The unbelievable career request Biggie Smalls once made
Biggie Smalls and 2Pac (Tupac Shakur) have gone down in history as enemies who despised each other. However, that is a highly simplistic narrative that has somehow managed to become public consensus iver the years. Many who knew the two MCs will know that their friendship was something that deteriorated slowly over time and, as such, there are some incredible stories about the two before things turned sour.
Although 2Pac, alongside Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg, was a powerhouse of the West Coast, the All Eyez On Me creator was born in New York and, during his twenties, went back to the city regularly. Whether it was to record music, shoot films or attend award ceremonies, he spent a fair amount of time on the East Coast.
That said, before he signed with Death Row, as the musician that released Strictly 4 My NIGGAZ, 2Pac would visit New York, not because he had to, but because he wanted to hang out with Biggie Smalls, and he regularly did.
In fact, the two became so close that, Biggie allegedly asked 2Pac to become his manager. During an appearance on the Murder Master Music Show, journalist Ben Westhoff disclosed that while writing his book Original Gangstas, he discovered a story about Biggie’s request.
Speaking to the host, Prezident Bejda, Westhoff commenced, “People forget that Tupac was already blowing up, already a pretty big star when Biggie was just kind of getting started.” 2pac had already released two major label projects by the time Ready To Die was released in 1994.
The journalist continued, “Tupac kind of took Biggie under his wing and tried to teach him everything he knew, kind of took him to school. Biggie’s career wasn’t taking off as fast as he hoped it would. And so he actually asked Tupac if he would be his manager.”
Although it was a big ask, 2Pac turned down the offer as he believed that Diddy, then known as Puff Daddy had more knowledge of the business than he did. Still, it was the right decision as Biggie became the star of Bad Boy within a few years.
2Pac did the Brooklyn icon a favour by rejecting his manager request. However, according to Westhoff, their initial friendship is what made ‘Pac’s hatred so potent when he got shot by what he thought were Bad Boy affiliates in 1995.
Speaking about how the situation got so bad so quickly, Westhoff explained, “After he got shot, Tupac believed that Biggie knew about it in advance, knew it was going to happen. That made him doubly mad because he mentored Biggie so much and helped him, and he really believed that he double-crossed him.”
Although 2Pac never took up Biggie’s offer, it is strange to think that the latter liked ‘Pac so much he wanted him to control his career.