Days after Tupac Shakur was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Boosie Badazz says that his next album, BooPac, will be inspired by the late rap icon.
“I know it’s going to be a big ol’ thang,” he told Vlad TV. “But it’s in my heart. That’s what I wanna do. I’m naming it BooPac. “It’s a double disc, 26 songs, because I’m my generation’s Tupac.”
Boosie said part of his goal is to remind listeners of ‘Pac’s spirit. “A lot of people didn’t grow up on Tupac,” he added. “A lot of people didn’t grow up on Biggie. Those who love that kind of music grew up on me. That’s one reason. Another reason is ‘Pac’s music is forgot about now, that real music that touched you.”
During the interview, Boosie explained that he has the utmost respect for Shakur, his favorite rapper of all time. “The only person I feel like I ain’t accomplished being better than right now is ‘Pac,” he said. “It’s just always been in my mind, since I was nine or 10 years old, that there’s nobody better than ‘Pac. So it’s hard for me to just come out and say, ‘I’m better than ‘Pac.’ Nah! I’m not fin’a just say I’m better than Tupac. I’m the best living at making this music that I make. Tupac gone now so it’s me that make that kind of music.”
Understanding that criticism will follow, Boosie said he just hopes that listeners will give him a “chance.” “When you buy that motherfucker and you listen to it,” he said, “You’re gonna be like, ‘Shit, this motherfucker touched me just like Tupac touched me.'”
Boosie isn’t the only rapper comparing himself to ‘Pac. Recently, Troy Ave also said he feels like Tupac Shakur, dubbing himself the “new ‘Pac.”
BooPac, Boosie’s seventh album and the follow-up to 2015’s Touch Down 2 Cause Hell, has no release date.