Chino XL
Background: There really isn't that much background needed on this rivalry. Basically Chino XL likes to put metaphors in his songs and if you don't recognize the name, he had a extremely brief hit last year with the song "Kreep." Anyway, in one of Chino XL's songs, he says "...or you will get fucked like Tupac did in jail." For the record, it was Wendy Williams of Hot 97 in NYC who started that rumor.
Comments: I don't have much to say on this matter. I really didn't even know who Chino XL was (along with the rest of the world) before Tupac spoke out against him. I think he can come up with some funny metaphors in his songs but the Tupac thing was going way too far.
 

Dr Dre

Background: This was kind of a strange rivalry because Tupac and Dre were thought to be close especially after California Love. I have heard three points of view on this though. Tupac says it was because Dre wasn't doing anything at Death Row and was taking credit for other people's work. Tupac didn't like him for this and also for the fact that Dre never appeared at Snoop's trial to support him although it seems that Tupac was more upset over this than Snoop. Dre never really commented on it except he said that Tupac and him never hung out and Tupac didn't know him so he shouldn't be dissing him. The final story on this was really shocking and came from Suge Knight in an interview which can be seen on the Thug Immortal video. Suge Knight doesn't name names but he basically says that Dre is gay and that Tupac didn't want him to be a part of Death Row because Dre had a lover working for him while he was married with children. I suggest watching this interview for the full story but this is consistent with Tupac calling him gay on several songs. Specific quotes included "that nigga sittin' up in his mansion suckin' dick, eatin' pussy" plus in a number of his songs he says stuff like "we shook Dre punk ass, now we out of the closet" and "check your sexuality it's fruity as this alize" along with "California Love Part II without gay ass Dre."
 

Comments: I used to think Dre was great. I still think that the Chronic is one of the best albums out but I think Dre is very overrated. To me, the Chronic wouldn't have been anything without the help of Snoop and the Dogg Pound. People tell me all the time that Dre made Snoop and I agree to a point but I think Snoop made Dre as a solo artist. Dre needed NWA to be big, he needed the DPG and Snoop to be big solo, and recently tried to use other artists to get big again with the Aftermath. I think the Chronic should have not been titled Dr. Dre because there was so much more input on there besides himself. He took upcoming artists with a ton of talent and used them to make the record sales for himself. Then when they got big like Snoop did, he left Death Row to find new upcoming artists to boost his career again and make himself look good. Just look at what he titled his new album, Dr. Dre-The Aftermath when in actuality he only had two songs on that album. I was happy to see it fail because if he wants people to keep thinking he is so good, he needs to do a solo album without using others as a crutch and that includes Ice Cube who would have been with Dre on Helter Skelter for support. To sum this up, I think Dre is a great producer who is good with beats but the next time you talk about what a great rapper Dre is, look at all the talented artists that have made him that way.

LL Cool J
 
 
Background: I want to address this rivalry first because it has gotten a lot of attention recently on the message board. Tupac always showed LL Cool J nothing but respect. He even praised LL in the song "Old School" on Me Against the World. There really isn't that much background on this rivalry but LL released a B-side song as kind of a sequel to Biggie's B-side "Who Shot Ya?" called "I Shot Ya" directed at Tupac where he praises Mobb Deep for dissing Tupac. Tupac has an unreleased song called "Little Homies" where he takes shots at LL but the actual cause of this beef still remains a mystery.
 

Comments: I have hated LL Cool J for a long time and long before I knew about the beef between him and Tupac. When I heard about the "I Shot Ya" song, I really busted out laughing. I remember when LL had that beef with Ice-T and Ice-T absolutely crushed him. He thinks he is some bad boy rapper when all he is is a mainstream MTV clone. I am sorry but I don't think he makes his image any harder by dissing Tupac. He also gave Tupac no respect at the Grammy's after Tupac was murdered. LL is Bad Boy affiliated too because Puffy was his management when he did Walking With A Panther and Puffy is producing his new album. I think LL needs to go get another weak sitcom or go do another Gap commercial because we all know that you can't spell "seLL out" without "LL".
 
 

NAS
 

Background: It is kind of tough to get a good explanation on this rivalry but I originally heard that it started when Nas was talking bad about Tupac in an interview. Then I later heard that they originally met at Club 662 in Las Vegas but it seems by Tupac's lyrics that it was based on Nas stealing Tupac's style, beats, and Nas trying to act like Tupac. I think Nas's affiliation with Bad Boy may have also played a factor along with him working with Dre.

Comments: I never really took this rivalry seriously just because I figured Nas to be a mainstream one hit wonder which it appears he is although it should be mentioned that Nas had a great underground hit with Illmatic which scored 5 mics in The Source.. I think he got put in check when he was confronted by Tupac at a music awards ceremony and Suge Knight ended up slapping Nas. I really don't have much more to say because, although I like "If I ruled the world", I don't think Nas has enough talent to ever compete with Tupac.

Mobb Deep
Background: This beef started when Tha Dogg Pound released New York, New York. Mobb Deep took offense to that and with Tragedy and Capone N Noreaga (two other NYC artists) they released LA, LA. There were 2 versions and one version used that same beat and in both versions the chorus was the same as from NY, NY except for a little change at the end. Now Tupac took offense to that and that's why he dissed Mobb Deep. The only thing I know Mobb Deep to have said before Tupac released Hit 'Em Up was in an article from RapSheet when they were discussing the East/West Coast beef with artists from both sides Mobb Deep said the way Tupac turned on NY was wrong and said they would buy a Snoop album but they would never buy another Tupac album. I think Havoc might have said this. Also, in the "Thug Immortal" interview, Tupac described why he didn't like Mobb Deep. He said that before he went to prison, he was cool with them. Then when his West Coast crew came to NY to Mobb Deep's concert, Mobb Deep ignored them. He said his crew tried to meet up with them after the show yelling "Thug Life", but they dissed them. What made Tupac even madder was that one of the guards he knew in prison also knew Mobb Deep, so after Tupac told the guy to tell Mobb Deep that his boys were coming, he took it as an insult when they dissed them. Then Tupac came out with Hit 'Em Up...called Prodigy out about his sickle cell anemia and that's when Mobb Deep responded with Drop A Gem On 'Em which appeared on their new album. Since Tupac's death, Mobb Deep has shown a lot of respect for him though.
 
Comments: I really don't have much of an opinion on this beef either. I think it was started over some stupid reasons and continued from there. I think Tupac may have gone too far with the sickle cell comment though but I believe this beef would have ended eventually.
 
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