The Game has hip-hop fans feeling some type of way after calling NBA YoungBoy this generation’s Tupac Shakur.
The Compton rapper recently sat down with Montreality while promoting his new album Drillmatic where he likened the 22-year-old Last Slimeto rapper to the late legend.
“NBA YoungBoy will be Tupac of this generation,” Game said. “So sometimes when you see an 18-year-old kid say, ‘NBA YoungBoy is better than Tupac,’ it’s not because he actually is or Tupac is better than NBA YoungBoy. It’s just the Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron thing… It’s just different eras of greatness. You should just appreciate ’em now, because an 18-year-old cannot appreciate or relate to Tupac because they weren’t even alive.”
Game pointed out that most of YoungBoy fans weren’t even born when Tupac died in 1996, so YoungBoy represents the Pac of their era. “Tupac has been dead for 26 years, so an 18-year-old kid wasn’t even born for another six years after he died,” he explained. “So why would you expect him to relate to Tupac over NBA YoungBoy? Somebody who is just a few years older than him who he listens to every day, who’s probably living the same type of lifestyle that he’s living.”
Not surprisingly, Game caused an uproar on social media as fans weighed in, seemingly split over the controversial comparison.
NBA YoungBoy was originally featured on Game’s album Drillmatic, but his verse on “O.P.P.” was reportedly pulled for budget reasons. Game’s manager Wack 100 said NBA gave them a “hell of a deal,” but they still weren’t able to afford the $150,000 feature.
This is not the first time someone has compared Pac to a current rapper. Fat Joe made waves last year when he suggested that DaBaby was a “2021 version” of Pac, with many condemning Joe for his comments.
In August, Game released his long-awaited album Drillmatic, which debuted at No. 12 on the Billboard 200, spawning collaborations with Kanye West, Lil Wayne, and Big Sean.