East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry

The East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry was a feud in the 1990s between artists and fans of the East Coast hip hop and West Coast hip hop scenes in the United States. Focal points of the feud were East Coast-based rapper The Notorious B.I.G. (and his New York-based label, Bad Boy Records) and West Coast-based rapper 2Pac (and his Los Angeles-based label, Death Row Records), both of whom were killed by unknown assailants. The rivalry came to a close when Dr. Dre collaborated with Nas on the single "Nas is Coming" on the album album It Was Written and when The Notorious B.I.G. collborated with Chief Hype on the single "Nasty Girl", both occuring in 1996.

Tim Dog
In 1991, disgruntled by the record companies' rejections of East Coast artists and the growing popularity of West Coast hip hop, Bronx rapper Tim Dog decided to voice his anger on the notorious diss, Fuck Comption. It contained shots at the entire LA rap scene, particularly the members of NWA. The music video contained violent gestures towards Eazy-E and Dr. Dre look-a-likes, as well as DJ Quik.

There were several responses from numerous West Coast artists. The most notable was a song called "Fuck wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebrating) which featured Snoop Doggy Dogg dissing Tim Dog and a skit called the "$20 Sack Pyramid" featured on Dre's landmark album, The Chronic.

Bad Boy vs. Death Row
In 1993, fledgling A&R executive and record producer "Puff Daddy" Sean Combs founded the New York-centered hip-hop label, Bad Boy Records. The next year, the label’s debut releases by Brooklyn-based rapper "The Notorious B.I.G." (also known as Biggie Smalls) and Long Islands-based rapper Craig Mack became immediate critical and commercial successes, and seemed to revitalize the East Coast hip-hop scene by 1995. New York born and California-based rapper Tupac Shakur publicly accused Biggie Smalls, Andre Harrell, and Sean Combs of involvement in the robbery and shooting (shot five times) in the lobby of Quad Recording Studios in Manhatten on November 30, 1994. Shortly after 2Pac’s shooting, “Who Shot Ya?” a B-side track from BIG’s “Big Poppa” single was released. Although Combs and Wallace denied having anything to do with the shooting and stated that “Who Shot Ya?” had been recorded before the shooting, 2Pac and the majority of the hip hop community interpreted it as B.I.G.’s way of taunting him.

In August 1995, Death Row CEO Suge Knight took a dig at Bad Boy and Combs at that year's Source Awards; announcing to the assembly of artists and industry figures:

''“Any artist out there that want to be an artist and stay a star, and don’t have to worry about the executive producer trying to be all in the videos ... All on the records ... dancing, come to Death Row!”''

It was a direct reference to Combs’ tendency of ad-libbing on his artists’ songs and dancing in their videos. With the ceremony being held in New York, to the audience, Knight’s comments seemed a slight to the entire East Coast hip-hop scene, and resulted in many boos from the crowd.

Tensions escalated when Knight later attended a party for producer Jermaine Dupri in Atlanta. During the bash, a close friend of Knight's (Jake Robles) was fatally shot. Knight accused Combs (also in attendance) of having something to do with the shooting. The same year, Knight posted the $1.4 million bail of the then-incarcerated 2Pac, in exchange for his signing with Death Row Records. Shortly after the rapper’s release for five counts of sex abuse in October 1995, he proceeded to join Knight in furthering Death Row’s feud with Bad Boy Records.

2Pac vs. The Notorious B.I.G.
After the release of "Who Shot Ya?", which Shakur interpreted as a diss song mocking his robbery/shooting, 2Pac appeared on numerous tracks aiming threatening and/or antagonistic insults at Biggie, Bad Boy as a label, and anyone affiliated with them from late 1995 to 1996. Examples include the songs "Against All Odds", "Bomb First (My Second Reply)" and "Hit 'Em Up". During this time the media became heavily involved and dubbed the rivalry a coastal rap war, reporting on it continually. This caused fans from both scenes to take sides.

Although an official retaliation record was never released by the Brooklyn MC in response to Shakur's slurs, certain lyrics from Biggie's catalog of songs were interpreted by listeners as subliminal shots aimed at Shakur, in particular the track "Long Kiss Goodnight", which Lil' Cease claimed was about 2Pac in an XXL magazine interview. Puffy, however, steadfastly denied this theory, affirming that if Biggie were to diss 2Pac, he would have called him out by name.

On September 13, 1996, Tupac Shakur died after being shot multiple times six days earlier in a drive by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. A two-part 2002 article by journalist Chuck Philips called "Who Killed Tupac Shakur?" reported that: "the shooting was carried out by a Compton gang called the Southside Crips to avenge the beating of one of its members by Shakur a few hours earlier. Orlando Anderson, the Crip whom Shakur had attacked, fired the fatal shots. Las Vegas police discounted Anderson as a suspect and interviewed him only once, briefly. He was later killed in an unrelated gang shooting." Philips's article also implicated East Coast rappers including Biggie and unnamed East Coast music figures and criminals. Six months after Tupac's death, on March 9, 1997, The Notorious B.I.G. was killed in a drive-by shooting by an unknown assailant in Los Angeles, California. To this day, both murders remain officially unsolved, though many believe Suge Knight to be involved in the death of Shakur and Wallace.

Chief Hype vs. Puff Daddy
After Puff Daddy criticised Hype's rapping as a white person in a black dominated genre, Hype recorded several diss tracks on his albums throughout the mid-90s, including "White Trash Bomber", "Bring the Hate" and "End the Shit". During 1995, they recorded four diss tracks between them heavily slating the other. Despite this Hype and Puff Daddy would secretly record at track in 1996 for Chief Hype's 1997 album Nice Try entitled "End of the Rivarly"