This is part five of Inside Pulse Music’s groundbreaking 10-part series on the impact and influence of Tupac Shakur.
First off, f*ck your bitch and the click you claim
Westside when we ride come equipped with game
You claim to be a player but I f*cked your wife
We bust on Bad Boy niggaz f*cked for life – 2Pac, from Hit ‘Em Up
It was the Hip Hop equivalent of Hiroshima. On June 4, 1996, Death Row Records dropped the diss track to end all diss tracks. Hit ‘Em Up was included as the “B-Side” to the just released single for How Do U Want It. For anyone who thought that the East/West beef was a creation of the media, just one listen to Pac’s lyrical drive-by proved otherwise.
Plus Puffy tryin to see me weak hearts I rip
Biggie Smalls and Junior M.A.F.I.A. some mark-ass bitches
We keep on comin while we runnin for yo’ jewels
Steady gunnin, keep on bustin at them fools, you know the rules
Beef was nothing new in the rap game. The old school gave us MC Shan vs. BDP, Roxanne Shante. The Real Roxanne and Busy Bee vs. Kool Moe Dee. These battles were kept on wax, while the respective parties never lost sight of the fact that these mic wars were being waged in place of fisticuffs and violence, not in accompaniment.
Lil’ Cease-A, go ask ya homie how I leave ya
Cut your young ass up, leave you in pieces, now be deceased
Lil’ Kim, don’t f*ck around with real G’s
Quick to snatch yo’ ugly ass off the streets, so f*ck peace
There was no turning back from this one. There could be no reconciliation or remorse?Tupac and Death Row Records had brazenly crossed a line that had never been approached, before or since. Listeners, regardless of which side of the beef they supported, devoured the hate-filled anthem. Concurrently, the entire rap community waited for the rebuttal from B.I.G., Puffy and Bad Boy Records.
I let them niggaz know it’s on for life
So let the Westside ride tonight ? ha ha
Bad Boy murdered on wax and killed
Fuck wit’ me and get yo’ caps peeled?
Sure?Mobb Deep and Capone-N-Noreaga represented for the East Coast with their own response tracks, but that wasn’t enough. The streets were literally begging Bad Boy come with something?anything that would show the West were the real hip hop was. Publicly, Biggie Smalls and Puff Daddy weren’t taking the bait. They said all the right things in interviews. They preached peace, they invoked the name of The Lord, hell?they did everything but send flowers and chocolate to the Death Row offices in an effort to bring some sanity back to the scene.
Peep how we do it, keep it real, it’s penitentiary steel
this ain’t no freestyle battle, all you niggaz gettin killed
with ya mouths open
Tryin to come up offa me, you in the clouds hopin?
Like the child who tries and fails to goad his sibling into a fight over something silly like candy or crayons, Tupac briefly moved on to other endeavors. In the summer of ’96, he completed shooting a pair of movies, Gridlock’d and Gang Related. He spent time in Europe (even appearing in a fashion show). And he appeared to be planning for life after Death Row with talks of his own record label and numerous side projects.
Smokin dope it’s like a sherm high niggaz think they learned to fly
But they burn motherf*cker, you deserve to die
Talkin bout you gettin money but it’s funny to me
All you niggaz livin bummy why you f*ckin with me?
But, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Pac was contractually bound to the label for at least one more record (it’s uncertain whether or not Death Row considered the double CD All Eyez On Me as one or two albums). On the heels of Hit ‘Em Up, Pac wrapped up work on his fifth album in mid-August. It would be a return of sorts to the darker, fatalistic artist who painted many of the hopeless pictures on Me Against The World.
A month later Makaveli: The Don Killuminati, The Seven Day Theory became “the realest shit he ever wrote”.
On September 13, 1996, Tupac Shakur succumbed to wounds sustained in a still unsolved shooting just off the Las Vegas strip. The events leading up to and immediately after the gunfire could’ve come directly from the Death Row Records catalog. Suspected gang members, a public beatdown in a hotel lobby, flying bullets and getaway cars.
That part of the story has been told a thousand times, so there’s no need to rehash it here. The almost prophetic video for I Ain’t Mad At’cha debuted immediately following the flatline reading. And the Hip Hop Nation, which had been so wildly divided in their opinions of Tupac, had inexplicably come together in support of the man who seven days earlier many of them were condemning.
