Background: I want to address this rivalry first because it has gotten a lot of attention recently on the message board. Tupac always showed LL Cool J nothing but respect. He even praised LL in the song "Old School" on Me Against the World. There really isn't that much background on this rivalry but LL released a B-side song as kind of a sequel to Biggie's B-side "Who Shot Ya?" called "I Shot Ya" directed at Tupac where he praises Mobb Deep for dissing Tupac. Tupac has an unreleased song called "Little Homies" where he takes shots at LL but the actual cause of this beef still remains a mystery.

Comments: I have hated LL Cool J for a long time and long before I knew about the beef between him and Tupac. When I heard about the "I Shot Ya" song, I really busted out laughing. I remember when LL had that beef with Ice-T and Ice-T absolutely crushed him. He thinks he is some bad boy rapper when all he is is a mainstream MTV clone. I am sorry but I don't think he makes his image any harder by dissing Tupac. He also gave Tupac no respect at the Grammy's after Tupac was murdered. LL is Bad Boy affiliated too because Puffy was his management when he did Walking With A Panther and Puffy is producing his new album. I think LL needs to go get another weak sitcom or go do another Gap commercial because we all know that you can't spell "seLL out" without "LL".

Background: This was kind of a strange rivalry because Tupac and Dre were thought to be close especially after California Love. I have heard three points of view on this though. Tupac says it was because Dre wasn't doing anything at Death Row and was taking credit for other people's work. Tupac didn't like him for this and also for the fact that Dre never appeared at Snoop's trial to support him although it seems that Tupac was more upset over this than Snoop. Dre never really commented on it except he said that Tupac and him never hung out and Tupac didn't know him so he shouldn't be dissing him. The final story on this was really shocking and came from Suge Knight in an interview which can be seen on the Thug Immortal video. Suge Knight doesn't name names but he basically says that Dre is gay and that Tupac didn't want him to be a part of Death Row because Dre had a lover working for him while he was married with children. I suggest watching this interview for the full story but this is consistent with Tupac calling him gay on several songs. Specific quotes included "that nigga sittin' up in his mansion suckin' dick, eatin' pussy" plus in a number of his songs he says stuff like "we shook Dre punk ass, now we out of the closet" and "check your sexuality it's fruity as this alize" along with "California Love Part II without gay ass Dre."

Comments: I used to think Dre was great. I still think that the Chronic is one of the best albums out but I think Dre is very overrated. To me, the Chronic wouldn't have been anything without the help of Snoop and the Dogg Pound. People tell me all the time that Dre made Snoop and I agree to a point but I think Snoop made Dre as a solo artist. Dre needed NWA to be big, he needed the DPG and Snoop to be big solo, and recently tried to use other artists to get big again with the Aftermath. I think the Chronic should have not been titled Dr. Dre because there was so much more input on there besides himself. He took upcoming artists with a ton of talent and used them to make the record sales for himself. Then when they got big like Snoop did, he left Death Row to find new upcoming artists to boost his career again and make himself look good. Just look at what he titled his new album, Dr. Dre-The Aftermath when in actuality he only had two songs on that album. I was happy to see it fail because if he wants people to keep thinking he is so good, he needs to do a solo album without using others as a crutch and that includes Ice Cube who would have been with Dre on Helter Skelter for support. To sum this up, I think Dre is a great producer who is good with beats but the next time you talk about what a great rapper Dre is, look at all the talented artists that have made him that way.

Chino XL

Background: There really isn't that much background needed on this rivalry. Basically Chino XL likes to put metaphors in his songs and if you don't recognize the name, he had a extremely brief hit last year with the song "Kreep." Anyway, in one of Chino XL's songs, he says "...or you will get fucked like Tupac did in jail." For the record, it was Wendy Williams of Hot 97 in NYC who started that rumor.

Comments: I don't have much to say on this matter. I really didn't even know who Chino XL was (along with the rest of the world) before Tupac spoke out against him. I think he can come up with some funny metaphors in his songs but the Tupac thing was going way too far.

