Tupac Shakur delivered arguably the hardest diss track in Hip Hop history when he dropped the 1996 single “Hit Em Up” in response to The Notorious B.I.G. single “Who Shot Ya,” which ‘Pac assumed was about him. Although Biggie denied the song was about ‘Pac’s Quad Studios shooting, he felt forced to retaliate after 2Pac annihilated him on the Outlawz-featured diss.
Biggie tossed a few lightweight jabs at him on the JAY-Z single “Brooklyn’s Finest” but left it at that. But according to Lil Cease, Biggie wanted Nas to do the heavy lifting on the J Dilla-produced track “The Ugliest” featuring Busta Rhymes – it just never worked out. In a recent interview with The Art of Dialogue, Cease spoke at length about the situation.
“Big wasn’t gon put forth a full effort into a whole full song dissing 2Pac…Big was kinda more like just sprinkling on it,” Lil Cease said. “On the JAY-Z record [‘Brooklyn’s Finest’], ‘Faith had twins, she probably had two Pacs. Get it?’ He was kinda like, ‘Yeah I’m letting you know I’m aware of it, but I’ma have fun with it and I’m not gonna say too much,’ ’cause Big didn’t really want to make it that. He didn’t want to add to much fuel to it.
“That wasn’t Big’s energy, but he would definitely tap into some lines sometimes just to let him know like, I hear you. And if it comes down to just a rap battle and things like that, Big was all up for it.”
Lil Cease added Biggie never wanted any drama but was always down for a battle, saying “Big was a lyricist in real life.” As for “The Ugliest,” Cease noted Big never said 2Pac’s name and opted to throw a few subs his way instead.
“He just said a few lines,” he continued. “He never said 2Pac’s name in the song if you listen to it. The song is out. He said one line. He said, ‘And the winner is/Not that thinner kid/Bandanas, tattoos/My fist never bruised/Land still cruise, Frank White paid his dues.’ So he said that line where if you was thinking about it, you would know who he’s talking about, but he never said 2Pac’s name.
Ex-Murder Inc. Rapper Charli Baltimore Recalls Biggie’s 1st Reaction To 2Pac’s Diss ‘Hit Em Up’
“And I don’t put disses like that. It’s not a diss if you don’t say their name. If you’re just throwing subliminals, that’s only for that man to hear and figure out ’cause you’re gonna say something that only he would understand like, ‘OK, he’s talking about me.’ Big didn’t say his name … It was for Busta Rhymes’ [album] at that. The song never came out — supposed to been Busta Rhymes, Nas and Big. It was produced by Q-Tip, but everybody never did their verse after Big did his. Nobody laid they verse on it, so the song kinda just pushed away. ”
In a September 2021 interview with The Art of Dialogue, former Murder Inc. artist and Biggie’s ex-girlfriend Charli Baltimore recalled being present the first time Biggie heard “Hit ‘Em Up.”
“It was somebody’s video shoot,” she said. “I don’t remember whose. Puff was there, and I just remember Puff coming out. I think we pulled up, Puff came out. He was like real somber looking and he was like, ‘Yo! I gotta play you this record.’ And that’s the first time we heard ‘Hit ‘Em Up.’ The whole mood just changed. A video shoot is supposed to be upbeat, happy, whatever and Big is like, ‘Are you fucking serious right now? Serious? This is what we’re doing right now?’ It was just shock. It was just crazy.”
Of course, 2Pac and Nas had their own rift back in the day, and ‘Pac ended up taking a few swipes at the Illmatic mastermind on The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory cuts “Bomb First” and “Against All Odds” as well.
Revisit ‘Hit Em Up’ below.
There would’ve been 4 dead rappers instead of just 2 if that happened. That East Vs West Coast Beef was pretty deep back then. They both knew too stay out it. Wasn’t worth it.
Not really…let’s not 4get we learned of an unreleased Pac diss from Nas just last year…
And that sh* t was wack a AF. He would’ve gotten destroyed if he put that out. He was smart not to. I give him all the credit in the world but even he could see the long game of that if he did.
You’re on drugs if you think Tupac can battle Nas on any lyrical level get the fuck out of here clown
Facts, Pac would never beat Nas in a battle, he’s way too lyrical for pac.
I love Nas, but Nas didn’t want it. New York nerds would have been lecturing all of us how Pac wasn’t lyrical while everybody else would have been bumping his diss at the club. Other rappers couldn’t breathe when dude was alive. I’ve never seen anything like it before or since. All Eyez on Me was the right name for that album. There’s a reason Bad Boy tried to take the victory lap six months after he got killed,, which of course was a huge mistake.
