When Did the East Coast West Coast Beef End
Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace (The Notorious B.I.One thousand.) became two of hip-hop's nigh notable icons amid an infamous rivalry that continues to concord the attention of fans more than than two decades after their deaths.
The East Coast-West Declension beef "still resonates today," "History of Rap and Hip Hop" author Soren Baker says.
There were many factors backside the complex New York vs. Los Angeles turf rivalry that heightened between 1994 and 1997 and ultimatley atomic number 82 to their deaths. The beef had everything to do with competition amongst record labels, media coverage, gang civilisation and two artists with a talent for rhythmic comebacks.
The start
Tupac and Biggie may be synonymous with the rivalry, but it existed, in a sense, before they hit the scene.
"There was always tension — there was always resentment, rather — among some folks on the West Coast for the resistivity from New York DJs and artists to Due west Declension hip-hop," says Dan Charnas, a music history associate professor at New York Academy's Clive Davis Constitute.
With New York City being the birthplace of hip-hop, artists from 50.A. felt they weren't given the same media coverage and public attention every bit those on the East Declension, says Bakery, a former hip-hop journalist.
"The [West Declension] artists felt that when they came to New York, they didn't receive the aforementioned credence and admiration every bit when New York artists came to Fifty.A., because the West Declension's [artists] were more than popular, only from a sales perspective, than anyone at the fourth dimension on the Due east Coast," Baker adds.
The labels
Pac and Biggie were pitted against each other as their fame, and the genre's popularity, grew across the country.
The producers behind West Declension's Decease Row Records (Dr. Dre, Suge Knight) and Eastward Coast's Bad Boy Entertainment (Sean "Diddy" Combs) helped fuel the competition as years passed.
The L.A. scene got a heave when Dr. Dre joined forces with Suge to launch Expiry Row in 1991, the same time Ability 106 (KPWR-FM) branded itself as a hip-hop-focused radio station with its "Where hip-hop lives" slogan. Information technology wasn't until two years after that Combs branched out into the business with Bad Male child Entertainment in NYC.
Rhythmic shade
So, what exactly does this accept to do with Tupac and Biggie? Not much, withal.
The drama took off when Tupac, who was on trial on allegations of sexual activity corruption, was shot five times past a group of robbers in the lobby of Quad Recording Studios in Times Square on November. xxx, 1994. Tupac believed it to be an inside task, and placed blame on his friends who were also invited to the studio — Biggie, Jimmy Henchman and Combs. Information technology'southward unclear why Pac was the target of the robbery, just other artists, including Funkmaster Flex most recently, accept insisted the artist may take shot himself. The incident — whether a message from a rival group, the work of a former friend or a random assault — was plenty to create a rift between Pac and Biggie that they were never able to repair.
It didn't exactly assist that Biggie released a track, "Who Shot Ya," shortly afterward, in which he clearly expressed loyalty to the Due east Coast and the Bad Male child crew. But responding to accusations via lyrics was already a key part of hip-hop.
"It was how hip-hop grew, these phone call and response answers. No questions well-nigh it," Charnas says. Information technology's mirrored today in rap battles and artist feuds, like that between Drake and Meek Factory.
Damaged egos
Pac, feeling betrayed past his former friend, served nine months in Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York on a sexual attack charge when Knight paid him a visit in 1995 and fueled the burn down.
The producer went onstage at the Source Awards at Madison Foursquare Garden's Paramount Theater on Aug. three, 1995, and threw shade at record label rival Combs. "Whatever creative person out in that location wanna exist an artist, and wanna stay a star, and don't accept to worry about the executive producer trying to be all in the videos, all on the records, dancing — come to Decease Row," he said.
"Thug Life"
While the characterization never addressed what exactly sparked Suge to make the speech on Combs' turf, timeliness was a factor: Tupac had simply signed with Death Row. The movement wasn't just about music. It marked Pac's acceptance into Suge's powerful grouping, known to have gang affiliations.
Pac'due south decision ultimately reflected his desire to be viewed every bit an authoritative effigy, Charnas says, referring to the late artist as "royalty." "He didn't demand credibility. He had brownie, but it wasn't the kind of credibility he craved. What he wanted, for whatever reason, was to be seen with street credibility … that became his motto: Thug life."
Rappers' demise
After curt-lived yet successful careers surrounded by controversy, both Tupac and Biggie were shot and killed not long thereafter. Tupac was critically injured in a drive-by shooting on the Las Vegas strip and died on Sept. xiii, 1996. Biggie was shot and killed on L.A.'due south Phenomenon Mile half-dozen months subsequently March ix, 1997. While both cases remain unsolved, loyal fans and manufacture influencers still believe the East Declension-Westward Coast beef is to blame.
"It's ane thing for a record label to promote an artist who promotes violence. It's another matter when that violence becomes existent and affects people," Baker said. "It's not just entertainment anymore. … Information technology became real life and the line between reality and amusement blurred."
Source: https://www.amny.com/entertainment/east-coast-vs-west-coast-rivalry-a-look-at-tupac-and-biggie-s-infamous-hip-hop-feud-1-13742586/
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