On September 13, 1994, at the age of 22, The Notorious B.I.G. released his only album, Ready to Die, which directly established himself as one of the most important rappers in his history.
Two years later, also on Sept. 13, 25-year-old Tupac Shakur took his last breath in a las Vegas hospital — six days earlier when he was stabbed in his car and shot four times. Two dates, throughout the East and West Coasts of the chaotic era of the most thrilling, bloody, but also the most legendary period of history.
2pac was shot in the car
Biggie and 2Pac, in addition to the well-known tragic ending of the incompatibility and the same, many people do not know that they had an incomparably close friendship before the enemy, the enemy, and the nemesis.
Biggie's first Rolex was a gift from 2Pac; 2Pac always liked to come to Biggie's neighborhood and roll a few dice with his brothers whenever he visited New York; and even Biggie once asked 2Pac to be his agent
Left Big right 2pac
Until trust sprouts suspicion, suspicion turns into resentment, resentment turns into killing, and finally the two most influential names in the history of hip hop lose their lives in this struggle.
In addition to the two of them, the Storm Center also involves Suge Knight and Puff Daddy, who are thunderous names in the recording industry. The truth that has not yet been revealed, looming gang hatred, police corruption, and money transactions have added to the biggest suspense cases of the 90s.
2pac与suge knight
BIG with bragging daddy
They are the closest friends
Although 2pac belongs to the West Coast, he was actually born in New York, a year older than Biggie and famous earlier than him, and pac has become a big star on the West Coast when Biggie is still underground. Not only rapping, pac also participated in film production, fashion weeks, dating Madonna, and lived an enviable life.
At this time, Biggie was still on the streets of Brooklyn, New York, considering whether to do rap full-time or continue to mix on the street, although he also signed the bag boy record label that would become a big hit at the time, but Biggie did not feel that the bragging father could bring him the life he wanted.
Big on the streets of Brooklyn
In 1993, he first met 2Pac on a friend's recommendation. 2Pac has no shelf at all, cooks fried steak and French fries for a group of little brothers, everyone eats and drinks together, listens to 2Pac teach how to get ahead of the philosophy of success, pac is more like a poet He can always find problems from various angles Whether it is social issues or gender equality, he can always be more sensitive than others, and it is also because this personality led to the later break with Bigie, but at that time, pac can be said to give Biggie a lot of advice and care, He also brought Biggie on stage.
2pac shared the stage with Biggie
Biggie's mother, Voletta Walace, recalled visiting their home when 2Pac visited New York, and biggie slept on 2Pac's couch when she went to California: "They were the closest friends."
Rappers were angry and hungry before they became famous, biggie can't stand a pair of Timberlands to wear rotten, the same is to see the pac's various, but at this time the pac gave Biggie's advice: stay with Puff, he will make you a star.
Biggie and the bragging dad
Sure enough, 2Pac's prophecy came true. In 1994, Biggie completed his debut album Ready to Die. He uses impeccable rhyme techniques to bring to life the streets surrounded by drugs, criminals, and police, exuding real emotions that are loud and clear.
《ready to die》
The album was a huge success, ranking 133rd out of Rolling Stone magazine's 500 best albums of all time, and Juicy and Big Poppa were even more tireless! It was also because this album directly made Biggie directly the king of the decadent East Coast rap at that time.
One of Biggie's most classics
I'm going to destroy Bad Boy Records!
According to our words, ten years of Hedong and ten years of Hexi, Biggie is thriving through the album "Ready to Die", and 2pac is constantly in trouble. The worst was in November 1993, when he and several others were accused of sexually assaulting a girl named Ayanna Jackson. Police also found a gun illegally held by 2Pac at the scene (but he claimed the gun belonged to Biggie).
Pac at the police station
Having seen the autobiographical film "All Eyez on Me", we all know that pac has almost no penny to pay for expenses in the middle and late stages, and he was introduced and promised to record a verse for New York rapper Little Shawn for $7,000. On November 30, 1994, 2Pac came to the Quad Studio in Times Square. Knowing that Biggie and Diddy were also upstairs, he was unguarded and did not have a bodyguard. Just as they were about to enter the elevator, three other strangers on the first floor suddenly pulled out their pistols and ordered them to lie down, and 2Pac ignored them and directly drew their guns to fight.
2Pac was shot, beaten violently, and his jewels were robbed. He managed to escape by pretending to be dead, and waited until the other party left before struggling to climb into the elevator and go upstairs to ask Biggie for their help. But when the elevator door opened, 2Pac described the look of "surprise and guilt" on the faces of Biggie's gang who saw him alive.
