Pac being best at lyrical skills.

[ElitePete4k]

Dayz Of A Criminal

"If that was indo, niggaz getTING rolled up"

"Tupac brain locked on the cannibis"

Wow. This is getting hilarious, twice in the same thread after I already pointed it out.

 

[LM45z]

Troublesome Nigga!

 

[MOBnigga06]

I don't mean to shit on your opinion, but that song, specifically the lines you quoted, is hardly lyrical, maybe a 4 on a scale of 1-10. The first lines you quoted are basically just "[insert word that rhymes with 'ooh'] niggas" rhyming with "[insert different word that rhymes with 'ooh'] niggas"... hardly lyrical at all. The second lines you quoted is just your basic multisyllabic rhyme that Pac managed to do every so often in his pre-Death Row work. And if you thought that was dope, how about lines like these from another former Death Row artist:

"They make me want to trip with this gauge
And you suckers will be 'Gone in 60 Seconds' quicker than Nicholas Cage"
"You know I gotta drop cowards with nine millimeters of Glock power
Drop trousers, do your girl in a hot shower
For a hot hour, then drop her off at the Watts Towers"
"Don't tangle, I choke, strangle, break both ankles
Dangle you from a rope, clotheshang you from a coat angle
The mangler so anxious to kill, able to spill
Ancient languages, dangerous as eighty painkiller pills
Young jacker, Gucci hat tilted, gun-clapper
I'm every artist Suge ever signed in one rapper"

Now THAT'S lyrical. Try going back into Pac's lyrics and find REAL examples of Pac being lyrical, not just his basic rhymes that you all seem to think are so incredible.

I recognize that Definition of a Thug Nigga isn't "lyrical" like a Big Pun song rhyming 15 words with 15 more words. I just think that Definition has Pac's flow/intensity complementing good lyrics to create a dope ass track. You feel me? Even though he's just rhyming a word that sounds like "ooh" and "niggas" 5 times, you can't deny that it sounds fuckin dope. Just doing huge rhymes with no meaning is lame and when you think about Pac, that's something he really didn't do very often.

I think if you want a truly LYRICAL pac verse I'd look at his verse on Gotta Survive.

"Now I've been called a crook, a killa, a thug/ A no-good deala of drugs/ and blood or cuz, doesnt matter what set you was/ cuz where I'm at/ If you black, you strapped/ As long as kis make G's these theives attack/

Now that is ill.

 

[DeeezNuuuts83]

I recognize that Definition of a Thug Nigga isn't "lyrical" like a Big Pun song rhyming 15 words with 15 more words. I just think that Definition has Pac's flow/intensity complementing good lyrics to create a dope ass track. You feel me?

I feel you on that one. It's a dope ass track, one of hundreds by Pac, but it's still not lyrical.

Even though he's just rhyming a word that sounds like "ooh" and "niggas" 5 times, you can't deny that it sounds fuckin dope.

It sounds dope, but it's still not lyrical for the reasons you just typed.

Just doing huge rhymes with no meaning is lame and when you think about Pac, that's something he really didn't do very often.

What, rhyming with no meaning? True, but he didn't use huge rhymes often either.

I think if you want a truly LYRICAL pac verse I'd look at his verse on Gotta Survive.

"Now I've been called a crook, a killa, a thug/ A no-good deala of drugs/ and blood or cuz, doesnt matter what set you was/ cuz where I'm at/ If you black, you strapped/ As long as kis make G's these theives attack/

Now that is ill.

No it's not. It is FAR from a "truly LYRICAL pac verse." I'd definitely classify it in the better half of his lyrics, but nothing in those words used would make "lyrical" or "ill" come to mind. Like I've said before, the lyrics are punchy mostly because it's Pac delivering those rhymes. Imagine Ja Rule rapping the same lyrics in the same style that he has come to know, steal, and incorporate in his own songs, then it doesn't seem nearly as appealing or as lyrical.

I respect your opinion and appreciate the fact that you've been trying to dig up examples of what you consider "lyrical," but too many examples (not just yours) lag leagues behind what is lyrical in a hip-hop sense... not necessarily the "pure" hip-hop music that stays underground for the most part, but hip-hop music as a whole, encapsulating every style from every area.

