Comparing Lil Boosie And Tupac By The Numbers

Comparing Lil Boosie And Tupac By The Numbers

For a while now, fans have been comparing Lil Boosie and his recent release from serving a nearly five-year prison sentence to the late Tupac Shakur, widely regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time. And before you scoff it off—no one, at least no one as far as we've seen, has actually put Boosie's rapping up against 'Pac's—it's not the worst comparison in the world. For one, the two rappers were both icons of their cities and regions, held up as bigger than the music during their recording careers; 'Pac was the most visible lightning rod for Cali during the East Coast vs. West Coast battles of the 1990s, while it's hard to overstate Boosie's influence and impact over Louisiana and the South in general.

So many people have been bringing up the two in connection with each other that Boosie was actually asked about the comparisons after his press conference following his release, where he chalked up the juxtaposition to the fact that they both make "heartfelt songs," calling it "a privilege" to be put in the same category of the late great.

Well, that was enough for us. XXL decided to break things down and see if the comparisons actually check out. The scale and time differential are tough to reconcile—'Pac was simply a bigger artist in a time when record sales were gargantuan—but it's still a fascinating look, side by side. For comparison's sake, we've included 'Pac's career up through The Don Killuminati: 7 Day Theory, the last project he completed before his untimely death Sept. 13, 1996. Without further ado, let's go. —Layne Weiss and Dan Rys 
Filed Under: Feature, featured, Lil Boosie, Tupac
Categories: News
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