This Biggie Thing

As a self confessed hip hop addict I have to admit my least favorite topic is "greatest of all time". The competitive nature of the artform makes this a constant source of debate. In the facebook era I have had to cringe each March 9th as folks that know very little about hip hop quote B.I.G. verses and treat him more like Martin or Malcolm. Biggie was an extremely gifted lyricist and his flow can be argued vs. anyone to ever "do it". His body of work as a living artist just does not seem to back up these claims. He made essentially 3 albums if you give him credit for 2 for Life After Death. He appeared as a guest artist on numerous tracks and definitely delivered but how can you compare him to artists that have 10-15 years in. How can you compare 10 Crack Commandments to some of the socially concious music of the mid to late 80's? Are we just desperate to have an answer to the question or are there people that believe Christopher Wallace is really that much better than everyone else?