BEEF VS BATTLE
Did flame wars between hip hop artists and fans lead to the murder of both Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur?
LOS ANGELES, CA
Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls first encountered each other in 1993, in Los Angeles. Biggie was coming from his base in Brooklyn and asked to be introduced to Tupac, who invited Biggie and his party to his house. Intern Dan Smalls shares that moment:
“We were drinking and smoking and all of a sudden 'Pac was like, 'Yo, come get it.' And we go into the kitchen and he had steaks, and French fries, and bread, and Kool‑Aid and we just sittin' there eating and drinking and laughing. And you know, that's truly where Big and 'Pac's friendship started."
Tupac was already a platinum‑selling rapper and movie star, and so he acted as a mentor at first. Biggie and other young rappers assembled in recording studios or hotel rooms to hear Tupac lecture about how to make it as a young rapper. When Biggie felt things weren't happening for him quickly enough, he asked Tupac to take over as his manager. Tupac declined saying, "Nah, stay with Puff. He will make you a star."
As years passed Biggie’s star began to rise as well and the two became synonymous with the East Coast and West Coast hip hop scenes. Flame wars between the two coasts were common in stage battles, album lyrics, and interviews between many artists of the time. Tupac and Biggie also had incidents of violence - Biggie alleged beat up fans and Tupac shooting up a car. Their shows and entourage always included bodyguards and security details for protection.
In 1994 Tupac was robbed and shot five times in the lobby of Quad Recording Studios in Manhattan. Tupac accused Biggie and his manager Sean Combs of setting up the attack. When Biggie's entourage went downstairs to check on the incident, Shakur was being taken out on a stretcher, giving the finger. Later evidence didn’t implicate Biggie but the beef between East Coast and West Coast rappers had just heated up.
In June 1996, Tupac released a diss track “Hit ‘Em Up” where he claimed to have had sex with Faith Evans (who was estranged from Biggie at the time) and that Biggie had copied his style and image. Biggie rapped back, "If Faye have twins, she'd probably have two 'Pacs. Get it? 2Pac's?" but never directly responded to the Tupac’s accusation, saying it was "not [his] style" to respond.
Just a few months later, Tupac was fatally shot on September 1996, in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada while stopped at a red light. He was struck by four .40 caliber rounds, two in the chest, one in the arm, and one in the thigh. He died from his wounds six days later. He was 25 years old.
Six months later, Biggie was fatally shot in March 1997 in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles. Just like Tupac no one was ever formally charged for the murder, and the case remains officially unsolved. The drive by murders of Biggie and Tupac were publicized as part of the East Coast–West Coast hip hop feud. Other theories have included the Southside Crips acting on a personal financial motive, to Suge Knight, co-founder of Death Row Records conspiring with corrupt LAPD.
The deaths of these two artists begs the question: Who benefits from rivalry?
- Lucas Spivey, October 1, 2019
DOCU-SHORT #1
DOCU-SHORT #2
DISCUSSION
In rap, there’s an element of “battle” between lyrical skills, but the winner is not the more skilled rapper per se, but very often the rapper who innovates and says or does something that the audience has never seen or didn’t see coming. In this way battles are a healthy competition that inspires innovation. Beefs are public rivalries where it’s gotten personal and no longer productive.
Too $hort says that beef is accepted, natural, and “just a part of hip hop like it is in real life” (0:30). Competition may be a fact of life when there are limited resources or if you measure your success in relation to others (such as number of fans, income, awards, etc). Yet, artists, designers, writers, performers, makers and other creators have few true competitors if their success lies in innovation, in doing something no one has ever done before.
What’s healthy competition (battle) in your industry? What’s unhealthy (beef)?
If you dis a rapper from a city like NYC or LA it can be construed as dissing that city, because as LV said “It felt like you dissed my friend… He dissed the whole coast." Although LV later says he was “just being young and stupid”, his story shows that fans will root for you and maybe even desire you to enter a conflict on their behalf. And if you have a targeted audience, there will be a relevant issue that impacts them. As Mila J says, “I’m gonna talk about this and I guarantee I’ll get a reaction.”
Does your audience want you to pick a fight? Who or what would it be against?
Tupac and Biggie could have been living leaders for future generations we lost them because they were caught up in public feuding between coasts. Tokyo Jetz says “I’m not going to erase everything I've built for someone who doesn't know me. And somebody who won’t care if I die. Or take care of my family." (8:55) Too $hort echoes her, saying "Let's not destroy both our hustles... that to me is not hip-hop."
Many of the interviewees advocate for making peace privately rather than publicly beefing, yet there’s disagreement on when and how to respond publicly. Ayo & Teo disagree on when and how to respond to conflict - “You have to respond…” “No you don’t have to respond.” - and Tokyo Jetz says “The streets are waiting on you to respond.“ To not respond could mean a fanbase is laughing at your expense. Yet you can also laugh at those who ridicule you. As WAV3POP says “We laugh at people who try to have beef with us, because we’re focused on our music”. (6:20)
How will you respond to public ridicule or beef?