Some History To Consider

While Chuck Philips article is about an event that took place in 1994, the seeds for its reality began a few years prior. To place this conversation in context here is a timeline that documents the progression of the rivalry between coasts.

Late 1980s – West coast artists such as N.W.A. and Ice-T begin seeing success and start to garner attention that had almost exclusively been for New York artists.

1991 – Tim Dog, a New York based emcee, released the dis track “Fuck Compton” directed at N.W.A. The song causes a wave of responses from various West coast artists.

Dec. 15th, 1992 – Dr. Dre releases The Chronic on Death Row Records. Becomes a multi-platinum hit.

1993 – Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs starts Bad Boy Records, signs The Notorious B.I.G.

Nov. 23rd, 1993 – Snoop Dogg releases Doggystyle on Death Row Records – quickly becoming another multi-platinum hit.

1994 – The success of Death Row records brings the spotlight to Los Angeles and the West coast, while their East coast counterparts struggled to maintain commercial viability.

Sept. 14th, 1994 – The Notorious B.I.G. releases Ready to Die on Bad Boy Records.

Nov. 30th, 1994 – 2Pac is shot at Quad Recording Studios in New York. Puffy and Biggie were in the building on a different floor. This combined with the release of “Who Shot Ya?” by Biggie led to 2Pac becoming convinced that Puffy and Biggie were involved in his shooting.

Aug. 1995 – Suge Knight taunts Puffy at the Source Awards stating “Any artists out there who wants to be an artist and stay a star, and don't wanna have to worry about the executive producer trying to be…all in the videos, all on the records, dancing…come to Death Row!”



Oct. 1995 – In exchange for his bail being paid 2Pac signs with Suge Knight and Death Row Records, further establishing the rivalry with Bad Boy Records.

Late ’95 into 1996 – 2Pac released many songs attacking Biggie, Bad Boy Records and the east coast.

1996 – Death Row act Tha Dogg Pound releases a music video for their single “New York, New York” which features the two West coast emcees knocking over skyscrapers in New York. New York rappers Tragedy Khadafi, Capone-N-Noreaga and Mobb Deep respond with a video for “LA, LA” in which the murder of Tha Dogg Pound is portrayed.

Sept. 7th, 1996 – 2Pac is shot in Las Vegas.

Sept. 13th, 1996 – 2Pac dies from his wounds.

March 9th, 1997 – The Notorious B.I.G. is shot and killed in Los Angeles.

While artists from both coasts helped spur this rivalry forward, it was often the media that helped sensationalize the events. Following the murders of 2Pac and Biggie, artists, fans and the media reevaluated their roles in the feud and how they would handle similar situations in the future.