I know this will probably be where I divide people between the two artists. Impact VS. Skill. Well, here's my breakdown:
2Pac's big songs, such as "Brenda's Got a Baby" and "Dear Mama", are definitely powerful-- but Eminem too has a fair share of powerful songs that are relevant in the time they were made and in the present day. Eminem's "Untouchable" directly talks about racism and while 2Pac was preaching the same problems several years ago, Eminem's platform accelerates his messages. Eminem's catalog-- I feel, is more diverse than compared to 2Pac's. While they both talked about things in their lives and other aspects of life, Eminem has songs that can be used for any occasion. Also, to add to comparing their skill sets as emcees, I want to separate Eminem from 2Pac through his catalog of diss tracks.
2Pac's "Hit 'em Up" was perhaps the most personal to Biggie Smalls-- whose beef within itself was too personal, but Eminem has several people whose careers he's ended entirely.
No one-- whether it was back then or right now, wants to beef with Eminem. Tracks like "Hailie's Revenge", "Nail in the Coffin", "Quitter", "The Warning", "Vegas", "Killshot", and many more have reduced many rappers to nothing. Mariah Carey was a singer for a while, but that all changed after the beef with Eminem. Benzino's Source magazine was important at the time, but his beef with Eminem caused his career and the Source itself to completely fall out. Ja Rule was a hot rapper during his time, but when he crossed the line with Eminem by mentioning his daughter, he essentially became hip-hop's punching bag. Literally, everyone from Em, 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes, D12, and many other artists took shots at Ja Rule and Murder Inc. 2Pac's main source of "controversy" had to deal with his ties to gangs and other outside and personal affairs, which I feel is the main reason why his life was cut short-- similarly to Nipsey Hussle.
On another lyrical point of view, from a technical standpoint, Eminem's lyrics blow 2Pac out of the water. His ability to manipulate words-- from Recovery till now, is completely unparalleled.
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*Quite literally the entire MTBMB album
Also, most people agree that most tracks that Eminem hops on with other artists, he completely outshines. Royce Da 5'9", lyrically, is at his best during their stint with Bad Meets Evil. Most of D12 couldn't keep up with Eminem in his ability lyrically. Other artists like Kendrick Lamar, Joyner Lucas, Logic, Akon, Fat Joe, Big Sean, Tech N9ne, and even Lil Wayne, have had to step up their game when Eminem is on a song with them. In fact, Kanye West has said that he had to literally rewrite his verse on the song "Forever" when he heard Eminem rap.
Also, aside from the talented Juice Wrld (R.I.P.), what other rapper has been such a predominant free-styler? 2Pac and Biggie were good, but Eminem is completely different from the two of them. So, you have a rapper who can tell a story, who can literally battle anyone, outshine other artists on the same song as them, and a good freestyle rapper. As far as I know, 2Pac hasn't done any of that.
