Over a table stocked with Cîroc and an aura of blunt smoke, Diddy dropped a bombshell revelation regarding Suge Knight’s infamous 1995 Source Awards speech, which many pinpoint to be the breaking point of the East Coast/West Coast beef that ultimately claimed the lives of Tupac and Biggie.
The former Death Row CEO, who is currently awaiting his day in court on a murder trial, allegedly didn’t own up to calling out his NYC rival when he stepped to him at the show’s official afterparty at the once prominent Hip Hop hotspot, The Tunnel.
Noreaga and DJ EFN’s highly entertaining Drink Champs podcast is now aligned with REVOLT TV and the Bad Boy Records mogul recently joined the fray to reminisce about the good ‘ol days and claimed prior to that controversial moment in Hip Hop history, the two music moguls were “friends.”
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“He would pick me up from the [LAX] airport … the whole entire thing,” Puff said, astonishing both EFN and N.O.R.E. “I was just networking with the brother. He would come pick me up from the airport; show me a lot of love. I had really thought we were cool — cool acquaintances. Just being respectful from people coming into other cities and stuff. So when he said that, I was like “Whoa. I know where that’s coming from. Are they crazy? I could blow this ‘thing’ up right now.'”
“Any artist out there that wanna be an artist, stay a star, and won’t have to worry about the executive producer trying to be all in the videos, all on the records, dancing … come to Death Row!” — Suge Knight
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Everybody inside Madison Square Garden’s Paramount Theater knew Suge was talking about Puff Daddy and the Family. To this day everybody knows Suge was talking about Puff Daddy and the Family. But according to Puff’s account, the embattled label boss uttered a completely different name when he was asked about the ruckus he brought.
“So when I ran up and asked [Suge], he said, ‘Nah, I was talking about Jermaine Dupri,'” Puff recalled, smelling the lie. “At that point, I was scared because I know the wolves that was with me … they was like real-life wolves. And I from Harlem. I don’t want no violence … no danger … none of that shit. So I really put it in my head that it gave me reason for my ego to walk away.”
Circa 1995, JD’s So So Def was a successful imprint in its own right and while he did indeed share a lot of shine with the artists on his roster, it was So So Def that went on to beef with half of Los Angeles’ rap pulse.
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The Source Awards scene was set for drama and the New York audience was looking for blood. Outkast had been booed for their Best New Artist win and there was a sense of eagerness to wreck shop once The Notorious B.I.G. graced the stage for his Best Album win for Ready to Die. Realizing the power he had (and knowing the odds were heavily stacked in his favor), Diddy says he ultimately decided not to act recklessly because business trumps beef any day of the week for him.
“I think it would have been worse,” Diddy replied, when questioned whether or not him turning up on Suge would have yielded different results. “It was a decision that the city was waiting for me to make. They let me know they was with me. You already have to be yourself. Some people are gangstas at the end of the day that could be like ‘fuck it’ and just turn it up and some people have a level of conscience because of their relationship with God. And so me knowing I could do mass destruction wasn’t something that was authentic to me. That wasn’t who I was. I just wanted everybody to get money, be fly and dance. Have pretty girls and smiling and get treated with respect. So my thing wasn’t there, know what I’m saying?”
We think we do, Puff.
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Watch the video up above.
