There are several components that contribute to making music. One of those is the art of using storytelling. Most times artists use their voices to tell stories of the past. But at times they can also predict the future. Here are four examples of times when rap stars predicted the future.
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Notorious B.I.G. – Suicidal Thoughts (1994)
The Notorious B.I.G. was perhaps the chief storyteller. He would use his lyrics to paint a picture to place you in that time setting as a listener. However, many of Biggie’s lyrics were dark. And one of his darker songs is Suicidal Thoughts because the late rapper predicts his death on the track.
“I want to leave, I swear to God I feel like death is f—ing calling me / But now, you wouldn’t understand, n—- talk to me please,” he raps on the song.
Even more eerie is the fact that the track is painted as a phone conversation. Between Smalls and his best friend Sean “Puffy” or “Diddy” Combs. Smalls tells Comba that he is contemplating suicide. Combs tries to talk him off the ledge but Biggie ultimately ends up shooting himself. Shortly after the release of the song, Biggie would be killed in a drive-by in Los Angeles.
Jay-Z – Money, Cash, H*es – 1998
The amount of times that Jay-Z had told us he was going to do something and followed through on it is probably more than we can count.
One of those times was on his timeless hit “Money, Cash, H*Es,” which features the late DMX.
Hov raps: “S—, I’ve lived a life you can write a book on / Sex, murder, mayhem, and romance for the streets / Man and I’ll tell ya, it’ll be a bestseller.”
For more than a decade Jay-Z would write a book about his life. And it would indeed go on to be a New York Times best seller.
Snoop Dogg – Murder Was The Case (1995)
Snoop Dogg has lived a thousand different lives. He’s been a rapper, a TV chef, and a football coach.
But before he became America’s favorite Uncle, Snoop at one point was one of the most notorious gangster rappers. And the lifestyle he portrayed nearly became his reality.
“Snoop raps “Murder, murder was the Case that they gave me,” in his song Murder Was the Case.
And he indeed became a murder defendant. The rap star and his bodyguard were charged with the murder of a rival gang member. However, they were both acquitted in 1996.
Tupac Shakur – Ni***s Gonna D*e (1996)
Tupac Shakur was another rapper who had a premonition about their murder. The rapper was featured on Richie Rich’s 1996 song “N***as Done Changed”
In the song he raps: “I have been shot and murdered, can tell you how it happened, word for word / But best believe n—-s gonna get what they deserve.”
That same year, Tupac was shot and killed on the Las Vegas strip.