Background: It is kind of tough to get a good explanation on this rivalry but I originally heard that it started when Nas was talking bad about Tupac in an interview. Then I later heard that they originally met at Club 662 in Las Vegas but it seems by Tupac's lyrics that it was based on Nas stealing Tupac's style, beats, and Nas trying to act like Tupac. I think Nas's affiliation with Bad Boy may have also played a factor along with him working with Dre.

Comments: I never really took this rivalry seriously just because I figured Nas to be a mainstream one hit wonder which it appears he is although it should be mentioned that Nas had a great underground hit with Illmatic which scored 5 mics in The Source.. I think he got put in check when he was confronted by Tupac at a music awards ceremony and Suge Knight ended up slapping Nas. I really don't have much more to say because, although I like "If I ruled the world", I don't think Nas has enough talent to ever compete with Tupac.

Background: I have basically just thrown all of the Bad Boy artists into one section because it is basically about the same thing. It all stems from the 1994 shooting of Tupac in New York City. I would recommend reading up on this in the article I wrote about it featured on my main page. Tupac basically felt that Biggie didn't warn him about the shooting. He didn't think Puffy and Biggie set him up, he just felt that they didn't warn him. Then he went to jail and Bad Boy got bigger as Tupac had to hear about the circumstances of his shooting from jail. The Junior Mafia beef was the same too except Tupac knew them well. He said in an interview that he used to support them and Biggie and give the members of Junior Mafia money to get home on the train. Again, for a better look at the rivalry with Bad Boy, check out the NY Shooting article that I wrote.

Comments: First off I would like to say that I like a lot of Bad Boy's music and I didn't hate Biggie. I think "Hypnotise" is a great song and I have always liked the song "Big Poppa." I like some of the new stuff Puffy is coming out with too and I respect Bad Boy so much for what they did with the tribute with "I'll Be Missing You" because god knows Death Row hasn't done much except for Nate Dogg. As for my take on the rivalry, I think Tupac was justified in lashing out at them because I think Puffy was a young man trying to start a record company and didn't care who he stepped on as long as he stayed cool with certain people that would financially support him and his new company. I think Biggie was the same in a lot of ways but wanted to make it as an artist rather than own the company. I think Biggie knew what he did to Tupac was wrong and you could see that in his interviews because no matter what Tupac said about him, he just seemed to act like he deserved it. It was like he knew he had betrayed Tupac and I think that betrayal is what hurt Tupac the most. There was a party down in Atlanta and the Death Row camp and Bad Boy camps both showed up. There was a confrontation and Tupac kept calling Biggie on but Biggie wouldn't move. Eventually gunfire broke out which caused everyone to leave but the only person in the Bad Boy camp that even stood up to Death Row was Little Caesar. To sum up my view on Bad Boy Records, I like their music but I liked it the first time I heard it. In other words they sample too much. Just look at Hypnotise, Can't Hold Me Down, and I'll Be Missing You. I wouldn't care about the sampling of older songs but these are sampled from older songs which were sampled by another artist just a couple years ago like Snoop and Ice Cube. You can sample but don't make every song based on other people's work. A good producer comes up with their own beats like Dr. Dre.

Background: This beef started when Tha Dogg Pound released New York, New York. Mobb Deep took offense to that and with Tragedy and Capone N Noreaga (two other NYC artists) they released LA, LA. There were 2 versions and one version used that same beat and in both versions the chorus was the same as from NY, NY except for a little change at the end. Now Tupac took offense to that and that's why he dissed Mobb Deep. The only thing I know Mobb Deep to have said before Tupac released Hit 'Em Up was in an article from RapSheet when they were discussing the East/West Coast beef with artists from both sides Mobb Deep said the way Tupac turned on NY was wrong and said they would buy a Snoop album but they would never buy another Tupac album. I think Havoc might have said this. Then Tupac came out with Hit 'Em Up...called Prodigy out about his sickle cell anemia and that's when Mobb Deep responded with Drop A Gem On 'Em which appeared on their new album. Since Tupac's death, Mobb Deep has shown a lot of respect for him though.

