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Who Shot Ya?

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"Who Shot Ya?"
Song by The Notorious B.I.G.
ReleasedFebruary 20, 1995
Recorded1994
GenreEast Coast hip hop, gangsta rap
Length5:20
Label
Songwriter(s)Christopher Wallace
Producer(s)

"Who Shot Ya?," or often, without the question mark, "Who Shot Ya,"[1] is a song by gangsta rapper the Notorious B.I.G., commonly called Biggie Smalls, backed by Puff Daddy. It was released by Puffy's emerging record label, Bad Boy, on February 21, 1995, on the B side of an alternate reissue of Biggie's single "Big Poppa/Warning," out since December 5, 1994.[2] While the A side's "Big Poppa" was already a big pop hit,[3] the reissue's closing track, "Who Shot Ya?"—with menacing lyrics delivered deftly—swiftly became a massive hit on the streets,[4] and highly influential.[5] Biggie's most infamous classic,[6] it was also controversial.[5] Despite never naming him, it started a "rap battle" with rapper Tupac.[7][8][9]

The "Who Shot Ya?" instrumental section, itself now historic in rap,[10] was produced by Puffy and one of his staff record producers.[11] Puffy had first used it for a brief, rap interlude on Uptown Records singer Mary J. Blige's R&B album My Life, released in late November 1994.[11] The shared basis is a looping sample,[11] a portion of David Porter's song "The Masquerade is Over"[12] on his 1971 album Victim of the Joke.[13] In late February 1995, the "Who Shot Ya?" lyrics sounded much like taunting of Tupac.[7][14][15] In early February, Tupac had received a prison sentence,[16] and in late November 1994 had been shot in a robbery by gunmen awaiting his arrival at a New York recording studio to record a verse for an Uptown Records rapper.[17][18][19]

Published in its April 1995 issue, Vibe magazine's January interview with Tupac publicized his suspicions that individuals at the record studio, including Biggie and Puffy, had aided the November 1994 attack.[20][21] Interviewed in response, Biggie and Puffy denied roles in the attack, and Biggie called it "crazy" to say that "Who Shot Ya?" was about Tupac.[18][22] Still, citing the release's timing, and refusing to "hide behind the facts," Tupac created the answer song "Hit 'Em Up,"[20] naming, taunting, and threatening Biggie and Puffy.[8] Released in June 1996, another massive hit on the streets, it impelled rap's East–West rivalry to peak intensity.[23][24][25] Questioned about its alleged provocation, Biggie reiterated that he had recorded "Who Shot Ya?" well before Tupac was shot.[7][23]

Tupac's fatal shooting in September 1996 and Biggie's in March 1997 remain officially unresolved over 20 years later,[24] but triggered speculations partly blaming this "rap battle."[26][27] Later, some of Biggie's associates or proponents asserted that "Who Shot Ya?" or its lyrics had nothing to do with Tupac.[11][14][15] Some of these assertions, more literally, reassert innocence in the November 1994 attack.[15] In any case, "Who Shot Ya?" was reissued in 1999 on its rapper's posthumous album Born Again,[5] in 2001 on a "Big Poppa/Warning" single reissue with remixes,[2][28] in 2004 on the remastered edition of his 1994 or debut album Ready to Die,[1] and in 2007 on his compilation album Greatest Hits. In 2016, rock band Living Colour released a cover version, whose music video protests gun violence.[29] Meanwhile, the term Who Shot Ya? became a trope outside of music.[30]

Closing the B side

During 1993, Uptown Records' founder Andre Harrell fired his young, burgeoning A&R man Sean "Puffy" Combs, who immediately launched his own record label, Bad Boy Entertainment. In the latter half of 1994, Bad Boy established itself upon rapper Craig Mack's hit single "Flava in Ya Ear," yet especially upon Bad Boy's first album, Ready to Die, the debut album of gangsta rapper the Notorious B.I.G., or Biggie Smalls.[31][32] Despite the album's often grim content and his own hardcore agenda, Biggie's first two singles were friendly songs, "Juicy" and "Big Poppa," which he had resisted recording.[15] Yet then "Who Shot Ya?"—sometimes titled simply "Who Shot Ya"[1]—popularized Biggie's menacing persona.[15] This drew more attention than the A side's other track, "Warning," another album track.

Closing the week of February 25, 1995, Biggie's single "Big Poppa/Warning"[33]—released on December 5, 1994[2]—had spent six weeks total, and five weeks at #1, on Billboard's Hot Rap Singles chart.[34] On the pop singles chart, the Billboard Hot 100, amid 24 weeks total, it peaked at #6 on March 18.[3] Yet on February 21, Bad Boy released another "Big Poppa/Warning" single version whose B side closed with "Who Shot Ya?"[2] Although not on his album, it could sound familiar via "K. Murray Interlude," a brief track on Mary J. Blige's second album, My Life.[35] Both share a looping sample from soul singer David Porter's song "The Masquerade is Over," by now sampled in many rap songs.[11][12] Especially popular among them is "Who Shot Ya?"[12]—among rap's most influential and historic songs.[5][6][10] Its republished lyrics may omit Puffy's vocals,[8] which precede Biggie's and recur.[35]

In his then characteristic role as hype man,[36] Puffy shouts, in part, "As we proceed— / to give you what you need / 9-5, motherfuckers— / Get live, motherfuckers— / As we proceed— / to give you what you need / East Coast, motherfuckers— / Bad Boy, motherfuckers—"[35] Otherwise, one writer estimates, "The story Biggie tells in 'Who Shot Ya?' is simple and brutal. Someone's out to get him, but Biggie gets the drop on his foe."[37] Yet it is Biggie's lyricism, there, that would motivate MTV to eventually recognize "Who Shot Ya" for, MTV says, "using the art of music to make the art of war sound beautiful."[4] Brooklyn rapper Jay-Z recalls receivng a copy of the song, by surprise, on a tape from a friend before the single's release.[4] Jay-Z reflects, "He knew that if I heard 'Who Shot Ya?,' it's going to inspire me to make songs even hotter. But that song, it was so crazy. It just had an effect on everybody. The world stopped when he dropped 'Who Shot Ya?' "[4]