You sound like a sad muppet , if Nas didn’t want it how come Nas confronted him in New York hahaha dude shut up and say what u know , Nas would have ended his behind and he was a Nas fan lol ?? and Eric b was the reason Nas was chilled about it because he was begging Nas to chill , Pac shouldn’t have apologized to Nas he would have gotting his ass whooped as always , Nas is more and far better than your dick ridding pac
You sound like a sad muppet , if Nas didn’t want it how come Nas confronted him in New York hahaha dude shut up and say what u know , Nas would have ended his behind and he was a Nas fan lol ?? and Eric b was the reason Nas was chilled about it because he was begging Nas to chill , Pac shouldn’t have apologized to Nas he would have gotting his ass whooped as always , Nas is more and far better than your dick ridding pac , the question is where is Pac and where is Nas today ?
Whats up with u sad assholes going on about nas and pac everyone has got a story oh pac begged for his life oh pac was going at nas oh snoop said this just shut the fuck up please 100 stories out there about nas and pac but nobody knows what happened but everyone comments lol stol talking shit and listen to MARSHALL BRUCE MATHERS yeah he is white so what
In your dreams , Nas would wash pack like a child , stop hoping , because Nas is really going too and Nas was ready for anything ,when Nas confronted ur pac why did he beg for his life
Yeah, you can’t give all glory to battle rapping, either. There are other types of rap that are really good. Tupac was in a lane of his own and Nas couldn’t compete with him in that lane, either. Just my 2 pesos.
Now y’all see powerful Nas is? I rest my case.
*snicker* yeah..ok.. Nas was real intimidating back then alright. Your case is worthless. Get Out of Here.
Find this hard to believe since I know who Kick in the Door was for…
If he were alive today Big woulda wanted Jay n Tekashi to get at Pac. All kings from Brooklyn. How great would that have been!
The Kings from LA had already mashed Biggie’s ass and the damage was done. Jay was just beginning his career and even after all this time, he is no Tupac. People buy his s** because there is no other s*** to buy. Hip hop music is horrible now and has been for a long time. If Jay stepped up to the plate at that time, Pac should have mashed his ass. Instead, Jay took a jab at Pac after he died on Biggie’s final album… “Same night, same fight but one of us cats wasn’t playing right)..” he is want for taking a stab at someone who was dead, especially Tupac. Pac was the king of Hip Hop (and still is) and people would have followed Pac. They wouldn’t have followed some wack ass East Coast artists like LL Cool j dancing in silver suits!! Pac had already f***** up East Coast music sales nobody would have cared about what Jay Z had to say. He was not even part of Pac’s beef with Biggie, but wanted to take part in hype so he can make a name for himself.
Pathetic.
Obviously you’re from the east coast and I’m from the West Coast. Leaving that aside, just look at album sales from that time. That tells the whole story of which side was truly the king of hip Hop. Who sold the most records from 1990 to 1996. West Coast hands down!! There were many hit West Coast artists selling millions of albums.. however, Death Row records sold more albums during that time frame then all East Coast artists’ album sales combined. Now you tell me which side was the king.
As far as kings.. which side had the
king and greatest producer of all time(Dr. DRE)? The West Coast. He made the best nests for death row and other west coast artists during that time frame
After Dre left Death Tow Records, he threw a couple bones to East Coast artists making them hits.
Today? He is still on the west coast and makes West Coast beats for all the best artists. More support that the West Coast was and always has been King!!
J Dilla was most likely pissed off that Pac’s producer for Do For Love jacked his beat for Dilla’s remix of the Pharcyde’s “Y?”.
Pac did that song in like 93 originally. It’s not his song either. It’s a Bobby Caldwell sample. Ignorant people have to stop claiming real songs for rappers when they’re all sampling old music.
Lyrically Pac is weak. “Who Shot Ya” murdered this dance song.
Wow that’s dumb as fuck of you to say pac killing biggie easily
And is that why “Hit em up” is considered the best diss record of all time to this day and it came out almost 30 years ago. Now it’s starting to make sense why Biggie took some shots at Nas.
