Key Takeaways
- Jay-Z says The Notorious B.I.G. warned 2Pac about dangerous people in his circle, but 'Pac repeated the warning to them and created problems for Biggie in New York.
- Jay-Z believes 2Pac blamed Biggie after the 1994 Quad Studios shooting despite knowing Biggie had warned him, while "Who Shot Ya?" intensified the fallout.
- Hov says magazines turned the personal dispute into an East Coast-West Coast war that pulled in people with no connection to the original conflict.
Jay-Z has taken a look back on how the once-close friendship between The Notorious B.I.G. and 2Pac deteriorated into one of hip-hop's most infamous feuds.
The Brooklyn rapper just released the first two episodes of his new JAŸ-Z in 8 docuseries, which sees him have a conversation with Rick Rubin. It's here that Hov was asked how the East Coast-West Coast rivalry became so dangerous when Biggie and 'Pac had once been friends.
According to Jay, problems began as 'Pac's fame grew and Biggie became concerned about some of the people surrounding him. "Big tells 2Pac, 'Yo, yo, watch those guys. I know those guys. They're not good guys,'" Jay recalled in the clip below.
Jay claimed 'Pac then relayed Biggie's warning to those same individuals, creating problems for Big in New York. Hov remembered arriving at a club with longtime friend Tyran "Ty Ty" Smith and watching Biggie refuse to go in because someone he had issues with was inside.
"Now it makes sense to me why he didn't go in, because he had problems with these guys who were really serious guys in the city," Jay said.
The relationship between The Notorious B.I.G. and 2Pac fractured further after 'Pac was robbed and shot multiple times at Quad Recording Studios in Manhattan in November 1994. No one was charged in the attack.
Years later, convicted murderer Dexter Isaac claimed he participated in the robbery and alleged that music manager James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond hired him. Rosemond denied the allegation, and Isaac did not identify who actually fired the shots that struck 'Pac. Biggie and Diddy also repeatedly denied having anything to do with the shooting.
According to Jay's understanding of the situation, 'Pac knew Biggie had warned him about the people involved but still directed his anger toward his former friend.
"I don't know what was going on with 2Pac at the time. I don't know if it was embarrassment or what he felt," Jay said. "He knew that Biggie told him and warned about these guys. He knew it was these guys, and he blamed Biggie."
Jay said Biggie largely resisted retaliating musically, though he acknowledged the release of "Who Shot Ya?" added fuel to the growing tension.
"So instead of saying, 'This guy warned me about these guys,' he turned it into a thing like, 'This supposed to be your city. How this could happen to me in your city?'" Jay said.
Hov rejected the idea that Biggie's status in New York meant he could control what happened there. "No one controls New York City," Jay explained. "There's too many bad guys. Everybody's tough."
He added: "There's no way Biggie can control these guys that he talking about."
Eventually, Jay said, the personal dispute became something much bigger as media coverage helped turn it into an East Coast-West Coast rivalry.
"It took on a life of its own, and then magazines started picking it up," Jay said. "It became this thing where everybody was involved. People who had nothing to do with it became involved."