If some of you guys are half the Pac fans y'all claim to be, dig up your October 2001 issues of XXL where they explore whether or not Pac was the G.O.A.T., and it addresses issues such as these. Here are some excerpts that I've typed up:

Truth be told, for most of his career, 'Pac was a marginal lyricist. He largely eschewed the use of a simile as a creative device. When he did go that route, the results were elementary--he "hustled like a crack fiend," "hit switches like I was fixed with hydraulics." He could never hang with the Holy Trinity of rhyme: Biggie, Jay-Z and Nas. He didn't have Big's ability to construct interlocking rhyme schemes laden with hidden corridors; was no rival for Jigga's deceptively simple wit or wordplay; couldn't conjure Esco's sage observations and unique rhyme couplets. For the craft of the matter, the Hot Boys are better line-for-line MCs.

But he was strictly about flow, almost to the exclusion of all other tools in the MC arsenal; more about mood and emotion than analogy and imagination. He made rhymes without similes like the Israelites made bricks without straw.

As opposed to slick turns of phrase, 'Pac relied on adages, aphorisms, and arrogance. He used vageness to tap into universal human needs like an accomplished motivational speaker or a great ad campaign. Plan your goals. Just Do It. Ride on your enemies.

Yet 'Pac was turning an artistic corner before his death. He began spitting "spiritual lyrics like the Holy Qu'Ran" and moving towards surreal imagery that cooked the Bible in a cauldron under a street lamp. "Have you ever seen a crackhead?" he asked. "That's eternal fire." He drank so much he "swore I saw the devil in my empty glass of Hennessey." And, while the gun-as-girlfriend exercise "Me And My Girlfriend" lags behind earlier gun metaphors like Nas' "I Gave You Power" and Organized Konfusion's "Stray Bullet" it was a move towards higher creativity.

 

[Whizz]

I'd definitely classify it in the better half of his lyrics, but nothing in those words used would make "lyrical" or "ill" come to mind. Like I've said before, the lyrics are punchy mostly because it's Pac delivering those rhymes. Imagine Ja Rule rapping the same lyrics in the same style that he has come to know, steal, and incorporate in his own songs, then it doesn't seem nearly as appealing or as lyrical.

A+
I just admire your posts, man:thumb:

 

[Roscoe Outlaw]

hold ya head!

 

[2pacdalegend247]

MATW

Holla At Me

Got My Mind Made up...

 

[B-art]

He didn't have Big's ability to construct interlocking rhyme schemes laden with hidden corridors;:

Now most of what's said in those quotes from XXL I can agree with. But this line right here is not true. 'Pac actually did this a lot in his lyrics. He would rhyme two syllables at the end of two lines but still manage to rhyme two completely different multisyllable words within these two lines, thus rhyming 4 words in just 2 lines. These rhyme patterns are often either underrated or overlooked by a lot of people since they aren't like 4 syllable words, which the more lyrical rappers often go for.

Still Pac doesn't go off-topic as much as these more lyrical rappers do, you know? These superb lyricists (take Big Pun for example) are of course lyrical to a much higher degree than Pac in most of their verses, but Pac seemed to have the ability to just rap about exactly what was on his mind at that moment and what he wanted to say, WITHOUT letting this fuck up his flow. The content of more lyrical rappers often seems a hostage to the desire for creating superlyrical verses. When they just say what they wanted to say, they have more trouble to stay on-beat. In my opinion that was Pac's great strength as much as his often praised emotion. It just goes unnoticed how easy it was for Pac to speak his mind while flowing and still being an above-average lyricist. Even a great rapper like Nas seems to not have mastered this ability as much as Pac had. I mean, you can check for yourself. When Nas raps more poetic or 'vague' ( not in a negative way, but you know what I mean) lyrics, his flow is perfect. But when he takes on a more straight-forward approach, for example on 'Ether', the flow is just not as good as you expect it to be. I mean, I praise "Ether' too for being a great diss track but flow-wise it wasn't all that.

