Tupac Shakur and Jay-Z had very few interactions over the years. In the mid-1990s, few outside New York knew of the Brooklyn rapper, and he was nowhere near as prominent as Pac. However, the Roc-A-Fella emcee still had a name in the industry, and his affiliation with Biggie Smalls was problematic for 2Pac.
In an interview with DJ Vlad, Diddy’s former bodyguard Gene Deal spoke about the issue Tupac Shakur had with Jay-Z (real name Shawn Carter) and his response to knowing that he would be performing in Las Vegas while he was there. In June 1996, Jay-Z released his debut album, Reasonable Doubt, which featured the track ‘Brooklyn’s Finest’ featuring Biggie Smalls.
While promoting the project, Jay-Z performed a number of shows, one of which was in Las Vegas. Prior to his death in September 1996, 2pac (real name Tupac Shakur) was spending time in the Nevada city with his entourage. However, when the ‘California Love’ musician caught wind of Carter being booked to perform, he attempted to shut it down.
Shakur contacted Jay-Z’s team and bluntly expressed that he didn’t even want Carter to leave his hotel room and stated that he would make sure at all costs that the then-young Brooklyn lyricist couldn’t perform. However, according to Gene Deal, a deal was made between Suge Knight and some of Carter’s New York affiliates.
Elaborating on the situation, Deal explained, “Jay was going to try to perform in Vegas, but Pac was in Vegas with him and his dudes, and they wasn’t gonna let Jay-Z come out the hotel. They found out where Jay was at. Jay wasn’t gonna come out the hotel!”
He continued, “He was gonna miss that performance, but Dame Dash called some people, and it got back to Chaz [Williams]. So they made some phone calls, and Suge Knight said ‘That ain’t me, that’s Pac with his wild self! I’ma call him off Jay.’ So Suge called Pac, and they let Jay do his concert. Jay was scared as a muthaf*cka!”
You can listen to Deal explain why 2pac had a disdain for Carter in the video below.
