Joey Bada$$ And Troy Ave Represent Both Sides Of Tupac's Complex Legacy

Twenty-one years after his death, Tupac Shakur remains a gold standard for what a rap star is supposed to be. Sure, there have been rappers that had dominating runs critically and commercially over the last two decades, but none of them have superseded the impact that Shakur has had on Hip-Hop culture.

Tupac has been dead four times longer than he had a career and still, Eminem is the only rapper that has sold more albums than him. Surely, ‘Pac wasn’t the first rapper with tattoos, but the way he wore them opened the floodgates for skin ink to become a damn-near mandatory part of the standard rapper outfit. He wasn’t the first rapper to make a diss record but every diss after “Hit ‘Em Up” is held up against it in a litmus test for lyrical acidity. Tupac wasn’t nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of “Bishop” in the Black cinema classic Juice, but there’s a generation of people who know his lines from that movie verbatim. He never won a Grammy during his lifetime or in his death, but we all know of at least one person who has one of his song or album titles tatted on their flesh.

But accolades aside, the two things people remember ‘Pac for the most are the same two things all human beings are remembered for: how they made you feel and how they died.

‘Pac’s music took you through a range of emotions from “feeling like Black was the thing to be” to “thriving on misery.” One minute he could have you slapping fives to “Never Had A Friend Like Me” and the next have you slapping faces to “Ride On My Enemies.” Get into any “greatest rapper” discussion and the Tupac fan in the debate is sure to use “but you got to feel Pac” as the base of their argument.

The way Tupac died is remembered more than how he was actually born, which was a remarkable story as well. His death came a week after he had been shot multiple times on the Las Vegas strip. Most of us that were around at the time can still remember what we were doing, watching and maybe even eating the moment we heard ‘Pac had passed away.

But the crazy thing is, nobody really remembers him actually going away.

Tupac was cremated when he died, which means he didn’t have a funeral. Which has led to 20-plus years of debating if he’s really dead. Sure, there have been numerous conspiracies placing him everywhere from Cuba to his mother, the late Afeni Shakur‘s house in Stone Mountain, Ga. But figuratively speaking, ‘Pac is still “alive.” So much of his soul was recorded while he was living, music and interview footage of his continues to be released decades after he passed. He is still generating income [for somebody] via his music, personal belongings at public auctions, books and documentaries about his killing, movies and television shows about the following investigation and finally a biopic about his life that hits theaters this June. Since we never saw his body in a casket, the image of him living has been able to survive via our own memories as well as spooky-ass holograms.

In the past month, and especially last week, we saw Tupac’s name and spirit resurface in two unlikely places: Brooklyn rappers and part-time rivals Joey Bada$$ and Troy Ave. Well, actually, ‘Pac’s spirit may not have sought them out on its own. Both men summoned it with statements and actions that were almost as boisterous as some of ‘Pac’s finer moments.

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In early March, 22-year old Bada$$ committed a sin that some viewed just as bad as fellow millennial Lil Yachty’s admitting that he couldn’t name five Tupac songs. Joey said he was a better rapper than Tupac, “facts.”

The internet swiftly attacked Bada$$ for his statement, but to his defense, he also talked about how in life and culture, the younger generation is supposed to be better than the previous generation because it was set up for them to take the ball and keep running. In the same clip he also expressed how he felt it was important to him that his influences [Fred Hampton, Langston Hughes] be felt in his music so that fans his age can also appreciate those that came before him. He also said, “I believe I am one of the minds that ‘Pac said [he would] spark to change the world.”

Joey defended his stance on Twitter by stating that he was talking about skill level, not influence.

https://twitter.com/joeyBADASS/status/837068961132924930

He also took shots at “the media” for twisting the intent of his statement.

https://twitter.com/joeyBADASS/status/837069644242419713

A couple of weeks later, Bada$$ got some encouragement from Pharrell Williams when he was a guest on his OTHERtone podcast. Pharrell, who has earned an authoritative position in the game, compared Joey to ‘Pac, not for his music, but for his potential to be just as big of an influence beyond rapping.

“Your way of expressing yourself is just different,” Pharrell told him. “I think it just lifts the music to a whole other level. It’s interesting because, when you think about Tupac, he was that guy. His music was great, but his interviews would make you go back to the music and be like woah!”

‘Pac’s influence can definitely be heard throughout Joey’s new album All Amerikkkan Bada$$ which just dropped this past Friday. Chock-full of middle fingers to corrupt government and White supremacy, the album offers no apologies for the institutions it is meant to offend. From sharing Tupac song titles like “Temptation” to shouting out ‘Pac’s godfather Geronimo Pratt on “Good Morning Amerikkka,” Joey channels the Black Panther side of ‘Pac that we got in heavy doses on 2Pacalypse Now and  Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z.  but only got in flashes on All Eyez On Me and Makaveli. 

Joey, like so many others, says that Tupac is his favorite rapper of all time. But the interesting thing about that claim is that many people who say that tend to latch on to and promote their personal favorite songs and themes and not his entire canon. Joey obviously bypasses ‘Pac’s advice to “rap for the b*tches” as there are no sexual songs aimed at women on the album. Joey also aims more at informing, inspiring and uplifting like-minded people and addressing institutions, instead of attacking unnamed haters and [perceived] mortal enemies. Which is something ‘Pac always found time for.

Which is also something Joey’s distant-nemesis and fellow Tupac admirer Troy Ave is finding space in his schedule to do.

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This weekend Troy announced that he would be dropping a new mixtape this coming Friday titled NuPac. 

The title is inspired by the backlash he received after an observation he made during his hour-plus long interview with The Breakfast Club. He says that right now, his life feels like “some Tupac sh*t.” In case you didn’t notice, Troy Ave experienced between May and December 2016 what Tupac did from November 1994 to September 1996.