That's why I think that the more lyrical rappers don't really make their mind up on what they're going to say before writing their verse. Pac, on the other hand, always did. And that quality of his, in my opinion, is very underrated.

Shit, what a long post. I apologize, lol.

 

[Euphanasia]

Pac seemed to have the ability to just rap about exactly what was on his mind at that moment and what he wanted to say, WITHOUT letting this fuck up his flow. The content of more lyrical rappers often seems a hostage to the desire for creating superlyrical verses. When they just say what they wanted to say, they have more trouble to stay on-beat. In my opinion that was Pac's great strength as much as his often praised emotion. It just goes unnoticed how easy it was for Pac to speak his mind while flowing and still being an above-average lyricist. Even a great rapper like Nas seems to not have mastered this ability as much as Pac had.

I agree completely. Very good post, man.

 

[Think_ThuGLiFE]

Now most of what's said in those quotes from XXL I can agree with. But this line right here is not true. 'Pac actually did this a lot in his lyrics. He would rhyme two syllables at the end of two lines but still manage to rhyme two completely different multisyllable words within these two lines, thus rhyming 4 words in just 2 lines. These rhyme patterns are often either underrated or overlooked by a lot of people since they aren't like 4 syllable words, which the more lyrical rappers often go for.

Still Pac doesn't go off-topic as much as these more lyrical rappers do, you know? These superb lyricists (take Big Pun for example) are of course lyrical to a much higher degree than Pac in most of their verses, but Pac seemed to have the ability to just rap about exactly what was on his mind at that moment and what he wanted to say, WITHOUT letting this fuck up his flow. The content of more lyrical rappers often seems a hostage to the desire for creating superlyrical verses. When they just say what they wanted to say, they have more trouble to stay on-beat. In my opinion that was Pac's great strength as much as his often praised emotion. It just goes unnoticed how easy it was for Pac to speak his mind while flowing and still being an above-average lyricist. Even a great rapper like Nas seems to not have mastered this ability as much as Pac had. I mean, you can check for yourself. When Nas raps more poetic or 'vague' ( not in a negative way, but you know what I mean) lyrics, his flow is perfect. But when he takes on a more straight-forward approach, for example on 'Ether', the flow is just not as good as you expect it to be. I mean, I praise "Ether' too for being a great diss track but flow-wise it wasn't all that.

That's why I think that the more lyrical rappers don't really make their mind up on what they're going to say before writing their verse. Pac, on the other hand, always did. And that quality of his, in my opinion, is very underrated.

Shit, what a long post. I apologize, lol.

only if we had the option to rep ppl



good post

 

[DeeezNuuuts83]

Now most of what's said in those quotes from XXL I can agree with. But this line right here is not true. 'Pac actually did this a lot in his lyrics. He would rhyme two syllables at the end of two lines but still manage to rhyme two completely different multisyllable words within these two lines, thus rhyming 4 words in just 2 lines. These rhyme patterns are often either underrated or overlooked by a lot of people since they aren't like 4 syllable words, which the more lyrical rappers often go for.

That line WAS true. There is a big difference between rhyming different sets of multisyllabic words within a couple of lines and "construct[ing] interlocking rhyme schemes laden with hidden corridors." Just listen to the second verse of Biggie's "Kick in the Door" which is something Pac could never touch on a strictly lyrical level. Big's flow was on-point, he didn't stray away from the topic, yet he used rhyme structures more complicated than anything I've ever heard from Pac (and I indicated which parts rhyme with which through bold, italics, and underline, and the "hidden corridors" are present in this verse as well):
"On your mark, get set, when I spark, you're wet
Look how dark it get when you're marked for death
Should I start your breath? Should I let you die?
In fear, you start to cry, ask why
Lyrically, I'm worshipped, don't front, the word's sick
You cursed it, but rehearsed it, I drop unexpectedly like bird shit
You herbs get stuck quickly for royalties and show money
Don't forget the publishing, I punish 'em, I'm done with them
Son, I'm surprised you run with them
I think they got cum in them 'cause they nothing but dicks
Trying to blow up like nitro and dynamite sticks
Mad I smoke hydro, rock diamonds that's sick
Got paid off my flow, rhyme with my own click
Take trips to Cairo, laying with your bitch"

Still Pac doesn't go off-topic as much as these more lyrical rappers do, you know?