The Makaveli album was released on November 5, 1996.
Bomb First ? My Second Reply – An absolutely explosive intro that Pac ignites with the fury that epitomized his last year on earth. He’s at the peak of his Death Row bluster on this one, as he reiterates who his primary targets are and pulls no punches. Even The Outlawz (E.D.I. and Young Noble) bring their A-game, backing up their general’s rancor with some of their own.
Bye bye bye, let’s get high and ride
Oh, how do we do these niggaz but I’m not gon’ cry
I’m a Bad Boy killa, Jay-Z die too
Lookin out for Mobb Deep, nigga when I find you
Weak motherf*ckers don’t deserve to breathe
How many niggaz down to die for me?
Hail Mary – One of Tupac’s most fascinating cuts, this is a haunting depiction of how far a man can fall into the “thug” lifestyle. The message is layered over lyrics that invoke the church, along with the inherent conflict between the two worlds. The beat is laced with the ominous clang of tower bells and, again, the Outlawz and the late Prince Ital Joe provide solid additional work.
Hail Mary catch me if I go
let’s go deep inside the solitary mind of a madman who screams
in the dark Evil lurks, enemies, see me flee
Toss It Up – This is a decent freak-fest from Shakur, but with the decision to include K-Ci and Jojo, it really doesn’t sound all that different, thematically, from How Do U Want It. The real story with this cut is the beat, which was infamously lifted from Teddy Riley and the first album shots at Dr. Dre, who had left the label a few months earlier.
Still down for that Death Row sound, searchin for paydays
No longer Dre Day, arrivederci
Gone and forgotten, rotten for plottin Child’s Play
Check your sexuality, as fruity as this Alize
Quick to jump ship, punk trick, what a dumb move
Cross Death Row, now who you gon’ run to?
To Live & Die In L.A. – This was the second single and biggest hit from this album. It shows Tupac at his most sincere and heartfelt and it’s not surprising that this is the image that many wished would have been the last one left with us. It’s a love letter to Los Angeles and the diverse cultures, locales and emotions that bring us all together. Great stuff and Val Young on the hook is a perfect fit.
It wouldn’t be LA without Mexicans
Black love, brown pride and the sets again
Pete Wilson tryin to see us all broke, up on some bullshit
Out for everything they owe, remember K-DAY ?
Blasphemy – Another very strong track, as Tupac juxtaposes life on the streets with The Scripture and the results are exceptional. The scratchy, island hook lent by Prince Ital is a good sound on this cut. Like much of this album, the beat is understated and reserved. The subject matter here is very reminiscent of Nas’ current work.
We probably in Hell already, our dumb asses not knowin
Everybody kissin ass to go to heaven ain’t goin
Life of An Outlaw – Yet another in a long list of generic, kill-our-enemies collabos that Tupac and The Outlawz put together. There’s nothing here lyrically or production-wise that you didn’t hear on earlier tracks like Tradin’ War Stories or When We Ride. Even Tupac seems to mail it in on this one.
Merciless madman screamin kamikaze in tongue.
Automatic gunfire makin all my enemies run.
Just Like Daddy – 2Pac & The Outlawz?on a rappin’ love song. The results are about what you’d expect, as this theme does not hold up well seven years later. The Outlawz weren’t completely untalented, but this type of concept was light years out of their range of competency.
To alleviate the stress, spendin time wit you, I feel blessed
When you gone, feel the pain so strong, deep in my chest
Krazy – A quietly intense track that does an effective job of laying out the last year of Shakur’s life and the difficulty in keeping his sanity through it all. The beat is a little on the plodding side and Bad Azz doesn’t bring much in a third verse cameo, but these are minor negatives that do not bring down the strength of this cut.
Last year was a hard one, but life goes on
Hold my head against the wall learnin right from wrong
They say my ghetto instrumental, detrimental to kids
As if they can’t see the misery in which they live
White Man’z World – A song that seems to be all over the map, it’s primarily another tribute to the Black woman. The title of this one is incorporated into the hook, but it’s not explored deep enough to make it anything more than a tired cliché® However, at the very end, Tupac encourages African-Americans to cease blaming others for the problems of their communities and look within themselves to solve them. A snippet of Malcolm X can be heard as the beat fades out.
