After Biggie and Pac were gone, hip hop didn't go soft. It got polished. Today on Grown Man Bars, Chad and Big Absoloot break down DMX and Tupac Shakur — two of the most intense forces to ever touch a microphone in 90s rap history.

Not the charts. What they actually meant. And what burning that hot cost both of them.

DMX threw water on his face and hit the street. That's exactly what 1998 hip hop needed.

This That and the Third breaks it down three ways.

The THIS — Tupac Shakur was the greatest emotional communicator rap music has ever seen. Not just a rapper. A poet. An advocate. A man who made the street feel seen.

The THAT — DMX dropped two nuclear classic albums in the same year. 1998. Nobody had done it before. Nobody has done it since. But explosions don't sustain.

The THIRD — Some artists are stars. They burn steady for a long time. Some are meteors. They flash brighter than anything else and then they're gone. DMX and 2Pac were the meteor moment 90s rap required.

Is it about the bars or about moving the people? Tell us where we got it wrong.

Grown Man Bars — hip hop debate for grown ups. Two Gen X former rappers. No scripts. No safe takes. New episodes every Tuesday.

00:00 The Open

00:27 The Stakes

00:59 The THIS: 2pac

01:50 The This: DMX

03:09 The That: Tupac

04:23 The That: DMX

06:15 The Third: What All This Means

11:18 The Comment of the Week

11:53 The Outro

Kanye West once said Jay Z is the only rapper who can stand on a stage with him.

So we put that claim to the test.

In this episode of Grown Man Bars, Chad and Big Absoloot break down Jay Z vs Kanye West across 9 categories, including:

Arrival, Street Record, Hit Record, Feature Master, Bar Fest, Club Smash, Storytelling, Cultural Impact, and The Modern Test.

No ties. No bias. Just hip hop debate.

Who really wins?

00:00 The Open

00:22 Round 1: The Arrival

02:25 Round Two : The Street Record

04:34 Round Three: The Hit Record

06:51 Round Four: The Feature Master

11:09 Round FIve: The Bar Fest

13:35 Round Six: The Club Smash

16:04 Round Seven: The Story Record

21:50 Round Nine: The Modern Test

In this episode of Grown Man Bars, Chad and Big Absoloot put Slaughterhouse in a Hostage Situation. Joe Budden, Royce da 5'9", Joell Ortiz, and Crooked I all bring elite bars, but only one can survive. Every round, somebody gets cut until one rapper is left standing.

This conversation goes deeper than a basic rap ranking. It becomes a real debate about technical skill, lyricism, storytelling, cadence, personality, replay value, and who actually makes the strongest music. If you’ve ever argued about who the best member of Slaughterhouse was, or whether pure bars are enough to carry a rapper, this episode is for you.

A sharp hip hop debate for fans of Slaughterhouse, Joe Budden, Royce 5'9, Joell Ortiz, Crooked I, Eminem, rap supergroups, lyricism, and barbershop-style rap conversations.

Follow Grown Man Bars for more hip hop debates, rap rankings, lyrical breakdowns, versus episodes, and grown-man rap talk.

00:00 We Open

00:12 Hostage Situation - Slaughterhouse

00:45 Round 1 - Chad

01:49 Round 1 Big Absoloot

02:46 Round 2 Big Absoloot

03:38 Round 2 Chad

06:31 Round 3 Big Absoloot

08:02 Round 3 Chad

09:51 Round 4 The Explanation

11:51 Round 4 Big Absoloot