Just like clockwork, the “who is the greatest” conversation in Rap has reared its ugly head. These conversations often spark varying opinions about what era of Hip Hop is the best and what artists are the greatest to ever pick up a mic, and Rap legend Melle Mel is weighing in regarding the influence of late icons Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. Mel recently sat down with VladTV for an extensive interview and during their chat, the two men engaged in a debate about whether or not certain artists would have been successful during Rap’s infant stages.

Melle Mel, VladTV, Biggie
Pascal Le Segretain / Staff / Getty Images

Vlad argued that Biggie “could have been great in any era” but Mel disagreed. “Saying what he said right now, back then when it ain’t no—it’s only guys that did Rap and Hip Hop and then it’s all the tough guys. You couldn’t say that around them. You couldn’t talk about selling drugs around them. They would probably kill you just on that.”

“If you got on the mic talking about who you gonna kill and it’s only dancers and killer out there, you know, real street guys, and you got on the mic talkin’ about who you gonna kill,” he continued. “And it’s not like you got your little crew and your little entourage and all that. The same guys that’s holding you down is the guys that’s over there.”

Melle Mel explained that the street guys would often intimidate artists with threats of violence if they didn’t get shoutouts on records. “What are these n*ggas gonna do when they do that to them? What are they gon’ do? Except for invent the shoutout like we did.” Mel doubled down that being a tough guy on the mic and rapping about certain subjects was out of the question, no matter who the person was. Check out the clip below and let us know if you agree with him.