Black Eyed Peas rapper Will.i.am has riled up the hip-hop community after seemingly insinuating Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. made music for “the projects.”
During a recent appearance on the Hip-Hop Confessions podcast, the Grammy award-winning musician shared his favorite rap artists and explained why he doesn’t share the same reverence many hip-hop fans have for Biggie Smalls and Tupac.
“I’m gonna say something…I don’t want to say it in a disrespectful way,” Will.i.am told the host.
“When people say Tupac and Biggie, I’m such [an] A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul head that I don’t like Tupac and Biggie.”
“That kind of music doesn’t speak to my spirit,” he continued. “I like Boogie Down Productions, KRS-One; if it’s like, ‘Tupac or Biggie?,’ I’m like, ‘KRS-One.’ Why those two?”
Will.i.am, 47, named off a few rappers he regards in the same light many regard Tupac and Biggie. “If it’s Tupac and Biggie, I don’t hold them up like that,” he said. “I hold Eric B. [and] Rakim up like that.”
The “Where Is The Love?” musician made sure to clarify how much he respects Tupac as a rapper and artist.
“Tupac’s dope. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not like I don’t think he’s dope,” he said.
Growing up in Los Angeles, Will.i.am says rap groups like De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest had more of an impact on his upbringing.
“It took me out of the projects while I was still in the projects,” Will.i.am said. He also credited the acts for igniting his imagination in ways that “physically” allowed him to “reach” his “dreams.”
“It kept me safe while I was in the projects,” Will.i.am said. “Had I loved Tupac and Biggie while I was in the projects, I probably would’ve been stuck in the projects still.”