East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry
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The East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry, probably the most famous rap feud of recent times, was the early to mid-1990s rivalry between the East Coast's Bad Boy Records and the West Coast's Death Row Records.
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[edit] Background
Hip hop had originated in the streets of New York City, and the city remained rap's foremost musical scene until the early 1990s. During this time, acts such as N.W.A. and The D.O.C. began garnering attention for the West Coast. In 1992, former N.W.A.-head Dr. Dre's The Chronic became one of the biggest-selling hip hop albums in history, followed shortly by Snoop Doggy Dogg's debut album Doggystyle in 1993.
Dre was then on Death Row Records, headed by Suge Knight, and the label built up a roster of high-profile acts such as Tha Dogg Pound as well as Snoop and Dre that reigned on the charts. Los Angeles began to rival New York as hip hop's center of attention; this had already, and somewhat inevitably, created a tension between certain industry heavyweights on both coasts, each hungry for control of an increasingly lucrative market. Signs of the tension first appeared when East Coast rapper Tim Dog released the diss track "Fuck Compton." "Fuck Compton" was a huge underground hit and caused ripwaves in the hip hop scene at the time; it was aimed at N.W.A., and made explicit that Tim Dog was "cool with Ice-T" - another LA rapper. However, it enraged many rappers hailing from Compton and the Los Angeles area, sparking a flurry of retaliatory disses from; Compton's Most Wanted, who dissed him on "Who's Fucking Who" and DJ Quik, who dissed him on "The Last Word" and "Way 2 Fonky". Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg also dissed Tim Dog the track "Dre Day" and the skit "The $20 Sack Pyramid".
[edit] The Rivalry
[edit] 2Pac vs. The Notorious B.I.G.
In 1994, two young rappers were garnering much attention: Tupac "2Pac" Shakur and his close friend The Notorious B.I.G., both anchored in the East Coast. Biggie was signed to Bad Boy, a label which had just made waves with its first release, Craig Mack's Project: Funk Da World. In 1994, just before the release of Biggie's debut Ready to Die, 2Pac was shot and robbed in a recording studio, just downstairs from Biggie and his entourage.
The next day, Shakur was convicted of a 1993 sexual assault on a female fan. While he was in jail, he began hearing about Bad Boy's success with Ready to Die and began to suspect the group of setting him up. His exact allegations, as given in an interview for VIBE magazine, state that when they saw he was shot, they offered him no help. He also accused B.I.G. of knowing the robbery was going to happen and failing to warn him.
During his incarceration, members of 2Pac's group Dramacydal allegedly went to a Mobb Deep concert. They then visited 2Pac, maintaining that the duo had snubbed them at the concert; through his friends, 2Pac sent out a message to Mobb Deep threatening violence. Mobb Deep immediately responded with the track "Drop A Gem On 'Em." The track's official release was on the Hell on Earth album in 1996, though it had been circulating on mixtapes and radio in New York long beforehand.
[edit] Suge Knight vs. Diddy
In 1995, Death Row CEO Marion "Suge" Knight mocked Bad Boy CEO Sean Diddy Combs at the Source Awards in August 1995, announcing to the assembly of artists and industry figures: "Anyone out there who [...] don't want to worry about his label producer trying to be all in the videos, all on the records, dancing, come to Death Row," a reference to Puffy's tendency of ad-libbing on his artists' songs and dancing in their videos.
Despite Diddy himself attempting to defuse the situation with a speech later in the evening, a performance by Death Row artists Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg was booed by New Yorkers in attendance, to which Snoop famously responded "The East Coast ain't got no love for Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg?" This would only increase tensions between fans of both coasts.
Things escalated when Suge was at a party for Southern producer Jermaine Dupri in Atlanta, Georgia. During that time, a close friend of Suge's was fatally shot outside. Suge accused Puffy—who was also present—of having something to do with the shooting, deepening Knight's grudge against Puff. Later that year, Suge would approach 2Pac, offering to pay his bail if the rapper would sign with Death Row Records. Shakur agreed, and when he was released began taking numerous shots at his former friends and their record label with Suge backing him.
In the video for Tha Dogg Pound's single "New York, New York", Snoop Dogg and Tha Dogg Pound were shown knocking over New York skyscrapers and landmarks, to which many East Coast artists and fans took offense. This led to suspicion that the song itself was targeted at Bad Boy Records and New York in general. Popular Queensbridge New York artists Capone-N-Noreaga and Mobb Deep released a response record called "L.A., L.A." aimed at the Dogg Pound. In the music video, members of the Dogg Pound are kidnapped and thrown off the Queensboro Bridge.
[edit] Death Row vs. Bad Boy
From late 1995 into early 1996, 2Pac would appear on numerous tracks aiming threatening words at B.I.G., Bad Boy and anyone affiliated with them. During this time, though Biggie never directly responded, the media became heavily involved and dubbed the rivalry a "coastal rap war," covering it endlessly. This caused fans of and from both scenes to take sides with one set of artists or another.
