East Coast Versus West Coast

Musical rivalry between the east and west coast of America has been evident for many decades. For example, New Yorkers largely rejected the traditional blues music of southern America (which was seen as too 'raw' and 'unsophisticated') and in favour of jazz. New York's claims to 'ownership' of the hip hop genre stems from the fact that the early development of the style was concentrated around its inner city districts, and this has led to a presumption that of superiority, with music from outside the city seen as just a substandard copy of the New York 'original'. Early in rap music's history, New Yorkers grudgingly accepted Philadelphia's role in the development of the genre and admitted the new city into a type of 'east coast alliance', but anything from outside the north east coast of America was openly ridiculed. It has been suggested that the escalation of the so called 'rap war' between the east and west coasts originated in arguments about the 'ownership' of the hardcore style of gangsta rap^[1] .

Hip hop culture has always involved competition, as rival DJs, breakers, MCs and taggers battled for notoriety and territory. In the mid-to late 1990s, the artists at the forefront of this style (many of whom highlighted their upbringing in the poor drug and crime-stricken areas of the inner cities) were now part of a multi million dollar industry. Overnight these streetwise rappers had become superstars, but despite this success, the street rivalry continued - culminating in the death of two of the leading exponents of the style (Tu Pac and Biggies Smalls) in drive-by shootings.

Tupac Shakur (b. Amaru Shakur, 1971, New York City) was raised by his mother, since his parents (both active members of the Black Panthers) had separated before his birth. Tupac continually moved around the country, living close to the poverty line for much of his childhood, until he was accepted into the renowned Baltimore School of the Arts - where he began to write raps and develop his acting skills. He relocated to Oakland, California, before he was eligible to graduate. In the early 1990s he was hired by rap group Digital Underground as a dancer and later a guest rapper. He appeared on the group's 1991 record This is an E. Release and their second album Sons of the P (1992).

Shakur released his own debut 2Pacalypse Now in 1992, from which the single 'Brenda's Got A Baby' became a gold record. The recording was condemned by moral watchdogs and Vice President Dan Quayle for its explicit lyrics. Shakur's profile was raised considerably by his acclaimed role in the Ernest Dickerson film, Juice and then later in John Singleton's Poetic Justice. He then released his second album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., (1993) which spawned the singles 'I Get Around' and 'Keep Ya Head Up'.

Up until this point Shakur had had a clean police record but eventually a string of charges and conviction culminated in his imprisonment for the sexual assault of a female fan. The day before he was found guilty the rap star was wounded in a shooting in the lobby of a New York recording studio. Shakur's third album, Me Against the World, (1995) was released while he was in jail, and he became the first artist to reach #1 on the pop charts while serving a prison sentence. In prison, Sakur accused the Notorious B.I.G., Puffy Combs, Andre Harrell and his own close friend Randy 'Stretch' Walker^[2] of orchestrating the 1993 New York shooting.

Suge Knight, the president of Death Row Records, arranged for parole and posted a $1.4 million bond for Shakur's release. 2-PAC now signed to Suge's label and started working on his debut release for Death Row Records All Eyez on Me. This became the first double-disc of original hip-hop material and reached #1 (selling more than six million copies). Amidst rumours of his imminent departure from Death Row Records Shakur seemed to tire of hip hop^[3] and started to concentrate again on his acting career, completing two films in 1996 (the thriller Bullet and the black comedy Gridlock'd.)

In September 1996 Shakur attended the Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon fight in Las Vegas. After the boxing match he was involved in an altercation with an unknown young black man and later became the victim of a drive-by-shooting. He was shot four times, and died six days later. Several theories have been put forward for the reason behind the shooting. One blames the young black man that Tupac had fought with after the boxing match. Another attributes the shooting to the ongoing east west coast rap conflict. It is suggested that the shooting was arranged by rival rapper the Notorious B.I.G. in response to 2-Pac's song 'Hit em up' in which he claims to have slept with Biggie's wife, Faith Evans. Knight's ties to the mob and to street gangs have also been blamed. The police were unable to uncover a reason for the shooting and it still remains an unsolved homicide^[4]. Many hoped that the incident would end the hostility between the east and the west coast rap fraternities but this was not the case.

The Notorious B.I.G. or 'Biggie Smalls'(b. Christopher Wallace, 1973 ) was raised in a rough neighbourhood of Brooklyn, New York. He dropped out of high school at the age of seventeen to sell crack (the fastest way for a young black man in the ghetto areas to make money). He regular troubles with the law culminated in a nine-month jail sentence^[5].

While serving his sentence Wallace reflected on his lifestyle, and after his release attempted to enter the music business. He borrowed a friend's four-track tape recorder and recorded a basic rap demo which attracted the attention of Sean 'Puffy' Combs (who at the time was working for Andre Harrell, at Uptown Records). Puffy signed Wallace and arranged for him to make a guest appearance on a Mary J. Blige re-mix of 'What's the 411?'. His 1994 debut release Ready to Die quickly went platinum and was described by Rolling Stone as 'the best rap debut since Ice Cube's Amerikkka's Most Wanted. The album was said to differ from other gangsta rap recordings:

in its matter-of-fact storytelling of life on the street, with B.I.G. acting as a kind of omniscient narrator. The entire album was held together by his unique perspective; rather than glamorizing violence with the telltale first-person bravado of many rappers, B.I.G. sought to tell the truth, and his deep voice and deeper tales earned him the respect of his fellow artists^[6].

Although by now a successful rap artist and named 1995 'Rapper of the Year' by Billboard, Wallace was continually surrounded by controversy. Several criminal incidents led to charges of assault, firearms and drug offenses. These charges included the alleged assault of a promoter, the assault of several autograph-hunters in New York and the alleged involvement in the shooting of Tupac Shakur.

Six months after Tupac's murder, the Notorious B.I.G. was also shot and killed in a drive-by shooting on March 1997 in Los Angeles. He had been promoting the upcoming release of his second album, entitled Life After Death...'Til Death Do Us Part. Wallace had been attending a Vibe magazine's awards party, and was shot as his car waited at a set of traffic lights after leaving the event.

B.I.G.'s murder thrust the so-called 'rap war' into the public eye. Rappers from both coasts, including Snoop Doggy Dogg, Chuck D, and Doug E. Fresh attended a summit held by Louis Farrakhan in Chicago, pledging their support for a 'call for peace' which would include a joint peace tour and an album^[7] .

Russel Simmons said after the shooting:

We're doing Newt Gingrich's job for him, killing ourselves....I think the fact that no one has been arrested for anything is the scariest thing in the world. That says a lot about the community and how unprotected we are when you realise that these are very famous people. If they can't find out who killed them, how are you going to find out who killed someone in the street?^[8]

A week after B.I.G's murder his double-CD Life After Death hit the streets, reaching the top of the charts, where it remained for three weeks.