Comments: I really don't have much of an opinion on this beef either. I think it was started over some stupid reasons and continued from there. I think Tupac may have gone too far with the sickle cell comment though but I believe this beef would have ended eventually.

Jay-Z

Background: Jay Z is probably the only person to go out and publically diss Tupac. I mean Biggie never really did, nor did Mobb Deep. But Jay Z did. Jay Z is, well he isnt exactly a bad boy MC, but he does have his connections to Bad Boy. He and Biggie were good friends before Biggie's death, and Jay Z appeared on Biggie's, Lil Kim's, and Puffy's albums. Now how the beef with Jay Z started, I guess, is that, the only time Biggie actually dissed Pac on record was on his guest appearence on Jay Z's album REASONABLE DOUBT, the song was called "Brooklyn's Finest." Then Tupac dissed Jay Z back on "Bomb First." This song pointed at the beef with Jay-Z coming from him sticking up for Mobb Deep.

Comments: Again, I really don't have much of an opinion on this beef because it wasn't really a major one compared to the Bad Boy rivalry but then again, Jay-Z was Bad Boy affiliated.

Background: Tavis Smiley: On his debut show Tavis held a forum on the life and death of Tupac and from the very beginning of the show he tried to defame and portray Tupac as a thug out of control. All he talked about was how Tupac stayed in the spotlight as a advocate for violence and disrespect for women. He had as guests Russell Simmons from Def Jam Comedy and Kevin Powell, a writer for Vibe magazine. Throughout the show, Tavis continued to refute every compliment that Mr. Simmons mentioned about Tupac bringing up all the negative aspects of his life and music. Eventually Mr. Simmons got fed up and with one last comment he blasted Tavis for his berating of Tupac and hung up the phone in the middle of the show saying that he would not continue to be apart of a show that showed such disrespect and called Tavis "America's Favorite House Nigger." Tom Joyner: He has a nationally syndicated radio morning show that airs in many large cities around the world. He brings a lot of well known and popular black people on his show. The monday following Tupac's death he and his co-host (Jay Anthony Brown) were really hard on Tupac saying things like he was a bad influence on the younger generation and that his fascination with death was misleading his fans. They would go on to say that it was scary that so many people held Tupac in such high regards and loved him so much. As their listeners phoned in their opinions about how much they would miss Tupac and how much of an influence Tupac had on their life, Tom and Jay would belittle them and say that it wasn't healthty for us to believe in a man that only advocated death and violence. The only objective person and somewhat of a comforter for Tupac's fan was his other co-host Syber Wilkes. Jacques Agnant: In the song released after his death called "Against All Odds", Tupac tells the story of "a snitch named Haitian Jack". The song says Jack is stocky, light skinned and has a Haitian accent, all of which describes Agnant. Agnant is on probabtion after pleading guilty to sexual misconduct in a 1994 incident in which Shakur was convicted of sexual abuse of a woman who came to his hotel room. Tupac believed Agnant made a deal with prosecutors at the rapper's expense. Blackstreet: This isn't really much of a rivalry. People have just wondered why "Toss It Up" and "No Diggity" sound alike as well as "I Ain't Mad At Cha" and "Don't Leave Me." Blackstreet just said that it was a coincedence but it could be because Teddy Riley and Aaron Hall were partners and worked on the same beats. Teddy Riley then incorporated those beats in with Blackstreet and Aaron Hall with Tupac. I have heard that the original "Toss It Up" was identical to "No Diggity" and had to be completely changed though. There is also speculation that Dre stole some of Tupac's beats and used them when he worked with Blackstreet and also when he worked with Nas which could explain the similar, if not identical, beats between some of Tupac's and Nas's work. C. Delores Tucker: Enough said.