The Notorious B.I.G. would release a track called "Who Shot Ya" in late 1995; 2Pac interpreted it as Biggie mocking his shooting, and claimed it proved that Bad Boy had set him up. In early 1996, 2Pac released the infamous diss track "Hit 'Em Up," in which he claimed to have had sex with the Notorious B.I.G's wife Faith Evans and threatened the lives of Biggie and Puffy. The song was viewed as taking the feud to another level. On the song he also dissed Mobb Deep and New Jersey rapper Chino XL. Chino XL, primarily known in hip hop circles as a 'punch-line rapper' and a direct predecessor to artists such as Eminem, became embroiled in the feud after he joked that 2Pac had been raped in jail on the song 'Riiot'[sic] featuring Californian rapper, Ras Kass. In the same song Chino XL would also take jabs at Biggie on his weight.
2Pac would later go on to diss Chicago rapper Da Brat, her label So So Def, and New Jersey group The Fugees as well. During this time, he met Nas and purportedly told him he didn't have to be involved in the situation; however, a Nas radio freestyle seemingly dissing 2Pac and several direct Nas disses from Shakur to Nas would both eventually turn up. On the introduction to Shakur's later album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, he would bill Nas as the leader of a conspiracy against him which included several of the artists he was beefing with.
Though 2Pac, his group The Outlawz, Snoop Dogg and Tha Dogg Pound had all been involved in the beef, several Death Row artists refused to follow along. Lady of Rage stated in an AllHipHop.com interview that 2Pac called her "the weak link on Death Row"[1] for not dissing Bad Boy. Death Row co-founder Dr. Dre also ran into trouble with 2Pac for, among other things, denouncing the beef to do a track with Nas on It Was Written. 2Pac's close friend Snoop Dogg even purports that the two weren't speaking during 2Pac's final days, because Snoop stated in an interview that he liked Biggie's music.
Jay-Z would also become embroiled in the rivalry when, in an appearance on Jay's debut album Reasonable Doubt, Biggie said "If Faith have twins she'd probably have two Pacs (as in 2-Pac's?)" in reference to the allegations that she had cheated on him with the rapper, though it's unclear if he was dissing her or 2Pac himself. Shakur took it as a diss and, since it was on Jay-Z's song, went on to diss the up-and-coming rapper as well.
[edit] End of the Feud
In March 1996, at the Soul Train Awards in Miami, there was a confrontation in the parking lot between the respective entourages of Bad Boy and Death Row in which guns were drawn. Although an armed standoff was all it amounted to, it was becoming readily apparent to hip hop fans and artists that the situation was progressing into a serious issue.
Not long after, at the VIBE awards in New York, Nas and 2Pac also confronted each other outside the venue. Though accounts from Suge, The Outlawz, Snoop Dogg and Nas himself vary somewhat, most agree that 2Pac said he would remove the disses to Nas from his next album if Nas would in return refrain from dissing him. Nas kept his end of the bargain, although 2Pac was killed before he was able to remove the disses.
On September 7, 1996 Tupac Shakur was shot several times in Las Vegas, dying a few days later on Friday, September 13th. Then on March 9, 1997, Notorious B.I.G. was shot and killed in Los Angeles, California. Both murders remain unsolved, and numerous theories (some of them conspiracy theories) have sprung up. These include, most notoriously, that Shakur faked his own death.
[edit] Aftermath of the Rivalry
The outcome of the feud would shake the culture of hip hop; it changed the way rap rivalries were viewed, especially when the media was deeply involved. In 1997, several rappers, including Bizzy Bone, Doug E. Fresh and Snoop Dogg met at the request of Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam and pledged to forgive any slights that may be related to the rivalry and deaths of Shakur and Biggie.
Following the death of 2Pac, most of Death Row's prominent artists left the label; Afeni Shakur, Tupac's mother, sued the label for allegedly cheating her son out of millions; and Suge Knight ended up in jail for unrelated probation violations. This bad turn for Death Row led, in turn, to a long lull in the mainstream popularity of West Coast rap, leading some west coast rap fans to belive that westcoast rap was being blacklisted. In 2005 Suge was released from prison, but his attempts to revitalize his label were largely futile.
Bad Boy was affected as well, to a lesser degree; artist Ma$e achieved a good deal of success before his early retirement, and Puff Daddy (now Diddy) himself earned considerable commercial success. More recently, Bad Boy has struggled as a record label due to a lack of marketable talent and allegations that Puff is more concerned with his other ventures (e.g., Sean John clothing).
There has not been a rivalry of such magnitude in rap since this one; that may be due largely to the fact that, seeing the outcome of this episode, artists and prominent industry figures have stepped in to help cool down subsequent battles to prevent them from reaching this level.
[edit] Participants
[edit] East Coast
- Puff Daddy, CEO of Bad Boy Records; primary target of 2Pac and Suge Knight along with his artist, The Notorious B.I.G.