Production backstory

Reportedly, "Who Shot Ya?" traces to the recording of R&B singer Mary J. Blige's second album, My Life, on Uptown Records.[6][11] Her album's record producers are Charles "Chucky" Thomas, Prince Charles Alexander, and "Puffy" Combs.[11] The three, including Puffy as overseer, were members of his house team of record producers, "the Hitmen," at Puffy's record label, Bad Boy Entertainment.[11] In an interview published online in November 2014, Chucky Thompson recalls shopping for records with another of the Hitmen producers, Nasheim Myrick.[11]

Thompson recalls entering the studio while Myrick, seeking a portion to sample, was playing one of the records, eventually took a sample, and looped it for hours.[11] The donor song is by soul singer David Porter, who, alike Isaac Hayes, had reinterpreted and extended pop hits, and incidentally used Isaac's backing vocalists.[13] David Porter's fourth album, Victim of the Joke, a "rock/soul opera" released by Stax Records in 1971, is a cult classic, known for its cover version of jazz singer Sara Vaughn's "The Masquerade is Over,"[13] sometimes called "I'm Afraid the Masquerade is Over."[12]

Thompson recalls that amid Myrick playing the looping sample, Puffy, who had entered the studio with Biggie, "got the idea to use it as an interlude for Mary's My Life album."[11] Thompson adds, "Biggie originally rapped the verse on the interlude and he was later replaced by Keith Murray."[11] Thompson explains, "The reason why Keith Murray was brought in was due to B.I.G.'s verse on the interlude. If we kept his original verse, Puff would have been forced to place an Explicit Lyrics sticker on the album, and he didn’t want to do that to Mary, so they brought Keith Murray in to replace Biggie."[11] Thompson recalls, "This sample ended up being used for the Notorious B.I.G.'s song 'Who Shot Ya.' "[11]

On the other hand, in October 2014, Vibe magazine's website reported that New York City rap DJ Funkmaster Flex's new book reveals even more: "The song 'Who Shot Ya' was originally an intro for Mary J. Blige's album. Uptown/MCA said it was too hard. The song in its original form had a verse from Big, Keith Murray, and LL Cool J, though LL never did his verse. The song still exists!' "[6] In any case, My Life was released on November 29, 1994. Its sixth track is "K. Murray Interlude," 22 seconds long, where Keith Murray raps about six blustery lines.[38] In his final full line, he raps, "My subliminals mix with criminal chemicals."[38] Once shuffling sounds interrupt the next line, Puffy asks "Chuck" for something "smooth."[38]

Pervasive suspicions

The November 1994 attack on Tupac near Quad studios was a turning point in American pop music.[39] It premised a "rap battle" between Biggie and Tupac, starting with "Who Shot Ya?"[7][8] Alike raps fans,[14][15] Tupac interpreted "Who Shot Ya?"—although it does not name him[7]—as a barely veiled musical attack on him.[20][23] Yet Biggie never publicly acknowledged that it alludes to him.[7] And in later years, some have asserted that it was not about Tupac at all.[14] Still, during 1995, the ensuing enmity incurred menace and murder via gun play in real life,[40] starting a trend in rap culture, stamping pop culture.[32]

In June 1996, Tupac's answer, "Hit 'Em Up," personal and overt, took lyrical menace to new extreme.[15][24][41] When asked about his own, alleged provocation of it, Biggie asserted that he had written "Who Shot Ya?" well before Tupac was shot.[22] And Biggie never reciprocated by a song release.[7] On why he also had not retaliated physically despite his penchant for menacing rap lyrics, Biggie said, "The whole reason I was being cool from day one was because of that nigga Puff—'cause Puff don't get down like that."[23] Eventually, record producer Chucky Thompson, associated with the song's production, declared that it is not about Tupac.[11]

Falling out

In early 1993, visiting Los Angeles, Biggie met Tupac, and soon joined Tupac and Randy "Stretch" Walker as running, rapping, and recording mates.[42] Yet by late 1993, while Biggie's debut album would take 18 months to finish recording, Tupac was on his second album, his first two big pop hits—#11 in July and #12 in October—and had already starred in 1992 and 1993 films.[43][17] Biggie would recall presence at Tupac's first Rolex purchase and favoring company beyond Biggie's own, then means.[22] In late 1993, in New York City filming a role in the 1994 film Above the Rim, Tupac began mixing with underworld toughs, particularly Jacques "Haitian Jack" Agnant,[44] whom both Biggie as well as Brooklyn boxer Mike Tyson reportedly advised Tupac to avoid.[45] In latter 1996, Biggie reflected, "There's shit that motherfuckers don't know. I saw the situation and how shit was going, and I tried to school the nigga."[46]

According to different, retrospective sources, but none sharing specifics, by November 29, 1994, Biggie and Tupac were simply still "friends,"[47] or had had "smaller kerfuffles,"[24] or, in street rumors, "had a war brewing."[48] Afterward, Tupac would publicly assail his onetime New York running mates and one of Haitian Jack's associates, Jimmy Henchman.[49] Once eventually responding, each complained of Tupac's tendency to place names and accusations in the press and to allegedly create cinematic drama in his life.[18][50][51][49] Interviewed after June 1996, but looking back even farther, Biggie remarked, "He knows when all that shit was going down, I was schooling a nigga to certain things, me and Stretch—God bless the grave."[46] Stretch had been killed, in a shooting officially unresolved, on November 30, 1995.[52] "But he," Biggie said about Tupac, "chose to do the things he wanted to do. There wasn't nothing I could do, but it wasn't like he wasn't my man."[46]

