Rapper Arian Foster faces backlash for saying Tupac's music 'wasn't that deep'

He said people conflate Tupac the person with who he was as an artist

Arian Foster has found himself in the midst of a heated debate online after suggesting that Tupac Shakur’s music “wasn’t that deep.”

Although he's a fan of the iconic rapper, the former NFL player, who also happens to be a rapper himself, made the divisive comments during an appearance on Van Lathan’s The Red Pill podcast.

“Pac is my favourite artist of all time, but to pretend that his music was just out of this world, intellectually deep, is just dishonest. It’s just dishonest,” he told host Lathan.

“He made great music,” he continued, as Lathan expressed his shock and disagreement, “but to pretend it’s as deep as… here’s what you and a lot of Tupac fans do. You conflate the person with who Tupac was as an artist.”

Following his comments, Foster has faced backlash from 2Pac fans, who have defended the American rapper.

“He was ahead of his time. 2Pac rapped about social issues and took political stances then,” one person commented on Instagram.

Another said: “It isn’t about deep, it’s about impact, it’s about the times. It was 1992 to 1996, was Arian even out of diapers yet? Pac was revolutionary that’s why his music is still relevant today, tomorrow and forever, and that’s deep.”

The debate also continued on Twitter, where others expressed their outrage over Foster’s stance.

“This has to be the weakest argument ever! If you’re going to make such an asinine statement, you better have facts backed by information,” someone wrote. “Van turn his mic off.”

However, there are some people who agree with Foster.

One person elaborated on his idea, tweeting: “People confuse introspection with being deep. His music was often introspective but the ideas and concepts were not ‘deep.’ And that’s not a bad thing.”

Foster says Tupac's music wasn't that deep (The Red Pill)

Shakur, who was killed in 1996, was a poet as well as a rapper and is considered by many to be one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time.

Despite his opinions on the depth of Shakur's raps, Foster is still a fan of the late rapper, whom he paid tribute to with the name of his debut album, "Flamingo & Koval," the intersection where Shakur was fatally shot.