In time I learned a few lessons, never fall for riches
Apologies to my TRUE sisters; far from bitches
Help me raise my black nation reparations are due, it’s true
Caught up in this world I took advantage of you
Me & My Girlfriend – This might be one of Shakur’s most underrated tracks. It’s raw and abrasive, but the tempo is picked up from the last few cuts. His intimate relationship with his gun is laid out with wry sexual innuendo and over-the-top images. The beat fits like a glove, with the only complaint being the nonsensical inclusion of the female “voiceover/gunshots” between verses.
I love finger f*ckin you, all of a sudden I’m hearin thunder
When you bust a nut, niggaz be duckin or takin numbers
Love to watch you at a block party, beggin for drama
While unleashin on the old timers, that’s on my momma
Hold Ya Head – A decent effort that follows the format of his smash-hit Keep Ya Head Up, this one’s a little edgier with a broader focus. The beat flows to a nice build with drums and keys as Tupac works to lift the spirits of those who are trapped in the game, as well as a list of political prisoners that he mentions by name.
Meet me at the cemetery dressed in black
Tonight we honor the dead, those who won’t be back
So if I die, do the same for me, shed no tears
An Outlaw, thug livin in this game for years
Against All Odds – A curious concept that seems to imply that the “war” between Tupac and the East Coast had just begun. It’s unforgiving in the foes it targets as everyone from Dr. Dre to Nas to Puffy are all in the crosshairs. Shakur revisits his 1994 shooting and assures his enemies that he will not stop until he’s ran them all out of the game.
Probably be murdered for the shit that I said
Tupac Shakur’s death came at a time when the state of commercial music was wandering and uncertain. The Fugees and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony had some of the biggest hits of the year, but the two acts couldn’t have been more different. Raunchy female MCs like Foxy Brown and Lil’ Kim released their debut albums in an effort to take the industry down a different road. Jay-Z dropped Reasonable Doubt and even a bubble-gum act like Skee-Lo took his “mini-me Young MC” act to the mainstream with a hit single.
This musical confluence of talent and styles turned out to be a welcome distraction for those of us who realized that this long, sordid “feud” between the two coasts of our country had been boiled down to two companies. The one out west that continued to poke and prod and agitate their enemy and the one back east that would not fire back.
Now it’s all about Versace, you copied my style
Five shots couldn’t drop me, I took it and smiled
Now I’m bout to set the record straight, with my AK
I’m still the thug that you love to hate
This entire insipid beef was rooted in jealousy, ignorance and insecurity. While Shakur’s death was most certainly not a product of the bi-coastal battle, the six months that followed his passing were filled with dread and paranoia by nearly every rapper in the industry. Non-threatening acts like Warren G. and Coolio took to wearing bulletproof vests during live performances as fans mourned Tupac’s passing while morbidly waiting to see who would be next.
A few months later, old wounds were re-opened as Ice Cube, WC and Mack 10 dropped an album under the Westside Connection banner. It’s themes of California domination already seemed dated, but the fans swarmed to their record stores to buy it. The album would go on to sell over two million copies.
Tupac would continue to speak from beyond the grave with the January 1997 release of the independent movie Gridlock’d and the accompanying soundtrack that would debut at #1 and reach double-platinum in sales. Never mind that the only Pac tracks on it were a studio outtake with Snoop Dogg and some leftovers from All Eyez On Me.
The eyes of the rap world would be on Christopher (The Notorious B.I.G.) Wallace as he made his way to Southern California to promote his new double CD, Life After Death. The negative response out here indicated that a large segment of fans were still fighting a war that was thought to have been over.
And then it was.
On March 9, 1997, The Notorious B.I.G. was murdered in nearly identical fashion as Shakur. Two friends?two enemies?two voices silent forever.
Now, you tell me who won? – 2Pac, from Hit ‘Em Up?
Next, in Part VI of Countdown to Resurrection, we examine the effects that Tupac’s posthumous releases have had on his legacy, with a look at every album dropped since his death and the previously untold stories behind each one.
