Left Your Mind Guide You: They Were More Than Artists

Big Pun, Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur, Slick Rick.....and an endless list of others. These men were more than gifted and skilled, they were inspirational....well to me at least.

Big Pun:
Insane lyrical genius. Created words out of no where that flowed and had meaning to it. Creating his own style that no one can say he mimicked. Could spit a hundred bars in 3 minutes. Whether he's spitting fast and killing it in 'John Blaze' or he's spitting slow with Brandy in 'Around The World'. He will murder any track. First Hispanic rapper to go platinum. A Bronx legend that gave hope to a lot of the people in the inner city.

Slick Rick:
This man still lives in the Bronx. And not the rich part...he lives by the Jamaican spots where there is high traffic. I even had the pleasure of meeting him a couple times. He's known by many as the greatest story teller of All Time. Whether he's spitting game to a female frontin on him in 'Mona Lisa' to a story about running around and causing mayhem in 'A Children's Story'. He spit his rhymes slow and to the point, but the flow, delivery, style, and story capabilities set him apart of others.

Notorious B.I.G.:
A line repeated by millions....."Black and ugly as ever...". What rapper did you know coming out and speaking like that? He was unattractive to most and was not afraid to just put it out there. You gotta respect that. He brought the East Coast back. He gave rappers someone to copy off of and try to be like. He made the game what it was for a long time......entertaining. I would vote him second in story telling capabilities only to Slick Rick. But this man was a revolutionary lyricist nonetheless.

Tupac Shakur:
I dont feel like I have to even say anything. This man helped raise me. His poetry brought me back to writing poetry at a young age. He spoke to me in his lyrics. He preached to me to develop my mind. He gave me lessons that even I couldn't go back and declare him as the source. He is a mastermind. A genius. And I don't even have to say anymore about him. We all know who he was.

But do we have men like this now?? No. We have good artists. Guys that can do a lot. Poets while a mic. But no one as gifted as these men were. But that's my opinion.