Quad attack

On November 29, 1994, manager James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond, a formidable figure in New York's criminal underworld,[53] hired Tupac to record a song with his client Little Shawn,[54] rapper, Uptown Records, and record producer Bryce Wilson.[19] They waited with Uptown's boss, Andre Harrell,[19] on one of Quad Recording Studios' five floors.[47] Tupac had met Henchman via Jacques "Haitian Jack" Agnant,[55] another artist manager, a New York socialite especially fearsome in the criminal underworld,[56] whom Tupac met and briefly ran with in November 1993.[44]

Soon after midnight, Tupac with Stretch and two other men reached the Times Square building.[55] In the lobby, Tupac was shot resisting successful robbery of roughly $40 000 of jewelry.[17][57] Stretch was uninjured, but one man with them was shot.[57] Tupac later suspected involvement by Stretch,[32][58] but upstairs at Quad instantly blamed Jimmy Henchman.[59] Tupac also sensed that Puffy, working with Biggie on a different Quad floor that night,[47] but visiting Henchman's at the moment,[19] reacted suspiciously, allegedly as did several of the numerous individuals present.[20][21]

Rumors

By way of a November 1994 felony trial for a November 1993 incident, Tupac Shakur was convicted of "forcible touching," hence sexual assault, on December 1, 1994.[16] In January, Vibe magazine's Kevin Powell interviewed Tupac, who was then in New York City's Rikers Island jail awaiting sentencing, and alleged suspicious behaviors by Stretch, Biggie, and Puffy, among others,[60] altogether during, right after, or ever since the Quad attack.[18][20] On February 7, although eligible for probation, Shakur was sentenced to a prison term: maximum 4.5 years, minimum 18 months before parole.[16] And on February 20, Puffy's record label Bad Boy released "Who Shot Ya?"—sounding, in the context, like taunting and menacing of Tupac.[7][14] Especially once Vibe's April 1995 issue featured Powell's January interview of Tupac, massive rumoring ensued.[18][20][21] Biggie found himself widely accused of setting up Tupac to get shot and then rapping about it.[50]

Biggie and Puffy remained publicly silent until Vibe's August 1995 issue,[15] publishing excerpts of interviews by Fab Five Freddy, among hip hop's original ambassadors, collecting responses to Powell's Tupac interview.[18][21] Alike the other interviewees, namely, Andre Harrell, Jimmy Henchman, Little Shawn, and Stretch, both Biggie and Puffy denied any role in the Quad attack and disputed Tupac's recollection of their behaviors.[18] Nearly all of them, including Puffy and Biggie, also criticized Tupac for allegedly acting out as a movie star.[18] Additionally, Puffy questioned Tupac's authenticity as a "thug," whereas Biggie, complaining that people were saying "Who Shot Ya?" was about Tupac, called this reading of the song "crazy" and demanded an apology from Tupac.[18] (Biggie and Puffy then resumed public silence until the June 1996 release of Tupac's answer "Hit 'Em Up" occasioned their interview for Vibe's September 1996 issue.)[21] And meanwhile, Tupac's main music ally since 1991,[52] Stretch sought a "reality check" for Tupac, allegedly guilty of breaking a street "rule that's never to be broken."[18]

In early November 1994, Tupac, at a nightclub with his most recent costar, Hollywood actor Mickey Rourke, met Rourke's friend A. J. Benza, a reporter whereby Tupac's gripes about his former codefendant Haitian Jack promptly appeared in New York's Daily News.[61][62] Word rapidly spread that Tupac would be punished.[45] Jimmy Henchman would call the Quad attack "discipline."[63] For the November 1993 felony case and the November 1994 robbery, Tupac would blame Haitian Jack and Jimmy Henchman.[8][19][49] Depicted as the robbery's mastermind, Henchman would allege that Tupac "makes a situation to sell records, to become that dude who is that force."[49] Amid persistent rumors of his guilt,[51][53] Henchman would tenaciously assert innocence.[19][58][64][65] Arguing that Tupac's vendetta was theatrics to sell records,[19] Henchman recalled ordering Tupac to stop blaming Biggie and Puffy, who "ain't got nothing to do with this."[63] And since Tupac and Puffy both held the gunmen's identifies as shared, open, street knowledge,[20] Puffy accused Tupac of "using niggas as scapegoats."[21]

Questioning the shooting and injuries,[18] Henchman would contend that Tupac had shot himself trying to draw his own gun,[59] much as Stretch had said that a robber's grabbing Tupac's hand, trying to draw the gun, had discharged it.[18][59] Still, a New York City Police Department confidential informant in the Bad Boy or the Uptown label claimed the attack had been contracted by Biggie,[66] a former street hustler likely familiar with Brooklyn gunmen.[48][67] Tupac later alleged that Biggie merely knew of the setup, but failed to warn him of it.[44] In Biggie's account, the Powell interview had suggested Tupac "was just confused more than anything. You get shot and then you go to jail for something you ain't even do—that could twist a nigga's mind up."[50] Biggie speculated that Tupac was "trying to hide" something or "was scared."[50] But once beset by people citing "Who Shot Ya?" portions to incriminate him, Biggie alleged appall, especially while learning, he said, "what really went down."[50] After shooting himself, Tupac was pistol-whipped, but in the aftermath, "was just getting a little bit too happy with the situation, trying to make movies," Biggie said: "Everything was a movie to him."[50]

