Posted by will.i.am sat down for a recent video interview with Hip Hop Confessions where he offered a hot take on the Biggie versus 2Pac debate. While most Hip Hop fans typically have a preference (excluding Lil Yachty), the Black Eyed Peas rapper falls into a rare category — he doesn’t prefer either.
In a clip of the interview uploaded to Instagram by The Art of Dialogue, will.i.am explained how he came to that conclusion.
“Like when people say 2Pac and Biggie, I’m such a Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul head that I don’t like 2Pac and Biggie,” he said. “That kind of music doesn’t speak to my spirit. I like Boogie Down Productions, KRS-One, I like – if it’s like 2Pac or Biggie? It’s KRS-One. Why those two?
“If it’s 2Pac and Biggie, I don’t hold them up like that. I hold Eric B. and Rakim like that. 2Pac’s dope – don’t get me wrong. It’s not like I don’t think he’s dope. It spoke to the projects. My escape is De La/Tribe out the projects. It took me out the projects while I was still in the projects.”
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will.i.am continued his argument by describing what Rakim, De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest were able to do for him as a kid growing up in Estrada Courts housing projects in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles.
“It took me out the projects physically, as far as being able to reach my dreams, that was my path out,” he added. “And it took me out of the projects as far as while I was in the projects, the worlds is painted for me. It kept me safe while I was in the projects. Had I loved 2Pac and Biggie while I was in the projects, I probably would have been stuck in the projects still.”
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will.i.am’s views on 2Pac and Biggie are in stark contrast to Wiz Khalifa’s. Last week, the weed connoisseur told DJ Whoo Kid why he prefers Biggie during an episode of his SiriusXM show.
“I like Biggie because lyrically like you could still listen to Biggie’s shit today and be like, ‘Wow, he really said that,’” he said.“He talks about clothes, like brands in a crazy way and he talks about cars in a crazy way and he talks about women. He’s just really poetic.”
He added, “That’s not to say one is better than the other. But I just love how complex his bars are. Pac is raw, Pac is crazy, he’s hard. Beat selection was wild and his work ethic was crazy and just his attitude and everything like that, but I’m more on the Biggie side for sure.”