- The Notorious B.I.G., Bad Boy's prominent artist. Once a friend of 2Pac, Shakur accused him and his crew of not telling him of the plot to rob and shoot him. Though he never directly responded, he released tracks such as "Who Shot Ya?," "Long Kiss Goodnight" and "What's Beef," which many believed were subliminal disses (though the camp denies this).
- Junior M.A.F.I.A., Biggie's crew which included Lil' Cease and Lil' Kim. All were dissed by 2Pac and The Outlawz.
- Mobb Deep, a rap duo from Queensbridge in Queens, New York. The Outlawz claimed Mobb Deep snubbed them at a show; 2Pac dissed them in interviews and on songs, and they dissed him with the track "Drop a Gem On 'Em." Also appeared on the song "LA, LA" dissing Tha Dogg Pound and Snoop Dogg.
- Capone-N-Noreaga, another Queensbridge rap duo. The Dogg Pound/Snoop Dogg diss song "LA, LA" was on their CD, The War Report.
- Tim Dog, a Bronx rapper who was tired of being overlooked by West Coast rappers recorded the infamous underground diss track Fuck Compton. The track sparked a ripwave in the hip hop scene which led to many responses from West Coast artists. Snoop Dogg dissed him on the track Dre Day and the skit The $2O Sack Pyramid. Comptons Most Wanted dissed him on "Who's Fucking Who" and DJ Quik dissed him on Way 2 Fonky & The Last Word.Tweedy Bird Loc also responded with the direct diss Fuck South Bronx. He dissed rappers Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg on the tracks "Dog Baby" and "Bitch With A Perm", which are both parodies of Dre Day and Gin and Juice.
- Nas, a Queensbridge rapper. 2Pac initially told him they didn't need to have any problems; however, a radio freestyle and what some considered a subliminal diss from Nas led 2Pac to diss him on songs and in interviews. Would later confront Pac, and claims now to have squashed the beef before the other rapper's death.
- Jay-Z, a rapper from B.I.G.'s neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. Biggie's appearance on Jay's song "Brooklyn's Finest" led 2Pac to diss Jay-Z as well, though he never responded.
- LL Cool J, a Queens rapper who 2Pac had previously congratulated on the track "Old School." However, 2Pac would later diss him as part of his verbal attacks on East Coast artists, in response, LL's remix to the track "I Shot Ya," featured subliminal disses towards 2Pac and also included Prodigy, well-known to be involved in his own 2Pac beef.
- Common, a Chicago rapper who was involved in a feud with West Coast rapper Ice Cube over his song "I Used To Love H.E.R." Ice Cube dissed him on "Westside Slaughterhouse", Common responded with "The Bitch In Yoo". The two have since ended their feud and made peace.
- Chino XL, The Fugees, Da Brat, and So So Def, various rap acts which were dissed by 2Pac because he perceived disses or disrespect from them.
[edit] West Coast
- 2Pac, the feud's most central figure. Accused Bad Boy Entertainment of setting him up to be shot and robbed in 1994, then joined Death Row Records.
- The Outlawz, 2Pac's rap group, who appeared on several tracks dissing his adversaries including the infamous "Hit 'Em Up."
- Suge Knight, CEO of Death Row Records. His grudge against Puff Daddy, CEO of Bad Boy, led him to sign 2Pac and--allegedly--encourage the rapper's beef. Some blame Knight for Shakur's death.
- Tha Dogg Pound, a Death Row duo that released "New York, New York"; taking this as disrespect, this incited some New York acts to diss them on the song "LA, LA."
- Snoop Dogg, a Death Row rapper who appeared with Tha Dogg Pound on the song "New York, New York". He also dissed Bronx rapper Tim Dog on the song Dre Day.
- Ice Cube, a West Coast rapper who got embroiled in a feud with Chicago rapper Common over his song "I Used To Love H.E.R". He and his Westside Connection allies Mack 10 and WC recorded the track "Westside Slaughterhouse". Common responded with the scalding track, "The Bitch In Yoo". The two have since made peace.
- Westside Connection, a rap supergroup that consisted of West Coast rappers Ice Cube, Mack 10, and WC.They came out after the collapse of Death Row Records and the death of 2Pac.They recorded the tracks Bow Down, Gangstas Make The World Go Round, ALL The Critics In New York,and West Up because they felt the East Coast lacked respect for the Westside.
- WC, a member of the rap group Westside Connection who dissed East Coast rapper Q-Tip on the track Cross Em Out And Put A K.
- Comptons Most Wanted, a Compton based rap group that dissed Bronx rapper Tim Dog for his song "Fuck Compton" on the track "Who's Fucking Who".
- DJ Quik, a Compton rapper that dissed rapper Tim Dog for his tracks "Fuck Compton", "DJ Quik Beat Down" and "Step To Me". Quik responded on "Way 2 Fonky" & "The Last Word".
- Tweedy Bird Loc, a Compton rapper who also dissed rapper Tim Dog for his song "Fuck Compton" on his own diss track called "Fuck The South Bronx".de:East Coast vs. West Coast
