Eminem Says 2Pac’s Ability to Touch People’s Lives Was Incredible

For the upcoming "Nowstalgia" issue of Paper Magazine, Eminem penned a touching tribute to 2Pac. Em has made his affinity for Pac well known, and told the late rapper's mother as much in a heartfelt letter, and has had the privilege of producing posthumous 2Pac songs and albums. For Paper's upcoming issue--which also includes a tribute dedicated to The Notorious B.I.G. written by Swizz Beatz and a piece on Eazy E by Kendrick Lamar--Marshall Mathers waxes poetically about the range of emotions 2Pac's music can make a listener feel. Read an excerpt below:

He was taking things further than a lot of rappers at the time -- pushing it to the next level as far as giving feeling to his words and his music. A lot of people say, "You feel Pac," and it's absolutely true. The way he chose which words to say with which beat was genius; it's like he knew what part of the beat and what chord change was the right place to hit these certain words... to make them jump off the track and make you feel what he was saying. Like, listen to "If I Die 2Nite." Whatever he was rapping about, it was urgent. If it was a sad song, it'd make you cry. But there were a lot of different sides to him: fed-up, angry, militant, having a good time. His spirit spoke to me because it was like you knew everything that he was going through, especially when he made 'Me Against the World.' You just felt every aspect of his pain, every emotion: when he was happy, when he was sad. His ability to touch people's lives like that was incredible.