Pac injured picture
Although Diddy claimed that they were only acting "love and care", 2Pac seemed to believe that it was his former friends who were designing to get rid of him.
The next day, 2Pac, who was in a wheelchair wrapped in bandages, attended his trial and was convicted in the Ayanna Jackson case, serving at least a year and a half in prison and $3 million in bail.
Pac was discharged from the hospital after being shot
2Pac simply could not pay the money at this time and was sent to the Clinton Correctional Institution in New York. Meanwhile, rumors were rife in New York City that Biggie knew in advance that 2Pac would be ambushed that day.
At this point, no one can calm 2Pac's anger: even if it is not Biggie who has attacked him, but it happened in your territory, you have the responsibility to find out who did it. "He needs to do more than shake his head and look at me and say I don't know who's going to blow my head off!"
Deeply betrayed and desperate, 2Pac reached out to Suge Knight, the boss of The Sea Row Records. Death Row owned Dr. Row at the time. Star artists such as Dre and Snoop Dogg are the most powerful labels on the West Coast and have a deep gang background.
Suge Knight flew to New York to visit 2Pac, not only settling the house for 2Pac's mom, but also making a deal with 2Pac: Death Row would get him out of jail on the condition that he join Sea Row. 2Pac agreed.
The real change from 2pac's personal feud with Biggie to the East and West Coast rivalries was because Suge Knight went directly to Madison Square Garden to attend the awards ceremony held by The Source magazine, and Death Row won the "Best Acoustic Music Award" that night. In his speech on stage, Suge Knight delivered a fiery speech:
"All those who want to be musicians and want to maintain their status all the time without worrying about their executive producers always running to the MV to show their faces, dance, and add drama to their records – join Dieth Row!" 」
Suge Knight Awards Speech
It was suge Knight's speech at The Source Award that was the beginning of the East-West Coast War.
Within six months, first 2Pac, then Biggie
At the climax of their feud, Biggie came out with the classic song "Who Shot Ya?" and pac responded to the equally classic Hit 'Em Up as a diss back
2pac shoots magazine covers
He also dissed mobb deep in the song, incidentally did not let go, and Biggie had a close relationship with Lil Kim and Junior M.A.F.I.A., among others, further exacerbating tensions between the east and west coasts. Death Row and Bad Boy also clashed with each other from time to time.
Then, on September 7, 966, Pac and Suge Night watched Mike Tyson in Las Vegas and koned Bruce Seldon in just 1 minute and 49 seconds. While leaving the boxing match, Travon Lane, Suge Knight's entourage and a member of the MOB Pirus gang affiliated with the Blood Gang, discovered that Orlando Anderson, a member of the Southside Lame Gang who had clashed with him, was also present, and informed 2Pac.
Pac at the casino
2pac, because he had just watched the boxing match, rushed over and beat the other party violently, and then left.
In the evening, 2pac and Suge Knight travel to Suge Knight's Club 662 to play. While waiting for the red light, another white Cadillac stopped side by side with him, then rolled down the window and quickly opened fire. 2Pac was shot four times in the body, and one of them hit him in the right lung.
He was quickly taken to hospital and placed in intensive care, but still died of internal bleeding 6 days later.
News of Pac's death
2pac's death was also a particular blow to Biggie, and it also scared Biggie, because neither money nor bodyguards could guarantee his personal safety, and after Tupac's death, many people rightfully put the account on him and Diddy. Biggie believes that the only way to end this war is to make peace with the West Coast:
"We were originally two individuals, but we sparked hatred across the West Coast and the entire East Coast... I have to be the one to save the situation, because Pac can't do it, the others are gone."
He wrote a song called "Going Back to Cali" to woo the West Coast, and together with Diddy decided to go to the West Coast to promote his upcoming second album, Life After Death. It turned out to be a huge mistake, and he never made it back to New York alive.
On March 9, 1997, on his way out of the After Party of Soul Train Music Awards, Biggie's car was also stopped at a red light. A black Chevrolet Impala stopped side by side with them, and the driver rolled up his window and shot at Biggie in a very professional way. A few hours later Biggie was pronounced dead.
Within six months, the east and west coasts had lost their souls one after another.
Who murdered them?
The deaths of the rappers of the two Souls of the East and West Coasts are shocking in themselves, and what is even more tragic is that even to this day it is not clear who the real murderers are.