Tupac got shot on two different occasions, with the first time rumored to include a self-inflicted wound in the groin. Troy has also been shot on two different occasions, the first time reportedly self-inflicted. Tupac made the cover of the New York Post when he got shot the first time. Troy made the cover of the NY Daily News when he got shot the first time. Tupac reported to court bandaged up in a wheelchair. Troy reported to court bandaged up in a wheelchair. Tupac was sitting in a car after a Mike Tyson fight, a Black holiday at the time, the second time he got shot. Troy was sitting in a car on Christmas the second time he got shot.

To his defense, Troy did not explicitly label himself the “next Tupac” in his TBC interview. What he meant was that it feels like people treat him as such given his recent hardships and how much they resemble ‘Pac’s. When TBC co-host Charlamagne Tha God warned Troy about the backlash he was guaranteed to get because of the comment, he again reiterated what he meant.

“I didn’t say I’m new ‘Pac,” he said. “I said the feeling is on some Tupac sh*t. This what people are saying to me…Don’t ever get it twisted. I don’t ever want to be no other man, I only want to be me…I would never say I’m Tupac. I like Tupac’s music and sh*t like that, but n*gga Tupac is dead. Ain’t nobody trying to be no Tupac, at all.”

Troy may not be trying to be like Tupac, but it’s not hard to see why someone would accuse him of it. However, he isn’t the first.

When Tupac got shot the first time in 1994 and went to jail on sex crime charges soon after, his popularity skyrocketed. Sure, he had a couple of hit records up to that point, but he wasn’t dominating news headlines yet. But after the shooting and incarceration, serendipity allowed for his third album Me Against The World to be released at the height of the controversy surrounding him while he was in jail. The album would become a #1 record and go platinum within a year. When he was released from prison, Tupac’s legend was at mythical status. His circumstances matched with his popularity led to his next release All Eyez On Me becoming an even bigger success. Both albums gave listeners something they never heard in rap before: the truth. Sure we had “conscious rap” and “reality rap” that informed us in ways that mainstream news didn’t, but we never got to hear or see a rapper actually talk about what as going on in their real life right as we were seeing it in the news.

Because of ‘Pac, being “real” has been expected of every MC that claimed to be from the streets for the people. Also because of ‘Pac, bullet wounds and jail time have been worked into rap artists’ story and marketing plan whenever it was applicable. 50 Cent, Boosie Badass, Gucci Mane, YG, Freddie Gibbs and Young Dolph are just a few of the many rappers we’ve seen either directly compare their near-death and jail experiences to Tupac’s or take pages from his “this-is-how-it-really-happened-go-buy-my-album” manual.

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Since the infamous May 2016 shooting at Irving Plaza where Troy Ave’s friend Ronald “Banga” McPhatter died, Ave has released four mixtapes. The first of those four, Free Troy Ave, was released while he was in jail after being indicted for murder. It opened with a freestyle where rapped, “P*ssy n*gga tried to assassinate me, I took the gun from him and turned the tables ‘round like a G.” His most recent mixtape, Dope Boy Troy, was his first release since being shot last Christmas. The cover image features him rocking a bullet proof vest on his way to court. Throughout the tapes he mentions going to jail, getting shot, losing friends and bouncing back. Troy, who insists he’s not mimicking Pac, as well as his biggest detractors, may hate to admit it but what he’s saying really isn’t all that different from when ‘Pac rapped lines like “Out on bail, fresh out of jail” or the many times he mentioned being shot five times on All Eyez On Me. He even matched ‘Pac’s cringe-worthy moments with songs like “Sextape” which could be considered his “Whatz Ya Phone Number.”

“My music is always my real life,” Troy also said in his Breakfast Club interview. “I talk about what happens to me.”

While that appears to be true, it would be naive to think that Troy isn’t approaching all of this with a capitalist, theatrical mindstate too. Which is where his ‘Pac influence differs from Joey’s. Tupac knew exactly what he was doing when he started name-dropping in his disses and claiming to have slept with another man’s wife. Troy knows exactly what he’s doing when he comes up with mixtape titles like NuPac. Controversy sells.

Artists who cite ‘Pac as an influence have the luxury of picking which ‘Pac they love and this is strongly evident with Joey and Troy. Joey represents the ‘Pac that strived to put a conscious message in his music and is generally thought of to represent what Hip-Hop is supposed to be. Right now, Troy represents the transformation that happened after the shooting and is often viewed as an example of everything that is wrong with Hip-Hop. Where  Joey preaches a “power to the people” ethos, Troy once hijacked the same phrase and flipped it to “powder to the people.” Early Tupac is taught about by college professors, later-day Tupac is warned about by concerned parents.

Both versions of Tupac mean a lot to different people and both versions just got inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame last Friday. Which also happened to be the same day Joey dropped All Amerikkkan Bada$$ and Troy announced that his NuPac tape was coming next week.

So far it seems like more people are navigating towards Joey’s brand of ‘Pac influence because it provides a bit of hope and righteousness at a time when much of what ‘Pac rapped about in his political songs is still ringing true. We won’t know how the world will react to Troy’s offering until it actually drops. But it will be interesting to see if his promise of “airing everybody the f*ck out” will be received the same way ‘Pac’s spree of disses was met with. Some found the ruthlessness entertaining, others found it divisive. Ultimately, those were the final thoughts we had about Tupac before he died. Which is fitting because just like Joey Bada$$ and Troy Ave’s music and relationship to each other, ‘Pac’s entire life and legacy have revolved around conflict.

Both Joey and Troy are a long ways from having the career that ‘Pac had by age 25. But both have already been accused of “Blasphemy” and “crucified severely” by the media for even sounding like they are suggesting to be on his level. Only time will tell if they ever will be.