2Pac and Biggie Smalls were, at one point in time, friends, and before becoming involved with Death Row Records, it is rumoured that the West Coast rapper was considering signing with New York-based label Bad Boy Entertainment.
In an in-depth interview with 2Pac’s stepbrother and Thug Life member, Mopreme Shakur, the lyricist unveiled how the ‘Dear Mama’ musician nearly signed with Bad Boy. Speaking to the host, Mopreme stated, “We were cool with them at one point. There was a point ‘Pac was considering going to Bad Boy before his relationship with Death Row. He wanted to be on a Black label. He wanted to be with his people. He wanted to be with the brothers. He supported Black business.”
He continued, “There was a period where we were all cool. Over time, things happened and ‘Pac started seeing things. Biggie was on Puffy’s label so with them two, it was Puffy calling the shots. There was some legitimate problems there.”
During the Art Of Dialogue interview, Mopremem also spoke about the friendship between 2Pac and the former Thug Life member Big Stretch, who was present when Shaur got shot at the Quad Recording Studios in Manhattan.
Opening up about the late Big Stretch, who was murdered in 1995, Mopreme expressed, “Pac and Stretch were best friends. Stretch was with him when he got shot at Quad. After that, Stretch went on tour with Biggie. So anybody familiar with our clique understood that that’s weird. If you were rolling with ‘Pac, you were rolling with ‘Pac. He’s kinda jealous like that.”
He continued, “You down with me you down with the best. Considering ‘Pac was having issues with Biggie, it did not look right. Stretch was a big dude… But ‘Pac claimed that as soon as them n*ggas pulled out he dropped down. It was disturbing to hear that and think about [it] because the whole family loved Stretch.”
It is hard for hip-hop fans to imagine Shakur signing with the label he went on to have an infamous feud with. However, his love for Biggie Smalls prior to his 1994 Quad Studio shooting was evidently strong. You can watch the Mopreme Shakur interview below.
