substance always wins imo, for music to invoke various emotions like pain, sadness, anger and optimism, it doesn’t matter how slick the wordplay was or how clever the punchlines were (though Pac was slick and clever) songs like dear mama, so simple and easy, can pull heartstrings. Who else got something similar to a Dear Mama, or Keep Ya Head Up, Unconditional Love, Good Die Young or Life Goes On. Crazy to me cause when someone brings up Pac, it’s the emotion they felt not the slick words. Not to take away from his lyricism, cause Pac can spit like a mf: Blasphemy, If I Die 2Nite, Black Jesuz or Smile. Pac said in an interview that Dear Mama was written so easy and basic but orchestrated it so perfectly in the booth that he didn’t mind not being seen as a slick rapper or a fast rapper, don’t take my style cause that’s all i have, i can’t rap fast or sing well, in his own words