something I thought of last night, what if Tupac had survived the attack that in OTL killed him on the Vegas Strip? Would Biggie have been killed months later? Would the East Coast-West Coast rivalry have signed its unoffical truce that stemmed from Pac's death? Would Either have died eventually? Would Snoop or Sean Combs, 2 of the biggest names in the buisness today, have gone down as a result of a larger more intense rivalry that could have gone on to 98' or even today?
heres what I think
Tupac survives, albiet barely, and stuns the entertainment world. As he recovers theres a lot of smoke and trash talk, almost surely a massive diss album with a track that makes 'hit em up' look like a church hymn. However, with a disaster narrowly averted, everyone does realize that people can die from all of this. Biggie never gets shot but at the same time the peace conference and the truce also never become "offical". Of course after this rap which was already going mainstream, explodes in popularity. The continued rivalry continues to polarize the nation but it never loses it's two leaders.
More than likely a smaller figure in the rivalry, either Nas or Chino XL, or some other person ends up dying in the name of the rivalry. This death will hit those in the rivalry hard but only the die-hard followers of the rivalry will understand the meaning. The hardcore dis rivalry rap gets watered down. First by Nelly and his St. Louis scene then by the club rap scene coming out of Atlanta and the Chopped and Screwed scene coming out of Houston. Theres a slight possibility that the emergence of these cities could further fuel the fire between themselves and LA and NYC, but I doubt it. Instead Tupac and Biggie follow the career path of Snoop and Combs, a few more modern albums that are OK but never truly match what they had during the rivalry at its peak between 94'-98'. Instead they fall to cameo apperances in random singles (perhaps its Tupac instead of Paul Wall who backs up Nelly in Grillz), appear in VH1 specials (Biggies House), performs at Superbowl halftime shows, and present awards at random functions. Esentially they follow the plan that maximizes their profits off the names theyve created for themselves, leave the rap game to market themselves and find new young talent (It's hard to see someone as pasionate as Tupac following this path, but after something that could have killed him I see him being able to change to survive rather easily, especially considering how easily he was convinced to go to LA after his prison sentance). Either way I see the rap game at about where it is now, maybe a little more hardcore and meaningful than it is now, but with two more big leaders.
What are yalls thoughts?
heres what I think
Tupac survives, albiet barely, and stuns the entertainment world. As he recovers theres a lot of smoke and trash talk, almost surely a massive diss album with a track that makes 'hit em up' look like a church hymn. However, with a disaster narrowly averted, everyone does realize that people can die from all of this. Biggie never gets shot but at the same time the peace conference and the truce also never become "offical". Of course after this rap which was already going mainstream, explodes in popularity. The continued rivalry continues to polarize the nation but it never loses it's two leaders.
More than likely a smaller figure in the rivalry, either Nas or Chino XL, or some other person ends up dying in the name of the rivalry. This death will hit those in the rivalry hard but only the die-hard followers of the rivalry will understand the meaning. The hardcore dis rivalry rap gets watered down. First by Nelly and his St. Louis scene then by the club rap scene coming out of Atlanta and the Chopped and Screwed scene coming out of Houston. Theres a slight possibility that the emergence of these cities could further fuel the fire between themselves and LA and NYC, but I doubt it. Instead Tupac and Biggie follow the career path of Snoop and Combs, a few more modern albums that are OK but never truly match what they had during the rivalry at its peak between 94'-98'. Instead they fall to cameo apperances in random singles (perhaps its Tupac instead of Paul Wall who backs up Nelly in Grillz), appear in VH1 specials (Biggies House), performs at Superbowl halftime shows, and present awards at random functions. Esentially they follow the plan that maximizes their profits off the names theyve created for themselves, leave the rap game to market themselves and find new young talent (It's hard to see someone as pasionate as Tupac following this path, but after something that could have killed him I see him being able to change to survive rather easily, especially considering how easily he was convinced to go to LA after his prison sentance). Either way I see the rap game at about where it is now, maybe a little more hardcore and meaningful than it is now, but with two more big leaders.
What are yalls thoughts?