Tupac's answer

Upon Tupac's September 1996 death, Biggie assessed, “We two individual people, we waged a coastal beef," or "one man against one man made a whole West Coast hate a whole East Coast—and vice versa."[24] Although tasking himself to quell it,[24] Biggie, visiting Los Angeles for the Soul Train Awards, sustained a fatal drive-by shooting in March 1997.[24]

Bicoastal war

While in prison, Tupac reached out to Suge Knight, boss of Death Row Records, based in Los Angeles.[24][44] On August 3, at the 2nd Annual Source Awards ceremony, Suge's brief stage time went partly to support Tupac, but mainly to belittle Puffy for featuring himself on Bad Boy records.[22][68] Once himself on stage, Puffy endorsed East–West unity, but rap's bicoastal rivalry soon dominated rap news.[22][69]

In September, after a Bad Boy–Death Row conflict at a party in Atlanta, a Death Row bodyguard was fatally shot.[22] In October, pending appeal, Tupac was released on bond, flew to Los Angeles, and joined Death Row.[22] In perhaps November, Jimmy Henchman recruited J. Prince, founder of Rap-A-Lot Records, based in Houston, Texas, to mediate a Bad Boy–Death Row collaboration record with Tupac.[59] But the artist entered and blamed them for the Quad shooting, why Suge refused, Henchman alleged.[59]

"Hit 'Em Up"

In December 1995, interviewed by Kevin Powell, Tupac shared lyrics of a new song, "Hit 'Em Up."[20] As to the bicoastal feud, Powell asked, "Don't you think that's gonna make it worse?"[20] Tupac responded, "That's hip hop. Niggas been talking shit all while I was in jail. 'Who Shot Ya?' LL got a song 'I Shot Ya.' Even if it ain't about me, nigga, you should be like, 'I'm not putting it out, 'cause he might think it's about him.' "[23][20][70] "So," Powell asked, "you think Biggie's song 'Who Shot Ya' was about you?"[20] "It just came out too quick. It was just tasteless," Tupac said. "So if he think 'Hit 'Em Up' is about him, hey, whatever."[20][23]

Powell noted, "You mention their names in there. They didn't mention your name in 'Who Shot Ya?' "[20] Tupac contended, "I ain't no punk. I ain't gonna hide behind the facts."[20] In February 1996, Biggie's rap clique the Junior M.A.F.I.A. put out "Get Money," which peaked in May at #17 on the pop singles chart, the Billboard Hot 100.[3] In June, the 2Pac hit pop single "How Do U Want It" arrived with the B side "Hit 'Em Up," featuring rap clique the Outlawz and interpolating elements of "Get Money." Hailing, "West side when we ride," the proclaimed "Bad Boy killers" name and slur mainly Biggie and Puffy, while Tupac challenges, " 'Who shot me,' but y'punks didn't finish / Now you're 'bout to feel the wrath of a menace."[8][21]

Multiple dismissals

In Vibe's August 1995 issue, Puffy and Biggie indicated that they lack any connections to the November 1994 shooting of Tupac.[22] And eventually, record producer Nashiem Myrick—who, along with Puffy, had produced "Who Shot Ya?"—asserted, “We have no reason, no motive, at all, to have set 'Pac up. What's the motive? What's the issue? It's no issue. So, nah."[14] But after August 1995, a series of demeaning, menacing, and homicidal events ensued, and was capped by Tupac's purported answer to "Who Shot Ya?": his own B side "Hit 'Em Up," released in June 1996, a massive hit even on New York City's streets.[23]

Puffy and Biggie responded in Vibe's September 1996 issue.[21] Puffy summarized, "All shit aside, Tupac is a nice good-hearted guy," actually "a nice guy from "New York."[21] Denying that he felt threatened, and depicting himself as victim of merely "a lot of moviemaking and a lot of entertainment drama," Puffy remarked about real threats, "There ain't no record gonna be made about it."[23] Himself asked about "Who Shot Ya?" as motivating "Hit 'Em Up," Biggie asserted, "I wrote that motherfucking song way before Tupac got shot. It was supposed to be the intro to that shit Keith Murray was doing on Mary J. Blige's joint. But Puff said it was too hard."[23]

In 2009, an MTV News article, by Rahman Dukes, headlined, "Biggie himself clears up 'Who Shot Ya' misunderstanding in this long-lost freestyle."[14] Dukes prefaces that Lil' Cease of Biggie's group Junior M.A.F.I.A. as well as New York rap DJ and record producer Mister Cee denied it as a Tupac taunt.[14] Dukes adds, "Hell, even Diddy"—formerely Puffy—"shot down those claims. Only the late, great B.I.G. could clear matters up, but we all know that's not possible."[14] Still, researching for the 2009 biopic Notorious, Dukes and coworkers found, in "a freestyle rap," "a few bars," "a bit of hard-core evidence" that Dukes merely refers listeners to judge.[14]

Nonetheless, during 2010, XXL magazine, listing the song among "8 Subliminal Diss Records that No One Claims," meanwhile commented, "Though Biggie and his entire camp have continuously denied that 'Who Shot Ya?' was directed towards 2Pac, the timing of its release and the perceived subliminal shots (no pun intended) lead us to believe that this was most likely a diss record."[71] In late 2014, "Chucky" Thomas, a record producer of Mary J. Blige's second album, My Life—reportedly the origin of the "Who Shot Ya?" recording—asserted, "I still have that recording with me today, and him saying that phrase had absolutely nothing to do with Tupac."[11]