He doesn't? How about these off-topic lines "How Do U Want It" - a song trying to seduce a girl:
"DeLores Tucker, you's a motherfucker
Instead of trying to help a nigga, you destroy a brother
Worse than the others: Mr. Clinton, Mr. Bob Dole
You're too old to understand the way the game is told" - what does this have to do with trying to take a girl home to fuck her?

These superb lyricists (take Big Pun for example) are of course lyrical to a much higher degree than Pac in most of their verses, but Pac seemed to have the ability to just rap about exactly what was on his mind at that moment and what he wanted to say, WITHOUT letting this fuck up his flow.

Pac rapping "about exactly what was on his mind at that moment and [about] what he wanted to say" isn't something hard. Yes, Pac could easily stay on-topic, but his topics were usually very general topics, as stated in the same XXL article:

He tapped into a small garden of evergreen topics and rarely strayed outside of its confines.

Basically a lot of Pac's songs, as dope as they are, were vague topics with very general song titles. For example, you could probably take Pac's verse from "As the World Turns" and splice it in the middle of his two verses in "Staring Through My Rearview" and it would flow just fine as a song based on the lyrics alone, minus the lines referring to the song titles (but not Pac's voice, since he seemed more energetic in the latter of the two songs).

If you watch that footage of Pac wearing a black sweater (used on both Thug Angel and Tupac Resurrection) while he was schooling the studio engineers, it made it sound like his method was to just free-write for a few verses then rap it, then the title would be "whatever this nigga's last words was" then they would create a chorus, so it seems like Pac didn't always plan it out before jumping in the booth.

Don't get me wrong, Pac is still my favorite rapper, and to me, he IS the greatest of all time, and I could make an even stronger argument for that than I have in this thread. However, I have to keep it real and play devil's advocate by arguing that Pac was not the lyrical genius (from a rap/hip-hop perspective) that a lot of fans with tunnel vision tend to make him out to be, but he was indeed an artist who crafted songs like no other ever could.

But to everyone who has been contributing solid posts to this thread, thank you very much! It's threads like these that I'm excited to read and respond to after a long day of bartending, more so than those dumb posts asking what your favorite Pac song where he says the word "Hennessy" or whatever.

 

[Diaz]

He doesn't? How about these off-topic lines "How Do U Want It" - a song trying to seduce a girl:
"DeLores Tucker, you's a motherfucker
Instead of trying to help a nigga, you destroy a brother
Worse than the others: Mr. Clinton, Mr. Bob Dole
You're too old to understand the way the game is told" - what does this have to do with trying to take a girl home to fuck her?

It doesn't have anything to do with the song, but Pac was smart as hell to put that in there. That's like Pac's way of getting his messages out... slipping them into club songs.

 

[Bachaveli]

He doesn't? How about these off-topic lines "How Do U Want It" - a song trying to seduce a girl:
"DeLores Tucker, you's a motherfucker
Instead of trying to help a nigga, you destroy a brother
Worse than the others: Mr. Clinton, Mr. Bob Dole
You're too old to understand the way the game is told" - what does this have to do with trying to take a girl home to fuck her?

That part made me too always think why bring up her name and issue in this song.Irrelevant.

If you watch that footage of Pac wearing a black sweater (used on both Thug Angel and Tupac Resurrection) while he was schooling the studio engineers, it made it sound like his method was to just free-write for a few verses then rap it, then the title would be "whatever this nigga's last words was" then they would create a chorus, so it seems like Pac didn't always plan it out before jumping in the booth.

I guess this could somewhat explain why he did work that he did in so little amount of time.That way seems faster to do tracks i guess. Just let it out whatever is in your mind and then at the end just come up with the name.Instead of first thinking what you gonna be rapping about.But, again that could not have been the case all the time with him, i dont know but if it was, it would make sense.

