Lets get a few facts straight. If Biggie was still alive today you would all be saying he was 'iiigh'. It's only because he died in the middle of a well publicized dispute that he gets put up there with the greats. Christopher Wallace was no LL Cool J, he wasn't a Nas, or any of those guys. Same difference as 50. Don't get me wrong, those guys music was always fire! IDK where he would be business wise because IDK how intelligent Biggie was. But would we be placing him in top 5's? I doubt that very much. That's just how our community has always been though. Make a T-shirt,set up a candle shrine, and get a tatt of the dude who sealed his fate through gang violence/drug dealing(which can be fine). We immortalize them,state all the good things,what he was gonna do, what he would'a been if he hadn't perished. Not so much for the guys who are doing exemplary things from the start. Point being - Notorious B.I.G. had two albums (one is a double CD). We have artists who have surpassed that now, and artists who had surpassed that then. Christopher Wallace's feud eclipsed his actual talent. So did 50's.. All they will be are just old school artists that "had their time"..
I disagree.
Did his death elevate his status?
Of course...but that isn't just in hip hop its in SOCIETY a a whole.
Pac as an MC? One of the all time greats?
Even Pun.
Was Heath Ledger REALLY an all time great actor...Brandon Lee?
so I don''t think that''s fair.
He had 3 CDs worth of work NOT including features.
And I would argue you could take ANYONE else's 3 best CDs and Biggie would come out on top.
Hell how many rappers with 10-15-20 year careers don't even have ONE universally agreed upon classic album, catalog and singles?
You could say Busta NEVER had a classic top to bottom record (regardless of the dozens of classic hit records)...but that doesn't mean he isn't an all time great but I would argue Biggie was better overall.
Also what Biggie did as an MC rapper and performer has set a blueprint (with Puff) that is still being followed today. Hi whole style and his DOMINANCE at the time is really only rivaled by Jay Z, Eminem, 50, Dr. Dre and Pac.
You can not under estimate what 50 Cent was able to accomplish at the time because he was nice BEFORE he got shot...and to come back to revolutionize the mixtape game, and sign that deal and sell those records and become a damn icon who no matter what IS still relevant today.
C'mon son.
50 just missed up by not being humble, letting beefs go on to long, not growing his music, bad siginings and not properly expanding his network.
Although I really hate ranking artists in music acting and even sports like that because I feel like it just cheapens their extraordinary accomplishments.
But your points are valid.