Releases

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Bad Boy Entertainment advertisement, Vibe, 2004 Aug;12(8):75.
  2. ^ a b c d "The Notorious B.I.G.: 'Big Poppa' ", AllMusic.com, Netaktion LLC, visited 6 Jun 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "Chart history: The Notorious B.I.G.", Billboard.com, Prometheus Global Media, LLC, visited 31 May 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d "Notorious B.I.G.: Still the illest", MTV.com, MTV Networks, 9 Mar 2006, archived elsewhere 24 May 2012, including page 2, Jay-Z: "The world stopped when he dropped 'Who Shot Ya'," archived simultaneously.
  5. ^ a b c d Clive Davis with Anthony DeCurtis, The Soundtrack of My Life (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2012), p 409: "In 1999 Bad Boy released Born Again, a posthumous album of Biggie material that consisted of unfinished songs, previously unreleased material completed by collaborations with other rappers, and the controversial and hugely influential song 'Who Shot Ya?' "
  6. ^ a b c d John Kennedy, "Biggie's 'Who Shot Ya' was made for Mary J. Blige, according to Funkmaster Flex", Vibe.com, Prometheus Global Media, LLC, 28 Oct 2014: "Funkmaster Flex plans to drop bombs on your bookshelf. The legendary rap jockey is partnering with journalist Karen Hunter and publisher Simon Schuster for a book of unbelievable stories about The Notorious B.I.G. . . . But the snippet that will make rap heads swivel concerns Big Poppa's most infamous classic: 'The song "Who Shot Ya" was originally an intro for Mary J. Blige’s album. Uptown/MCA said it was too hard. The song in its original form had a verse from Big, Keith Murray and LL Cool J, though LL never did his verse. The song still exists!' "
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Shea Serrano, The Rap Year Book: The Most Important Rap Song From Every Year Since 1979, Discussed, Debated, and Deconstructed (New York: Abrams Image, 2015), indexing "Who Shot Ya".
  8. ^ a b c d e f "Tupac and Biggie's battle songs", Los Angeles Times, 17 Mar 2008.
  9. ^ Anthony J. Fonseca, Listen to Rap! Exploring a Musical Genre, in James E. Perone, series editor, Exploring Musical Genres (Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2019), p 154.
  10. ^ a b Martin E. Connor, The Musical Artistry of Rap (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2018), pp 128–129.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Chris Williams, interviewer, with Carl "Chuck" Thompson & Prince Charles Alexander, interviewees, "Key tracks: Mary J. Blige’s My Life", Red Bull Music Academy website, Red Bull, 25 Nov 2014.
  12. ^ a b c d Alvin Blanco, The Wu-Tang Clan and RZA: A Trip Through Hip Hop's 36 Chambers, in Juleyka Lantigua Williams, editor, series Hip Hop in America (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2011), p 52.
  13. ^ a b c Robert Gordon, Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion (New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2013), p 429.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rahman Dukes & MTV News staff, "Biggie himself clears up 'Who Shot Ya' misunderstanding in this long-lost freestyle", MTV News, MTV.com, 7 Jan 2009.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h Joel Anderson, "The B-side that deepened Biggie and Tupac's rift", Slate, 13 Nov 2019.
  16. ^ a b c For a November, 18, 1993 incident in his Midtown Manhattan hotel suite, Tupac Shakur was convicted of groping, hence sexual assault. "Rapper 2 pac charged with sex attack", UPI, 19 Nov 1993. George James, "Rapper faces prison term for sex abuse", New York Times, 8 Feb 1995, § B, p 1
  17. ^ a b c Malcolm Gladwell, "Rapper Tupac Shakur robbed, shot in N.Y.", Washington Post, 1 Dec 1994.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Fab Five Freddy, interviewer, "Mail: Tupac Shakur: The final chapter", Vibe, 1995 Aug;3(6):25–29, where Vibe publishes the most relevant responses to Tupac's January comments published in Vibe's April issue: Andre Harrell & Biggie Smalls on p 25, James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond, aka "Booker", on pp 25–26, rapper Little Shawn on p 26, Sean "Puffy" Combs on p 27, and Randy "Stretch" Walker on pp 27 & 29.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g Jayson Rodriquez, "Game manager Jimmy Rosemond recalls events the night Tupac was shot, says session was 'all business' ", MTV News, MTV.com, 31 Mar 2008.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Kevin Powell, "Tupac Shakur", in Vibe Street Lit, The Vibe Q: Raw and Uncut (New York: Kensington Books, 2007), pp 99–100 reviewing the interview history, pp 110–112 on Tupac's song "Hit 'Em Up" versus Biggie's song "Who Shot Ya?" and related.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g h i The Blackspot, "Stakes is high", Vibe, 1996 Sep;4(7):100–104, p 100.
  22. ^ a b c d e f g h The Blackspot, "Stakes is high", Vibe, 1996 Sep;4(7):100–104, p 103.
  23. ^ a b c d e f g h i The Blackspot, "Stakes is high", Vibe, 1996 Sep;4(7):100–104, p 104.
  24. ^ a b c d e f g h Rachel Chang, "How Biggie and Tupac went from friends to music's biggest rivals", Biography.com, A&E Television Networks, LLC, originally 12 Sep 2019, updated 19 May 2020.
  25. ^ Carlos D. Morrison & Celnisha L. Dangerfield, "Tupac Shakur" & "East Coast versus West Coast", in Mickey Hess, editor, Icons of Hip Hop: An Encyclopedia of the Movement, Music, and Culture, Volume 1 (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2007), pp 392 & 405.