Now you sound so sad , pack was wack and weak and no wonder Nas almost killed him in New York and he beggedd like a child , Nas is replied biggie and put him in his place , so why are you sad?hit em up is not considered as the best but best as trash
That’s some funny shit. Were you one of the only 100 people listening to that song on the street corner? On the other hand, hit him up made of waves through the hip-hop community, getting radio play and even a music video. I don’t remember Who Shot Ya getting any radio play because nobody cared about biggie or what he had to say.. Biggie was far inferior to Tupac and copied and chased after Pac’s style his whole career. Biggie dropped that song after Pac got shot, while he was dealing with serious legal issues, in the middle of Pac recording 500 unreleased songs in less than a year, starring in movies, many music videos all after being in jail with creative mentality. Biggie got shot karma rolled over and died. He never left any type of legacy or unreleased hits. He was not as passionate as Pac and couldn’t record seven songs in one day on the first take like Pac.
Haven’t you heard Biggie’s albums, which sound like West Coast albums? Ever wonder where he got that style from especially after Tupac took him under his wing? He never stuck to the hardcore New York lyrical theme because he looked up to Pac and Pac let him get on stage so people could here Biggie’s music.
Don’t get me wrong, Biggie was an amazing hip hop artist with amazing lyricism. Was he a Tupac Shaker? Never!!
Seems to me Biggie was scared to diss Pac. I hate subliminal disses. If your going to diss someone call out there name. Otherwise your just scared. Everyone claims Pac wasn’t lyrical. 2 Pac was and is the best rapper of all time. Say what you want but at that time everyone was scared of Death Row. Long live Makaveli!!!!!!!
Nobody says that except New York dickriders and contrarians. Pac’s music still sounds good 25 years later. I always said it, he’s the only rapper who gave me soul rap music, timeless shit like Marvin Gaye or Al Green or some shit.
Because new yorkers knows what is real and pack was trash and remains trash , and people like you are the reason why hip hop is the way it is not , pac dick riders , pac was wack still wack asf
Keep telling yourself that. I like New York rappers too, so I guess I don’t know what’s real. Pac just made better music than anybody else who ever picked up a mike.
You need to think deeper than that. Pac was on top of the rap games throughout the 90’s, a movie star and poet. Pac really blew up at the end releasing All Eyes on Me, hands down the best hip hop album of all time. Biggie jocked his style with each subsequent album Pac released. You can listen to all of Eyes On Me all day long even after all these years and feel the passion and lyricism Pac. Biggie owes his career to Tupac and copied his style for years, album after album. He would never have been known if it wasn’t for Thug Life
Opinions aside, Tupac made almost 500 unreleased songs in less than a year which were released after he got shot and Pac fought for a week for his life after getting shot. Biggie got shot, rolled over and died in the vehicle while only having a handful of unreleased material and a couple freestyles you can find on YouTube. Does a Lyricist have 6 or 500 unreleased songs made in less than a year? Plus, biggie was never in jail and had all the time in the world to write songs. Biggie’s unreleased songs are just leftover songs which probabl did not meet the cut for his last album. Pac was in jail and made all those unreleased songs in a short period of time, which shows his creativity and lyricism.
The facts are the facts and Tupac was the best lyricist or he wouldn’t have had the creativity to make 500 unreleased songs. Also remember, Park made songs on his first attempt. He never would go back and redo versus or lyrics. He was on it and done doing five to seven songs per day. Biggie had some hits jocking Tupac’s style, are a lot of food and died leaving no legacy behind and without contributing to the community.
Case closed
Damn i couldnt have said it any better myself 100% facts
Stop crying like a bitch. You’ve never been able 2 fuck wit the West Coast….that’s why they name stay up in yo mouth. It’s hilarious how obsessed some of these boring lil ny dudes are wit Cali (“please please lemme be part of your gang!” Lol)…while Cali just keeps it pushin’ & ain’t even thinkin bout what u dudes doing…other than using u fkn wannabes to push their gang brand Lol!
It sucks we lost both of em, I enjoyed both of their stuff.
Pac made good to great music but lyrically he can’t see Nas or Big in my opinion.
Your opinion don’t count or matter, PAC would he then
Your opinion don’t count or matter, PAC would he then
I was listening to a Pac feature today from 95. You know what? Shit still sounds good. It makes me wonder what all of you parrots are always talking about with lyrics when I could quote those word for word, and I haven’t heard that song in years. If people remember your shit and bob their heads, you’re a good lyricist.
Biggie will always be superior
THIS IS COMPLETELY FALSE. JUST REMEMBER LITTLE CEASER IS A HUMAN BEING THAT IS CAPABLE HAVING POOR MEMORY.
He didn’t want to tap into it, but he made a whole song about it, subliminally of course, six months after he died and freestyled it on the radio in LA. Keep trying to paint that innocent picture of B.I.G. though.
To bad Nas was already setting frank up in his disses