Tupac vs Biggie

Before anything: this one isn't fun. It's the most important beef in rap history because it's the one where it stopped being about music.

They started as friends

In the early '90s, Tupac Shakur was already a star: platinum albums, movie roles, the most magnetic person in any room. Christopher Wallace, aka The Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie, was a Brooklyn kid on the rise. Tupac took him under his wing. They hung out, freestyled together and shared stages.

Then it all went wrong.

1. November 30, 1994

   The Quad Studios shooting

   Tupac is robbed and shot five times in the lobby of Quad Recording Studios in Manhattan. Biggie and Puffy are upstairs in the same building. Tupac survives and comes to believe they knew it would happen. Both always denied it.

2. February 1995

   'Who Shot Ya?'

   Biggie releases "Who Shot Ya?" as a B-side. Tupac hears it as mocking his shooting. Biggie says the song was recorded before it happened.

3. August 1995

   The Source Awards

   In New York, Death Row boss Suge Knight takes a shot at Puffy from the stage. The crowd turns on the West Coast. Now it's not just two rappers, it's two coasts.

4. October 1995

   Tupac joins Death Row

   Tupac is in prison on an unrelated conviction. Suge Knight helps post his $1.4 million bail, Tupac signs to Death Row, and he comes out swinging.

5. June 1996

   'Hit 'Em Up'

   Tupac drops "Hit 'Em Up", aimed at Biggie, Bad Boy and anyone near them. He claims he slept with Biggie's wife, singer Faith Evans. She denied it.

6. September 7, 1996

   Las Vegas

   After a Mike Tyson fight at the MGM Grand, Tupac is shot in a drive-by at a red light while riding with Suge Knight. He dies on September 13, aged 25.

7. March 9, 1997

   Los Angeles

   Biggie is shot in his car after leaving a music-industry party in LA. He dies aged 24. His album Life After Death comes out 16 days later.

8. September 2023

   An arrest, 27 years later

   Las Vegas police arrest Duane "Keffe D" Davis and charge him with Tupac's murder. He pleaded not guilty. His trial was postponed more than once and was last scheduled for August 2026. Biggie's killing is still officially unsolved.