March 09, 2007 will mark the 10th anniversary of the death of Christopher Wallace (AKA Frank White, AKA Biggie Smalls).
To be honest, I didn't really appreciate his music when he was alive. In high school, I really liked Big Poppa and Hypnotize. After high school and after his death, I discovered Juicy, Victory and Notorious Thugs. It gradually made me realize how much of a lyrical genius he was.
I took a poetry course in college and I think it helped me understand rap music. Rap lyrics are really just a poem set to a backing track. Studying the lyrics made me realize that not all rap music is about *****es and hos. (Yes, the majority of it is, but there are quite a few out there that aren't. BIG's Juicy is about the difference between his poor background and his success. Tupac's Dear Mama is for his mother and Keep Ya Head Up is for black women, telling them not to give up.)
Both BIG and Tupac were 25 when they were killed. (And if this thread turns out to be poplular, I can start a Tupac thread.)
It started off as this disagreement between two rappers that got blown out of proportion and as a result, two gifted rappers were killed way too young.