Free Suge. . .
Over the last month, we’ve been sharing some stories from the archives, including some never-before-heard stories surrounding 2pac from 1996. This includes an alleged eye-raising situation with JAY-Z, Biggie almost signing to Thug Life and the DMX rift with Tupac.
This time, we examine the events that led to Biggie changing Bad Boy Record to plan a battle with 2pac and Death Row. Dating back to a few weeks 2pac got out of prison, he already joined Death Row Records and was still quiet with issues pertaining to Biggie and Puffy.
While feeling betrayed, he closed his inner circle to his peers from New Jersey, Death Row Records and his hometown of Oakland. Biggie was anticipating 2pac to fire off a slew of diss tracks and had to make the bold decision of getting rid of Junior Mafia from Bad Boy Records.
Due to The Outlawz, who at the time, were some of the most feared lyricist, BIG incorporated the LOX into the fold, who were hungry at the time. Ma$e, who was at odds with Biggie during his time on Bad Boy, didn’t plan on jumping into the feud, since he wasn’t from Frank White’s borough.
The entire war would’ve been 2pac and The Outlawz vs. The Notorious B.I.G. and the LOX. Biggie had recorded multiple response tracks to 2pac, which were later save for his final album, Life after Death.
Puffy was smart enough to hold off on releasing any street material, but did allow a few shots to be fired on “Brooklyn’s Finest.” Bad Boy’s original intentions were to keep things on wax, and expected a real rap battle.
However, once 2pac’s “Hit Em’ Up” released, that ended any plans of a battle and Biggie shut the entire thing down. The disrespectful lines and 2pac making it personal, erased memory from both sides, as they planned on seeing each other to talk things out or go elsewhere.
Biggie was adamant in telling The LOX that if they made a track dissing Makaveli, then he wouldn’t fuck with them anymore. He just didn’t want his name associated with the severity for what he expected to happen on a street level. In a sense, as we’re typing this, it feels like Biggie knew the two would both be dead after the track was made.
Stay tuned next year for more stories from 2pac you’ve never seen online. This was just an introduction.