 

[EDouble]

How do u want it wasn't just to gettin the girls etc as evidenced by that whole verse :thumb: but true nuf

 

[JDeez]

It doesn't have anything to do with the song, but Pac was smart as hell to put that in there. That's like Pac's way of getting his messages out... slipping them into club songs.

Good point, never thought of that.

But, what about the entire last verse on How Do U Want It on the album version? That also strays away from the main topic of the song. I think he realized it later, and rewrote the verse for the radio edit.

 

[Will]

"They make me want to trip with this gauge
And you suckers will be 'Gone in 60 Seconds' quicker than Nicholas Cage"
"You know I gotta drop cowards with nine millimeters of Glock power
Drop trousers, do your girl in a hot shower
For a hot hour, then drop her off at the Watts Towers"
"Don't tangle, I choke, strangle, break both ankles
Dangle you from a rope, clotheshang you from a coat angle
The mangler so anxious to kill, able to spill
Ancient languages, dangerous as eighty painkiller pills
Young jacker, Gucci hat tilted, gun-clapper
I'm every artist Suge ever signed in one rapper"

^ what song is this?

but back on subject, i dont think pac was that great lyricaly there are many better lyricists out there. but i do think he was a great song writer. its not multi syllable and complex rhyme schemes that make his songs great but rather his presence on a track and his actual delivery.

 

[B-art]

That line WAS true. There is a big difference between rhyming different sets of multisyllabic words within a couple of lines and "construct[ing] interlocking rhyme schemes laden with hidden corridors." Just listen to the second verse of Biggie's "Kick in the Door" which is something Pac could never touch on a strictly lyrical level. Big's flow was on-point, he didn't stray away from the topic, yet he used rhyme structures more complicated than anything I've ever heard from Pac (and I indicated which parts rhyme with which through bold, italics, and underline, and the "hidden corridors" are present in this verse as well):
"On your mark, get set, when I spark, you're wet
Look how dark it get when you're marked for death
Should I start your breath? Should I let you die?
In fear, you start to cry, ask why
Lyrically, I'm worshipped, don't front, the word's sick
You cursed it, but rehearsed it, I drop unexpectedly like bird shit
You herbs get stuck quickly for royalties and show money
Don't forget the publishing, I punish 'em, I'm done with them
Son, I'm surprised you run with them
I think they got cum in them 'cause they nothing but dicks
Trying to blow up like nitro and dynamite sticks
Mad I smoke hydro, rock diamonds that's sick
Got paid off my flow, rhyme with my own click
Take trips to Cairo, laying with your bitch"

He doesn't? How about these off-topic lines "How Do U Want It" - a song trying to seduce a girl:
"DeLores Tucker, you's a motherfucker
Instead of trying to help a nigga, you destroy a brother
Worse than the others: Mr. Clinton, Mr. Bob Dole
You're too old to understand the way the game is told" - what does this have to do with trying to take a girl home to fuck her?

I must admit, you made some valid points in your post. I don't want to come off as one of those people who just have to reply because they want to be right and because they want to defend their "God" Tupac or whatever, but, I too love these discussions where the content of the lyrics is actually discussed and analyzed. So here it goes.

First of all, you were absolutely right about that 'How Do U Want It' example. Pac does go off-topic there, although people often deem that one of his big strengths. His ability to put so much aspects in one verse, to make a song about fucking women and still somehow putting in some lines about political controversy. You could of course argue that it is a BIT on topic since the song is about fucking women and that is exactly what C. Delores Tucker criticized him for, for showing disrespect to women in his lyrics. Maybe Pac thought, 'if I talk about fucking every woman on the planet Mrs. Tucker might give me heat again so I might as well address that now too'. But this is not the point. There's probably dozens of other examples where Pac indeed does go off-topic. However, my point was this: Pac says whatever is on his mind in a song (hence sometimes he talks about like 4 different topics in one song), but the changing of subject isn't caused by the need for a certain rhyme word in the second of two lines. That's what I meant really, because these lyricists often have a word that's like 5 syllables and they want to rhyme it so bad with another set of 5 syllables that the second line just forces them to talk about that second set of words, for grammatical reasons, even though it's not what they planned on talking about originally. That's what I meant by ' being a hostage to the need for a rhyme'. Now of course every rapper does this, but if you create less multi's you are less constrained by this problem.