  26. ^ David W. Brown, "Who Shot Ya?", The Harvard Crimson website, Harvard University, 19 Mar 1997.
  27. ^ Fox Entertainment, "First look: Ice-T talks about conflict In hip-hop", Fox @ YouTube "Verified" channel, 15 Sep 2017.
  28. ^ Joel Whitburn, Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–2002 (Menomenee Falls, WI: Record Research, 2003), p 516.
  29. ^ Christopher R. Weingarten, "Watch Living Colour protest gun violence via Biggie cover in new video", RollingStone.com, Penske Business Media, LLC, 13 Sep 2016.
  30. ^ For example, it has been employed to represent the entire riddle of who fatally shot Tupac and Biggie ["Who Shot Ya?", Code Switch, NPR blog, 18 Dec 2019], in the title of an article in a healthcare journal [J.B. Richardson Jr., C. St. Vil & C. Cooper, "Who shot ya? How emergency departments can collect reliable police shooting data", J Urban Health, 2016 Apr;93(Suppl 1):8–31], and in the title of a book collecting photographs of the rap community [Ernie Paniccioli, photographer, Kevin Powell, editor, Who Shot Ya?: Three Decades of Hip Hop Photography (New York: HarperCollins, 2013)].
  31. ^ J. R. Reynolds, "Combs' Bad Boy label makes good", Billboard, 1995 May 20;107(20):18,23.
  32. ^ a b c Derrick Parker with Matt Diehl, Notorious C.O.P.: The Inside Story of the Tupac, Biggie, and Jam Master Jay Investigations from NYPD's first "Hip-Hop Cop" (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2006), p 113.
  33. ^ Hit Singles: Top 20 Charts from 1954 to the Present Day, 5th edn. (San Francisco: Backbeat Books, 2004), p 341.
  34. ^ Suzanne Baptiste's "Rhythm section" & chart "Hot Rap Singles", Billboard, 1995 Feb 25;107(8):30.
  35. ^ a b c The sound recording is at "The Notorious B.I.G.—Who Shot Ya? (official audio)", The Notorious B.I.G. @ YouTube "Official Artist Channel", 20 Sep 2019. The written lyrics, including Puffy's lines, albeit at perhaps slight discrepancy with the sound recording, are at "Notorious B.I.G.—'Who Shot Ya' lyrics", MetroLyrics.com, CBS Interactive Inc., 2020.
  36. ^ Jessica McKinny, "The lost art of the hype man", Vibe.com, Prometheus Global Media, LLC, 17 Jul 2017.
  37. ^ Derrick Parker with Matt Diehl, Notorious C.O.P.: The Inside Story of the Tupac, Biggie, and Jam Master Jay Investigations from NYPD's first "Hip-Hop Cop" (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2006), p 98.
  38. ^ a b c The sound recording is at "K. Murray Interlude", Mary J Blige @ YouTube "Official Artist Channel", 31 Jul 2018. Apart from Puffy's closing words spoken, the entire vocals are Keith Murray rapping, approximately, "Catch this word; it's bubonic plaque / in your head, back, chest, arms, and legs. / When I'm coming through, grab your cranium. / For ultimatum, son, I faze subterranean / My subliminals mix with criminal chemicals. / Got more milky syllables—". Here, shuffling sounds emerge and someone, perhaps Puffy, voices to "Chuck". (N.b., the above quote blends the apparent audio with the clearly, partially contradictory lyrics republished at "K. Murray Interlude': Mary J. Blige", Lyrics.com, LyricFind, visited 27 May 2020, in lieu of CBS Interactive's MetroLyrics.com, which seemingly lacks an entry for this track.)
  39. ^ Chuck Philips, "James 'Jimmy Henchman' Rosemond implicated himself in 1994 Tupac Shakur attack: Court testimony", Village Voice, 12 Jun 2012.
  40. ^ Cathy Scott, The Killing of Tuapc Shakur, 3rd edn. (Las Vegas: Huntington Press, 2014), p 241.
  41. ^ Derrick Parker with Matt Diehl, Notorious C.O.P.: The Inside Story of the Tupac, Biggie, and Jam Master Jay Investigations from NYPD's first "Hip-Hop Cop" (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2006), p 125.
  42. ^ In April 1993, Uptown Records had released the film Who's the Man?'s soundtrack, bearing Biggie's debut single "Party and Bullshit." Tupac played the song repeatedly on set while filming with Janet Jackson the July 1993 film Poetic Justice. Biggie, visiting Los Angeles, asked a local drug dealer for introduction. Tupac welcomed Biggie and Biggie's friends to his own house. Soon, at Tupac's shows, Biggie was on stage with him and Randy "Stretch" Walker. Stretch, since 1988 a rapper and producer—in the Queens, New York, rap/production trio Live Squad—was Tupac's main music ally since 1991. Tupac, Stretch, and Biggie recorded the songs "Runnin' from the Police," also featuring Dramacydal, and the song "House of Pain."
  43. ^ Biggie's debut album, Ready to Die, released in September 1994, took about 18 months to finish under Puffy's fledgling label. Reportedly, Biggie asked Tupac to manage his career, but Tupac assured him that Puffy would make him a star. "Biggie looked like he was wearing the same pair of Timberlands for a year," recalls Dramacydal's E.D.I. Mean. " 'Pac was staying at the Waldorf‑Astoria and buying Rolexes and dating Madonna," he contrasts.
  44. ^ a b c d Ben Westoff, "How Tupac and Biggie went from friends to deadly rivals", Noisey, Vice.com, 12 Sep 2016.
  45. ^ a b Tayannah Lee McQuillar & Fred L. Johnson III, Tupac Shakur: The Life and Times of an American Icon (Philadelphia: Da Capo Press, 2010), pp 148–149.
  46. ^ a b c The Blackspot, "Stakes is high", Vibe, 1996 Sep;4(7):100–104, p 103, quoting Biggie, about Tupac, in a continuous block: "He can't front of me. As much as he may come off as a Biggie hater, he knows. He knows when all that shit was going down, I was schooling a nigga to certain things, me and Stretch—God bless the grave. But he chose to do the things he wanted to do. There wasn't nothing I could do, but it wasn't like he wasn't my man."
