapper. Overall Rating 97(All Eyez on the G.O.A.T.) Grade A Lyrics 25 Beats 25 Depth 24 Tilt 23

I've been wanting to make this post for a while now...I'll do one on The Notorious B.I.G. later. This round of My Thoughts is dedicated to the one and only 2pac. I'm gonna give u my point of view with a a topic as i do so well on the My Thoughts series. I was just a kid when Pac was shot....about 8 to be exact. I wasnt that into rap back then, but in 1999 i was a huge fan of the song Changes. Little did I know that was just one of Pac's great song catalogue. Of course I liked California Love (original version). So my point is I wasn't a huge Pac fan till well a few years ago. Pac is rap's most versatile rapper, with only Jay-z and Kanye West being even close (IMO). He made rap's most viscous diss record, Hit Em Up. He made some really great introspective songs too like Dear Mama. He could also story tell with the best of them. Of course theres the songs for the ladies, and the club bangers too. Pac's standout albums are Me Against the World a...

2pac is at his best on this album. The album doesn’t have a lot of what Pac is famous for, but that doesn’t stop it from being a great and smooth listen. The songs are really catchy. Many of the songs are really thoughtful like Dear Mama….that song is a classic. Overall this is a must have for any rap fan, or someone who hasn’t heard Pac yet. This is a different Pac than his later efforts. I give this album a 10/10

This posthumous albums isn’t one of Pac’s best, but its not that bad. One of the biggest problems is it’s a double disc, which unfortunately correlates to quite a bit of filler. However there are some good songs scattered here and there. Until the End of Time and its Remix are the best here. Some of the songs are similar across the 2 discs. Overall lyrically the album is great, but the beats are only ok. There isn’t a lot of replayability in my opinion but this album is a good addition to Pac’s discography. The final verdict on this album is 7.75/10. Its decent but far from perfect.