Hip-Hop veteran Cameron F. Gipp, better known by his stage name Big Gipp, who is a funding member of Goodie Mob rap group based in Atlanta, Georgia, consisting of himself, CeeLo Green, Khujo and T-Mo, has recently done an interview with The Art Of Dialogue where shared his thoughts on who has the biggest influence in the rap game.
“Yes, best technical rappers coming from New York but hey man, just because you can technically rap better than me does not mean you are better than me. You might get me for a song or two, okay, but if I can get more people to see my records than you, s–t.” said Big Gipp
Then he continued: “It’s about whose music reached the most people. That’s what this game is all about. Whose music reached the most people. Break color lines, religious, influence, everything. Aye man, I ain’t seen nothing bigger than 2Pac. And the closest to 2Pac is Eminem. That’s the truth. That’s the truth. It’s by numbers. Numbers don’t lie. Yeah they do sometimes but when you talk about numbers for real for real.”
From Allen Hughes, the award-winning director of critically acclaimed The Defiant Ones, comes FX’s Dear Mama, a deeply personal five-part docuseries that defies the conventions of traditional documentary storytelling to share an illuminating saga of mother and son, Afeni and Tupac Shakur.
The documentary features cameo from Eminem, among Dr. Dre, Mike Tyson and others. Slim Shady briefly talked about how Tupac’s death affected his life and his relationship with his mother, Afeni.
“When I heard Tupac dead I was cooking in the restaurant and tickets were pilling up and s–t. I’m like ‘I don’t care, fire me!’ That was devastating. I was just like ‘OH MY GOD!'” said Eminem.
Then he continues: “Tupac was the first rapper to me that could make you cry. I felt him that much. You know, me not knowing my dad and s–t that was going on with my mom and whole s–t, it was just like ‘OH MY GOD, THAT’S ME!’ He was one year older than me, he was only 25 years old and we were just like ‘WHAT THE F–K.'”
“After he passed man, he had ten more albums. Afani understood I was such a huge Tupac fan. She’s like the sweetest lady I’ve ever met. And she was like ‘do what you feel’ and then they gave me all his acapellas. That was one of the funnest times in my life.” Eminem added.
There was a rumor that Dr. Dre had so much special love for his “California Love” beat that he had the problem with giving it to 2Pac, but it seems they are all lies and the legendary producer from Compton never had an issue about it, according to Kurupt.
During his recent interview with The Art of Dialogue, Kurupt reflected on the Death Row era and he was asked about Dr. Dre and 2Pac’s mega hit single “California Love.”
“Dr. Dre been had that beat, he had that beat for a while,” he said. “He even told me once, ‘Kurupt you like this beat? Yeah, I’ma see how you sound on it.’ And thought this was gonna be my chance. And then 2Pac came home… and the way we do it at Death Row, is whosever turn it is, everybody contributes. So, you know: your project freezes, everyone contributes towards the project that’s at hand.”
Then the Dogg Pound rapper continues: “Dr. Dre was working on that record for a while before 2Pac came home,” Kurupt continued. “I looked at that beat like Dr. Dre’s heart. Like he had a plan for it, like he was trying to figure out, ‘What am I gonna do with this beat?’ ’cause it was so gruesome and bangin’, but it was fun. 2Pac came home. So when he gave him ‘California Love,’ I looked at it like Dr. Dre gave 2Pac his heart. ‘Cause I used to go in there when he was working on it, and that was his baby.”
In a recent interview with Brian J. Roberts, 50 Cent explained how he found himself in a number of legal situations over the years. That means legal fees, and when the rapper learned just how much he’s paid in legal fees since coming to fame with Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ in 2003, the number shocked him. “I spent over $23 million legal fees since I’ve had success in 2003. Over $23 million in legal fees. So when you say you successful or that you rich in a different way, that money was just written off as expenses of business. You in it and I’m going, ‘What?’ When I’m looking at it myself, ‘That’s how much you really spent on that?’ I was like, ‘Wow!’” said Fifty who also talked about many topics, including Eminem and 2Pac.
“I put two hip-hop artists right that are really profound, have been really prolific within our culture, that have very similar topics with different responses. Eminem’s mom, the drug usage was part of it, and he would do ‘I’m sorry mama, I never meant to hurt you, I never meant to make you cry but tonight I’m cleanin’ out my closet’ and then 2Pac’s mom, also has some drug usage involved, and he said ‘even though you was a crack fiend, you always was a black queen mama.’ And I think the tones of anger and the difference between in two of them as an artists are…Em’s anger is coming from things that where supposed to be right and Tupac’s statement is almost like a terms of endearment, because it’s like, we were always still all we had. I think the expectations of things going right from a white American perspective versus things accepting the idea of things not going right for African-American perspective, are what makes difference in tones in those records. It’s both the same scenario but different ways of expressing experience because of the difference in two artists.” said 50 Cent.
Then he continues: “I love Em. I don’t think people credit him for everything. I think the growth of our culture should be also a trophy for them. He had those Vanilla Ice situations, those guys that came were not respected and accepted and they were big f—ing artists. Me personally, my career is a fair reflection of my association to Em. Prior to my record coming out, the most solo black male artist sales was five million copies on Tupac’s All Eyez On Me, double CD. It was first time I seen something go diamond. And to have my first album sell 10 million records, if you discredit or disassociate the fact that I did it in association to Eminem who sold 23 million records on The Marshall Mathers LP, you are just a f—ing idiot. He authentically is ours. I love him to death. Ain’t nobody telling me s–t because he’s in tight seconds spot in my life for people who have done things for me who didn’t have to. And when I say this to him, he’s flattered by it. Behind my grandmother taking care of me and looking out for me when she didn’t have to, he’s the person that did that for me.”