  47. ^ a b c Candace Sandy & Dawn Marie Daniels, How Long Will They Mourn Me?: The Life and Legacy of Tupac Shakur (New York: One World Books/Random House, 2006), p 54 on Tupac's earlier music alliance with Biggie; p 53 on Quad Recording Studios' five floors with Biggie's Junior M.A.F.I.A. on one floor, Biggie and Puffy on another floor, and Little Shawn, apparently with Jimmy Henchman and Andre Harrell, on yet another floor that night; pp 53–55 on Tupac's arrival with Stretch, one Freddie Moore, and Tupac's halfsister Sekyiwa Shakur's boyfriend Zayd, and an outline of the robbery/shooting.
  48. ^ a b Derrick Parker with Matt Diehl, Notorious C.O.P.: The Inside Story of the Tupac, Biggie, and Jam Master Jay Investigations from NYPD's first "Hip-Hop Cop" (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2006), pp 111–112.
  49. ^ a b c d Ethan Brown, "The score", Vibe, 2005 Dec;12(14):182–187,220–222, p 221.
  50. ^ a b c d e f Vibe's August 1995 edition quotes Biggie saying, in part, "When I read the interview, I felt like he was just shitting on everybody. I always said that he was the realest nigga in the game. I don't know what he was trying to hide, or if he was scared. I figured that with the shit he was talking in Vibe, he was just confused more than anything. You get shot and then you go to jail for something you ain't even do—that could twist a nigga's mind up" [3(6):25]. Biggie continues, "And then the story just completely got switched around: niggas saying I set him up and I'm the one that got him shot. They're saying that my record 'Who Shot Ya?' is about him. That shit is crazy. That song was finished way before Tupac got shot. Niggas was taking little pieces of the song and trying to add it to the story, and that shit is crazy" [3(6):25]. The publication withholds other of Biggie's comments that the interviewer, Fab Five Freddy, shared about 22 years later in a third-party documentary, Who Shot Biggie & Tupac? (USA: Critical Content, 2017). This is excerpted as "Ice-T & Soledad listen to the Biggie interview about the Quad shooting", Fox @ YouTube "Verified" channel, Fox Entertainment, 22 Sep 2017, a video clip whose audio apparently itself stitches snippets of Biggie talking: "It went like this, you know what I'm saying. I was upstairs at Quad. We in the back, chilling. Next thing, we hearing, 'Yo, Tupac got shot.' He said that I set him up. Man, that is shit is crazy. I don't know what he was trying to hide, or if he was scared. I don't know what was going on in that nigga's head. But I want an apology, especially when I found out what really went down: that he shot himself, that he ain't really get shot in his head: he got pistol-whipped. You know what I'm saying? And I'm hearing all this, and I'm like, 'Damn.' I think the nigga was just getting a little bit too happy with this situation, trying to make movies. Everything was a movie to him."
  51. ^ a b Eventually interviewed, Jacques "Haitian Jack" Agnant admitted having been irritated by Tupac's comments in the Daily News, but asserted having thought them trivial enough, having put out word to not attack Tupac, and yet receiving an associate's call claiming credit for the Quad attack within a half hour after it [Soledad O'Brien & Ice-T, interviewers, "Haitian Jack", Who Shot Biggie & Tupac? (USA: Critical Content, 2017), originally aired 24 Sep 2017, Fox network, Fox Entertainment]. This alleged associate is rumored to be James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond [Rocko Rathon, "Haitian Jack speaks on 1994 Tupac Shakur shooting, insinuates Jimmy Henchman's involvement", The Source, 6 Feb 2015].
  52. ^ a b Charisse Jones, "Rapper slain after chase in Queens", New York Times, 1 Dec 1995.
  53. ^ a b Jason Rodriquez & XXL staff, "Pit of snakes: Tupac's Quad studios shooting", XXL.com, 16 Sep 2011, originally Sep 2011 XXL issue.
  54. ^ Little Shawn is known for the July 1995 single, featuring Biggie, "Dom Pérignon" (Uptown, 1995).
  55. ^ a b Tayannah Lee McQuillar & Fred L. Johnson III, Tupac Shakur: The Life and Times of an American Icon (Philadelphia: Da Capo Press, 2010), pp 149–151.
  56. ^ Born in Haiti, Jacques "Haitian Jack" Agnant had been a stickup kid in New York City, and, reputedly fearless, specialized in robbing drug dealers [Derrick Parker with Matt Diehl, Notorious C.O.P.: The Inside Story of the Tupac, Biggie, and Jam Master Jay Investigations from NYPD's first "Hip-Hop Cop" (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2006), index "Haitian Jack", specifically pp 96–97 & 110–111]. Later a manager and promoter on New York's music scence, he was figure fearsome, yet had a persona magnetic [Lesley Goldberg, "Haitian Jack hip-hop miniseries in the works (exclusive)", The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Jan 2017]. Among Haitian Jack's associates stradding both the music scene and the criminal underworld was James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond, and the two were reputed to share a specialty of robbery and extortion of music artists [Jason Rodriquez & XXL staff, "Pit of snakes: Tupac's Quad studios shooting", XXL.com, 16 Sep 2011 / XXL, Sep 2011].
  57. ^ a b "Rap artist Tupac Shakur shot in robbery", New York Times, 30 Nov 1994, § B, p 2.
  58. ^ a b Vladislav Lyubovny, interviewer, the former Mutah "Napoleon" Beale, interviewee, "Flashback: Napoleon (Outlawz) on Jimmy Henchman threatening 2Pac", VladTV–DJVlad @ YouTube "Verified" channel, 12 Nov 2018.
  59. ^ a b c d e Ethan Brown, "The score", Vibe, 2005 Dec;12(14):182–187,220–222, p 220.
