Better than Me?

I was watching the movie "Notorious" the day it came out and I remembered a scene where Pac and Big were talking at a pool hall about some kid that Pac met. Pac (the character) stated that the kid came up to him and said that he wanted to grow up to be just like him. Pac then turned around and told Big that he told the kid that he shouldn't grow up to me like him but better than him. Okay pause that scene, let's talk about that for a moment. Granted, Pac was an enigma simply because he was a living contradiction. One moment he's talking about Brenda's Gotta Baby then the next song is I Get Around. However, this is not the first time we've all heard one of our heros in the hip hop game tell us to grow up and be better than them. Now I KNOW he didn't mean lyrically, but meant to become a better person. Here's my thing, if a kid came up to Jim Jones at one of his community service events in Harlem and told Jones that he wanted to grow up to be just like him, I'm pretty sure Jones would say the exact same thing. If they feel as though that the people that they influence the most shouldn't be like them and that they shouldn't act like them or have their tendencies, then why do they continue to act the same. If I felt that I had to tell a kid to not grow up to be like me, to be better themselves, in a sense, then how do I view myself? And that's one thing I think no one is every asking them after the fact. I'm not here to preach because I would tell a kid the same thing in the aspect of lyrically, but I have two degrees, a job, and I grind, so I pretty much would want them to follow the same path. It just always bothered me that artists would tell their young fans this but not with an explanation. So pretty much my Ha-Stylien Emcees, tell ya fans what's really good. If you do tell them to become better than you, atleast give an explanation as to why so they won't feel awkward about it. Also, if you FEEL as though you have to say that, then maybe you need to look yourself in the mirror.

As always

One Luv
&
DEUCE