Hit 'Em Up*
Tupac was together with Notorious B.I.G the faces of the West Coast vs. East Coast conflict/war, and you can say that it died with them too. It was all about dissing each other but not on the your-mama-is-phat level, here the otherwise famous respect among rappers was gone and both vocals and gunshots were exchanged. In Tupac’s last single "Hit 'Em Up" you get a feeling of how serious the conflict was and how betrayed Tupac felt, and in this song he attacks everyone that have something to do with Biggie or that have said something about the conflict, which according to Tupac was personal from the beginning. Underneath are some lines taken from the song:
"You claim to be a player but I fucked your wife"
"Who shot me,
but ya punks didnt finish
Now ya bout feel the wrath of a menace
NIGGA, I hit 'em up..."
"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 you love to hate"
The longer the song continues the more you get a feeling of Tupac’s hate and his wrath, and at the final part of the song Tupac sings/screams "Fuck Mobb Deep, Fuck Biggie, Fuck Bad Boy as a staff record label and as a motherfuckin crew, And if you wanna be down with Bad Boy, then fuck you too, Chino XL fuck you too, All you motherfuckers fuck you too".
Tupac blamed Notorious B.I.G for leaving him and that he was copying Tupac’s style, which also can be found in the song;
"Youse a, beat biter,
a Pac style taker
I'll tell you to ya face you aint shit but a faker"
Tupac and Biggie was from the beginning friends after that Tupac had found Biggie and let him stay at his home and helped him with his singing and his music and he even let Biggie come up on the stage in his concerts so that he could perform, "Biggie, remember when I used to let you sleep on my couch and beg the bitch to let you sleep in the house. Now it’s all about Versacci, you copied my style".
The conflict between Tupac and Notorious B.I.G and Puff Daddy got even bigger when it came out that Biggie and Puffy knew what was happening when Tupac got shot in 1995 and they acted like they didn’t know anything, but Tupac found out in jail who shot him and that the person came from Biggies neighborhood. The fact that Biggie acted like he was supporting Tupac when he was in jail but never visited him made Tupac upset.
The conflict got bigger and bigger with the time and everyone that opened their mouth became a part of it. If you want to read more about Tupac's enemies press the link, Tupac's Rivals (The link is not my page. I think the comments on his page are good enough. No need to copy)
It's pretty strange that two, from the beginning, buddies turns against each other and start singing about the others death. I've never seen or heard any comments from Biggie about his friendship with Tupac, so I've only seen the conflict from Tupac's eyes. Tupac from the east coast and Biggie from the west coast, change sides and turns in to the biggest spokesmen’s for their "new" side. Had it to do with money? Maybe from the beginning, but according to me they could have made the same money, or more, at the same record company so I don't think that. But at the same time they sold a lot of records on their West vs. East fights.
To view the full text to Hit
'Em Up, press here
Written by skickad@hotmail.com
* Hit 'Em Up featuring the Outlaws. Written by T. Shakur, D.
Hitchings, F. Golde, D. Lambert. Death Row Records