Well, this all being said.. Pac, for most of the time, chooses to put in less multi's and metaphors (which he even said he does consciously) and instead he places more single-syllable words that rhyme in two lines. Really, it's quite interesting to count the number of rhyming syllables in a random Pac verse, you'll see that it's way bigger than that in the verse of other rappers who aren't lyricists. (50 cent or whoever) And of course Biggie wasn't always as lyrical in every verse that he wrote (bad choice of words since he didn't write it but whatever). Just an interesting comparison: if you compare their verses from the released version of "Runnin'" (the Em version) you will find out that Pac's verse was more lyrical, or at least it had more rhyming syllables. (typically, Biggie had a metaphor, and Pac didn't) I know Pac re-recorded his verse later on (right? ) but still..

Just to prove that Pac indeed made a conscious decision to focus less on the lyrical bravado and more on his content: Check his first verse (and his second if you feel like it,lol) from 'First To Bomb'. Someone mentioned a couple of lines from it earlier in the thread, but here it is in full. This is one of the rare occasions where he seems to try extra hard to be lyrical :

Tell me baby, whats your frequency
You see I'm makin proposals full of verbal indecency when ya meetin me
Flash light I'm buzzed, ??? like drugs
Got 3 strikes, u got cuz last nights for thugs
Holdin my position, my competition is never ready
Rip like a macheti, my alias makaveli
So what they tell me thru the grapevine
Niggaz aint tryin to see me paid, they rather take mine
retaliation takes time
Create rhymes that so ferocious that the bass line
Run from my vocals everytime a nigga say his rhymes
Spendin and bustin you thought it up
But you wasn't prepared
Niggaz is scared, I'm eternally thuggin
Like kamikazes on a suicide mission
I'm spittin multiple gunshots
Burnin turnin rappers to victims
I kick em all day, and my motto
Make biggie smalls pay
I make it ruff enough
You and puffy crawl away

I got the lyrics from another site, the "flash light I'm buzzed" line isn't correct I know, but I don't have 'First To Bomb' on this computer and I can't really remember it. There were originally a lot of other mistakes in it too that I corrected, I think this is pretty close to how it should be right? Anyway, don't tell me this isn't lyrical, this is insanely lyrical for a rapper who is not a pure lyricist but who's biggest strength is his emotion. I haven't even really highlighted the alliteration or the abundant assonance (which Pac uses a lot in his lyrics and which, without people noticing most of the time, makes a verse sound so much better: it adds to the flow or something, I don't know) Ironically, of course, this verse disses Biggie, who we are discussing as well. I didn't do this on purpose to discredit him but this verse just happens to be one of Pac's most lyrical.

Fuck, this post really is just too damn long. I'm not coming back online for another 24 hours, this post is enough internet-time for one day lol... Drop some knowledge y'all.. :thumb:

 

[realbbk]

dont forget what pac said in one of his interviews
he said sth. like his shit or westcoast rap (rap from oakland)
is always straight forward -that he could also pay more intention to the lyrical content-but that he doesnt want to "cover up" the message and just say what he wants to say
example: instead of saying
"we are so broke more broke than broken glass"
pac rather said "niggas is broke in the streets we got nuttin to eat"
maybe its not a good example but i couldnt think of a better line
i also think that a rapper like crooked i maybe got much better skills-no question bout that
but also remember what shock g said in an interview on a pac dvd
he said when it comes to flowin biggie would maybe win against pac
but that peolpe feel that pac is the better humanbeing and as we all know pac was more thanjust a rapper -he realy had something to say - that man even had a plan to found his own political party to represent all the minorities in america
i know this thread is about being lyricall- okmaybe pac wasnt the best lyricist but we should know being a good lyricist is not the most important thing
pac was an activist a rebell-realy ready 2 change sth. an die 4 his people and the movement
so u can not compare him 2 nas biggie or jay-z
pac is just bigger than that just like the things he stressed are more than music
hope u understand what im trying to say

 

[nathanm1]

my position on the whole How Do You Want It song is this: this guy made his lyrics in 5-10 mintues. My guess is that some stuff really started to bother him or just enter his mind in those minutes and they just happened to fall into the pages that he was reciting..... prolly goofy, yes, but everyone has their own opinions.