  60. ^ Among those that Tupac initially suspected was Andre Harrell, but with no reasonable connection beyond merely his presence awaiting the recording session, and not even the song "Who Shot Ya?" to his credit, he soon vanished even from Tupac's allegations.
  61. ^ Connie Bruck, "The takedown of Tupac", The New Yorker, 30 Jun 1997 online, 7 Jul 1997 print.
  62. ^ On April 11, 1992, a Texas youth shot dead a state trooper and would claim influence by Tupac's debut album, November 1991's 2Pacalypse Now. And on October 31, 1993, in Atlanta, Tupac Shakur himself shot two off-duty police officers, but the charges would be dropped. On November 18, 1993, Shakur, his road manager Charles Fuller, 23, of California, and one Ricardo Brown, 30, of Florida, were arrested at Tupac's suite in the Le Parker Meridien Hotel, in Midtown, Manhattan, whereas another alleged assailant escaped [C. Wolff, "Rap performer is charged in Midtown sex attack", New York Times, 20  Nov 1993, § 1, p 25]. "Ricardo Brown", otherwise called "Nigel" amid the case, was Jacques "Haitian Jack" Agnant [R. Perez-Pena, "Wounded rapper gets mixed verdict in sex-abuse case", NYT, 2 Dec 1994, § A, p 1]. Tupac had first met him that month, November 1993. But just ahead of the November 1994 trial, codefendant Agnant's motion for separate prosecution was granted via his attorney, known for alliance with the Police Benevolent Association, intensifying Tupac's suspicion of Agnant as a federal informant who had helped set him up. On November 6, the night day before trial was to start, Tupac was at a nightclub with Mickey Rourke, his costar in Bullet, filmed partly in Brooklyn during 1994, and met Rourke's friend A. J. Benza, a reporter who then published Tupac's suspicions and complaints about Jack in New York's Daily News [Candace Sandy & Dawn Marie Daniels, How Long Will They Mourn Me?: The Life and Legacy of Tupac Shakur (New York: One World Books/Random House, 2006), pp 52–53].
  63. ^ a b The interview is reported by Ethan Brown, "The score", Vibe, 2005 Dec;12(14):182–187,220–222, p 221. Henchman recalls being in Los Angeles with "some Crip dudes" at the House of Blues and confronting Tupac in December 1995. Henchman recalls uttering, "Dude, you gotta stop telling people that shit. For real, nigga, I don't give a fuck—it could go down right now. Why you blaming Puffy and Biggie? Them niggas ain't got nothing to do with this." Henchman recalls asserting, "Nobody came to rob you. They came to discipline you. That's what happened." Henchman recalls Suge looking over and asking, " 'Pac, everything all right?" But Henchman assesses, " 'Pac knew better than to tell him that something was wrong, because I was so angry." (The "discipline" is reputedly for talking to a reporter about Haitian Jack [Jason Rodriquez, "Pit of snakes", XXL.com, 16 Sep 2011/XXL issue Sep 2011].)
  64. ^ Sha Be Allah, "Jimmy Henchman addresses 2Pac & Dexter Isaac blaming him for shooting", The Source, 19 Jun 2017.
  65. ^ In 2011, prisoner Dexter Isaac confessed, directly to the media, as one of the Quad attack's gunmen and alleged that "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond had hired him for the job [Matthew Perpetua, "Man claims responsibility. . .", RollingStone.com,15 Jun 2011; Sean Michaels, "Prisoner confesses. . .", TheGuardian.com, 16 Jun 2011]. But by 2019, Issac, promoting a book, implicated Stretch, too, whereupon Tupac's brother-in-law Zayd, present during the Quad attack, alleged that Isaac was wholly lying, and certainly not one of the gunmen [Staff writer, "2Pac's brother-in-law says Dexter Issac lied about Quad studio shooting", VladTV, 1 Jan 2019]. Meanwhile, in June 2012, media reported that to barter for concessions in a current case, Rosemond admitted his own guilt behind the Quad attack [C. Philips, "James 'Jimmy Henchman' Rosemond implicated himself. . .", Village Voice, 12 Jun 2012; D Greenwald/Billboard, "James Rosemond admits. . .", The Hollywood Reporter, 25 June 2012]. But Rosemond soon reasserted innocence in the Quad attack [Staff, "Jimmy Henchman's denies. . .", RollingStone.com, 29 Jun 2012]. And in fact, Rosemond's alleged admission was a prosecutor's misstatement that, going uncontested at the time, had been entered into court record [TSG staff, "Drug kingpin did not admit assault on Tupac Shakur", The Smoking Gun website, TSG Industries, Inc., 3 Jul 2012].
  66. ^ Derrick Parker with Matt Diehl, Notorious C.O.P.: The Inside Story of the Tupac, Biggie, and Jam Master Jay Investigations from NYPD's first "Hip-Hop Cop" (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2006), pp 96 & 111.
  67. ^ Derrick Parker with Matt Diehl, Notorious C.O.P.: The Inside Story of the Tupac, Biggie, and Jam Master Jay Investigations from NYPD's first "Hip-Hop Cop" (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2006), p 115.
  68. ^ Nadirah Simmons, "Today in 1995: The 2nd Annual Source Awards makes hip hop history", The Source, 3 Aug 2016.
  69. ^ Derrick Parker with Matt Diehl, Notorious C.O.P.: The Inside Story of the Tupac, Biggie, and Jam Master Jay Investigations from NYPD's first "Hip-Hop Cop" (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2006), pp 113–114.
  70. ^ "Tupac Talks 'Hit Em Up' Vs. 'Who Shot Ya?' (Pg. 2)". Vibe. 2010-09-13. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
  71. ^ "8 Subliminal Diss Records That No One Claims". Xxlmag.Com. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
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