Duh.

Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G. went down as some of the best rappers in rap history. Many of you may know, maybe not, the beef between the two which came to incorporate itself into the West and East Coast hip hop industry in the 1990’s.

Big Poppa

Tupac began his career in music as a rebel with a cause to emphasize the injustices African Americans have endured. He inspired many not only African Americans, but he became a spokesperson for everyone who struggled with equality.

Christopher Wallace aka Biggie Smalls was born in 1972. Smalls was also born and raised in New York, just like Tupac, and reinvented East Coast hip hop. He used his voice to address the issues and vulnerability of the hustler lifestyle.

Both of these men grew into talented artists. 2Pac ended up moving out of New York to California and signed with Interscope Records, while Biggie was signed by Puff Daddy’s Bad Boy Records in Manhattan.

California Love

Biggie and Pac met in 1993 at Tupac’s place in Los Angeles after Biggie asked a drug dealer to introduce him to Pac and instantly clicked. Around 1993, Tupac had released one his hit albums 2Pacalypse Now in 1991 and was very well known. After hitting it off, Tupac took Biggie under his wing and treated him like a brother and one of his proteges. While people were pining for Tupac’s attention, he gave all of it to Biggie. He gave Biggie all kinds of advice when it came to life, women, and music. What was surprising was he even opened up to him about his branding strategy: write for women, not men.

Biggie enjoyed Tupac’s coaching and friendship so much, he asked Tupac if he could be his manager. But Tupac kindly declined and told him to stay with Puff Daddy and that he didn’t mix friendship with business. This was the start of a lifelong bromance. Little did they know, this would come to an end sooner than later.

Lil’ Homies (Or not…)

Tupac was involved in rape allegations in 1994 which drained his bank accounts and dented his music career. Throughout this court case, he remained untouchable. During these bumpy times, he was invited to feature on a track for rapper Little Shawn, who was close with Biggie and Puff Daddy. Little Shawn and Tupac were set to meet at Quad Recording Studios but when Tupac arrived, he was greeted by men with guns. He was gunned down and played dead until they left. Wounded, he went up to the upper floor of the studio and saw Puff Daddy and B.I.G. recording in the studio.

From this point out, Tupac began to think it was Biggie who sent those men to gun him down. This was the start of their rivalry. Tupac ended up going to jail for his allegations and Biggie began to grow even bigger as an artist. While Tupac was in jail, Biggie released his hit “Who Shot Ya” in 1995. How ironic.

Hit ‘Em Up

Tupac was released from jail by the end of 1995, when he released the hit “Hit ‘em up”, bashing on Biggie and his frustrations on how he betrayed him. This set the scene of West Coast vs East Coast, and Tupac became the representative for the West side.

On September 7th,1996, in Las Vegas, Tupac was shot during a drive-by shooting. He was shot four times and died from his injuries 6 days later. He died two years after he was first gunned down at Quad. Coincidentally, Biggie was gunned down March 9th, 1997, a couple months later and died due to his injuries.

These two artists will go down as some of the best rappers to have ever lived. It’s crazy how their feud impacted the hip hop/rap industry in the 90s. They both lived very short lives, but their impact on music lives forever.