Tupac had beef. In fact, he had plenty of it. The man was practically a cattle rancher. Some were resolved prior to his untimely death in 1996, namely with Nas, but most were left raw and open. Recently, new light has been shed on one of those beefs, that of Jay-Z.
Gotti: A Brooklyn tale
The Tupac-Jay-Z beef is a bit of a mess. Conflicts in rap history are layered in second-hand stories, hearsay, and alleged statements. This one is no different, though it has humble origins. As we understand it, Tupac took specific issue with the Jay-Z-Biggie Smalls song “Brooklyn’s Finest”, off of Jay’s debut album Reasonable Doubt. His issue? These lines rapped by Biggie:
That’s it. That’s the catalyst. Could it be that the line was joke on Biggie’s marriage to Faith Evans? Is it possible that it was a joke over the rumors that Evans hooked up with Tupac? Is it just calling Tupac a baby? According to Irv Gotti, it didn’t have to be that way.
https://youtu.be/LosRJmzkbMw
While on Fat Joe’sThe Art of Dialogue podcast, the CEO and co-founder of Murder Inc. Records said that working with Biggie was concerning. Gotti and Jigga wanted to “take over the world”, though starting in the homeland of Brooklyn could be dicey, as Biggie “owns all that”. Also of concern was the chance that Jay might be seen as Big Poppa’s “little man” and not an independent rapper. Nevertheless, it went forward. Biggie and Jay collaborated, and all seemed well. After all, it was just two lines and a little joke.
The Tupac Offensive
Regardless, Tupac took offense, considering the gauntlet to be thrown down. On his 1996 album Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, Jay was in his crosshairs. Tracks like “Bomb First (My Second Reply)” go after Jay, as well throwing some serious shade at Nas, Mobb “Sleep” and the Notorious “P.I.G.”. Shakur attacks Hov throughout the album multiple times with lines like,
“Jay-Z die too!”
Later, the release of Until the End of Time in 2001 featured “F*** Friendz”.
“Understand this: ain’t no n***** like me! F*** Jay-Z! He broke and I smoke dearly.”
According to Gotti, that’s just what Biggie wanted. In fact, Gotti calls him “a mastermind”. In essence, The Notorious B.I.G. pitted Jay-Z against Tupac by way of his own “diss” lines. Tupac and Biggie themselves have a long history of being frenemies, with an ugly beef between them. What’s one more slight?
For all intents and purposes, the Tupac-Z beef could end here. As it stood, Hov included a glancing blow at Tupac by way of Biggie on a track. Pac unleashed some verbal artillery against him. Typical.
Enter Reggie Wright Jr.
The Wright side of history?
Wright could be the subject of his own documentary mini-series. The ex-Compton cop-turned head of Death Row Records security has stories to tell. From being close friends with the infamous Suge Knight, to possibly being implicated in the murders of both Tupac and Biggie, Wright is all over the place. At one point, he even ran Death Row Records. Though some might say he ran it into the ground. Safe to say, the man knows a thing or two.
Appearing on The Art of Dialogue himself just last Wednesday (October 13), Wright shared tale after tale. One of them was on, you guessed it, the Tupac-Jay Z beef.
Wright described Jay-Z as “Biggie’s mouthpiece back then”. In the interview, he seemed to corroborate the story that Biggie used Jay-Z to go after Tupac. “Biggie didn’t wanna go after like Pac like that,” Wright says. “Not sayin’ he couldn’t…Biggie wouldn’t be doin’ that.” Here’s where the story shifts. According to Wright, Jay-Z started the beef by dissing Tupac on stage.
“Jay-Z was the one on stage…Jay-Z just did a concert, and he was talkin’ s*** about Tupac on stage and stuff like that. So, Jay-Z was like the mouthpiece back then.”
Wright went on to claim that Biggie was on stage with Jay for some of it. These disses on stage allegedly took place in 1994, ’95, or even ’96. Evidently, Wright never heard anything from Tupac about these alleged disses. He chalks this up to Jay-Z not being big enough at the time.
And that’s where he leaves it.
Beef eaten?
So where does that leave us? So far as can be discerned, Tupac took offense to Jigga, either by onstage slamming or through a little Biggie line. If Jay was bagging on Tupac in ’94 or ’95, why did Tupac wait until ’96 to retaliate? Did he see Jay as big enough then? Had Tupac had enough? Perhaps Tupac got wind of just how much of a “mouthpiece” Hov was to Biggie.
The release of “Brooklyn’s Finest” in ’96 seems to make the most sense. Reasonable Doubt dropped in June of ’96. Tupac would have gotten the message and worked up his response shortly afterward, as he would be murdered in just over two months.As Gotti said, Biggie threw the line in, Tupac didn’t like it and went after the up-and-comer. On one level or another, it appears to come down to disrespect, real or perceived.
