In 1994, the attempted murder of West Coast emcee 2pac in Manhattan started what can only be described as a stain upon hip-hop. The East Coast and West Coast war was vicious and ugly. However, even as he got verbally attacked, Biggie Smalls (real name Christopher Wallace) never responded to the antagonistic 2Pac.
In 1996, prior to his murder, 2Pac (real name Tupac Shakur) decided to record one of the most savage diss records in the history of rap entitled ‘Hit Em Up.’ Many close to Shakur, including Snoop Dogg, hated the song. However, he proceeded to release the heinous record aimed at Biggie Smalls.
The diss song focuses not only on the legendary Brooklyn artist but also on his entourage and then-wife Faith Evans. Rapping verses such as, “First off, fuck your bitch and the clique you claim” and “You claim to be a player, but I fucked your wife,” the lyrics were wicked.
But, in an Instagram interview with Fatman Scoop, the former Junior M.A.F.I.A rapper, Lil Cease, unveiled that Biggie Smalls actively prevented his entourage from responding to the track.
Detailing what happened in the aftermath of the diss track’s release, Lil Cease (real name James Lloyd) unveiled that every member of Bad Boy was mad and that Wallace was the only person unphased, disclosing, “At the very beginning, Big didn’t rush in and make a diss track. He was like, ‘Nah.'”
The emcee continued, “He told everybody, ‘If you make a record, I’m not fuckin’ with you. Don’t call me, don’t fuck with me. If you respond to anything, you will be cut off.'” During the interview, Cease unveiled that everybody from Mase to Lil Kim was ready to reply, but Biggie told them to back off.
Lloyd had approached the Biggie in 1996 with a response. However, he simply stated, “Nah, we not doing that.” According to Cease, Wallace never replied to ‘Hit Em Up’ because he wanted to bury the hatchet with Shakur and get on the same page.
Cease recalled how Shakur’s death deeply hurt Wallace as the opportunity for them to repair their previous friendship never presented itself to him. Clarifying to Scoop and to the world why Biggie remained so peaceful, Cease concluded by saying, “Big never really spoke on it, never really made records about it because he knew there was room to fix it — and he wanted to fix it. I know that was his sign he wanted to fix it by not escalating it.”
You can watch Lloyd explain the situation to Fatman Scoop below.
