The East Coast–West Coast rap rivalry was a feud in the early-mid 1990s between artists and fans of the East Coast and West Coast rap scenes. Seeming focal points of the feud were West Coast-based rapper 2Pac (and his label, Death Row Records), and East Coast-based rapper The Notorious B.I.G. (and his label, Bad Boy Records), both of whom were murdered.
The origins of the conflict were arguably initiated in 1991 when East Coast based rapper Tim Dog released “Fuck Compton”, a scathing diss track aimed at N.W.A. and other Compton artists including Compton's Most Wanted and DJ Quik. N.W.A. never officially responded due to their pending break up, but upcoming West Coast artist Tweedy Bird Loc would respond on the track “Fuck the South Bronx.”
Between 1992 and 1993 rappers Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg were the most important artist sales with their Lp, meanwhile his label, Death Row became to a complete success and the west coast rap scene was winning the rivalry.
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| PUFF DADDY |
In 1993, Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs founded in New York the hip hop label, Bad Boy records. The next year “The notorious B.I.G.” and Craig Mack became immediate in commercial successes, and the east coast rap finaly raised and started the fight with the west coast.
Meanwhile, in California, Tupac Shakur forged a rivalry with “B.I.G.”, publicly accusing him and “Puff Daddy” of having facilitated his being robbed and shot five times in the lobby of a New York recording studio. Combs and Wallace emphatically denied having anything to do with the shooting and insisted that “Who Shot Ya?” (track made by “B.I.G.”) had been recorded before his shooting, 2Pac and the majority of the rap community interpreted it as BIG’s way of taunting him. Shakur would claim that the song proved that Bad Boy had set him up.
Tensions were escalated with the past of the years. The two labels contribute with a high number of artists and everyone of them used the concept of East coast vs West coast as an oportunity to made money from their records sending a war message to the rival coast.
In March 1996, during the Soul Train Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, there was a confrontation in the parking lot between the respective entourages of Bad Boy and Death Row in which guns were drawn. Although an armed standoff was all it amounted to, it was becoming readily apparent to rap fans and artists that the situation was escalating into a serious issue. Local papers referred to the situation as, “the rap version of the Cuban Missile Crisis.”
On September 7 of 1996, one of the icons of Death Row records, Tupac, was wounded with four shots in his chest and six days after he was shot, Tupac Shakur died. “Notorious B.I.G.” was the first suspicious and in the next months rumors were circulating that he was in some way responsible for Shakur's murder. Six month later after tupac`s death, “Notorious B.I.G.” was murderer in the streets of Los Angeles. Finally, the two most important rappers of each coast were death, but the fight for the biggest territory continues until this days.
