Which is precisely what the N.W.A. did, and maintained in both their interviews and music. As I said, his lyrical content was largely preceded by the N.W.A., and his style and delivery was heavily borrowed from the Oakland/Bay Area underground scene of the late 1980's. And unfortunately, I cannot comment on why I was "utterly and totally wrong," as you did not address it.
Incorrect, though my focus was admittedly more on style and delivery in this instance. While Tupac, again, largely borrowed from the 'A-A' rhyme scheme with the rhyming word delivered while riding the high-hats and melody, the Notorious B.I.G., pioneered the "triple" and "stutter" styles of delivery. For example:
"from the barre-ta, put-tin all the holes in ya sweat-a,
the money get-ta, motha-fuckas don't have it bett-a"
To say "triple" rhyme scheme means a flow such that each delivery consists of sets of triple-flows, like so: "from the 1. barre 2. ta 3. put 1. tin 2. all the holes 3. in ya 1. sweat 2. a 3." This takes the place of an elongated flow with a rhyming word delivered at the end of the line, on the beat, again pioneered in the Bay Area Scene of the late 1980's.
In contemporary hip hop, the Notorious B.I.G's lasting influence remains on the style, delivery and lyrical content, while Tupac Shakur's impact is little else than cultural nostalgia. it is difficult to find contemporary rappers who do not institute triples in their work while riding the high-hats, and prior to the Notorious B.I.G., that style was not refined nor popularized. For further reference, one can examine the Lords of the Underground for instances of where the Notorious B.I.G., himself borrowed tonality and an imperfect version of this delivery.
Those are the breaks, kidd-o.