 

[DeeezNuuuts83]

Really, it's quite interesting to count the number of rhyming syllables in a random Pac verse, you'll see that it's way bigger than that in the verse of other rappers who aren't lyricists. (50 cent or whoever)

Even though I hate 50 Cent, that line you just said isn't necessarily true. He's actually been stepping up his game, evident on his verse on Eminem's "Never Enough" and some of his more recent guest appearances, such as some of his lyrics off the new Mobb Deep album. But don't worry, I still don't give a rat's ass about 50.

Just to prove that Pac indeed made a conscious decision to focus less on the lyrical bravado and more on his content: Check his first verse (and his second if you feel like it,lol) from 'First To Bomb'. Someone mentioned a couple of lines from it earlier in the thread

If you go to the first page of this thread, specifically to post #11, you will see that it is ME who was the first to quote lyrics from "First 2 Bomb" and IRONICALLY I brought up the same song arguing the same thing you are arguing in this thread from July 2005, COINCIDENTALLY also post #11:
http://www.streethop.com/forum/thread142141.html

Anyway, don't tell me this isn't lyrical, this is insanely lyrical for a rapper who is not a pure lyricist but who's biggest strength is his emotion. I haven't even really highlighted the alliteration or the abundant assonance (which Pac uses a lot in his lyrics and which, without people noticing most of the time, makes a verse sound so much better: it adds to the flow or something, I don't know) Ironically, of course, this verse disses Biggie, who we are discussing as well. I didn't do this on purpose to discredit him but this verse just happens to be one of Pac's most lyrical.

There's no need to defend your opinion about this song. This is one of my favorite Pac songs that I have effortlessly committed to memory since I first heard it in 2002. For your purposes, I have re-typed up the lyrics as accurately as I recall through listening to it on an almost daily basis:

Tell me, baby, what's your frequency?
You see I'm making proposals full of verbal indecencies when you're meeting me
Flashlight, I'm buzzed, one right like guns
Three strikes you got 'cause last night's for thugs
Holding my position, my competition is never ready
Rip like a Machete, my alias: Makaveli
So what they tell me through the grapevine?
Niggas ain't trying to see me paid, they'd rather take mine, retaliation takes time
Create rhymes that's so ferocious that the bassline
Run from my vocals everytime a nigga say his rhymes
Spending and busting, you thought tough but you wasn't
Prepared, niggas is scared, I'm eternally thugging
Like kamikazes on a suicide mission, I'm spitting
Multiple gunshots, burning, turning rappers to victims
I kick 'em all day, and my motto: make Biggie Smalls pay
I make it rough enough? You and Puffy craw away

First to bomb, quick to unload
Expose my foes for being bitches, keeping niggas suspicious
Two Glocks is full of ammo, my army fatigues
Ready for battle, lyrical commando, let's get it on
Tell me, nigga, how much you can handle?
Banging on wax, I turn this track into a Roman Candle - BOOM!
My intentions, specifically, thugged-out, no sympathy
Pictures of closed caskets soon as bastards get with me
I'm first to bomb, first is the calm, then the panic
Soon as my niggas break, we earthquake the whole planet
Adversaries can't understand it
The way my niggas strategize, don't nobody die unless we planned it
Life-long committed, I write songs and spit it
No matter how hard motherfuckers try, they can't get it
It's Death Row, West Side, Outlawz till we die
Thug Life motherfuckers on the rise, and we first to bomb

This is all pretty accurate, except for maybe two lines, but I think the "one right like guns" is correct since it might be a simile. (When a handgun fires and unloads the used shell, it gets tossed to the right, so perhaps that is what the line is referring to.)