Tupac Shakur was pretty close to signing with Diddy and Bad Boy Records instead of Death Row Records, according to his brother Mopreme Shakur.
In the latest snippet from his conversation with The Art of Dialogue, Mopreme revealed his brother contemplated signing with Diddy prior to joining Death Row upon his release from prison in 1995. According to Mopreme, this was before all the drama between 'Pac and his former friend, the Notorious B.I.G., broke out, causing the East Coast-West Coast rivalry.
"We were cool with them at one point," Mopreme said. "There was a point where 'Pac was considering going to Bad Boy before his relationship with Death Row because he wanted to be on a Black label. He wanted to be with his people. He wanted to be with the brothers. He supported Black business."
He continued, "There was a period where we were all cool. Over time, things happened, and 'Pac started seeing things. Biggie was on Puffy's label, so with them two, it was Puffy calling the shots. There was some legitimate problems there."
2Pac wanting to sign with his archnemesis isn't as crazy as it sounds. The late rap legend became friends with Biggie in 1993 after performing together at the Budweiser Superfest concert at New York City's Madison Square Garden. The iconic "Live From Madison Square Garden Freestyle," where Biggie and Pac traded bars, is ripped from this exact show.
Biggie would often go to Pac for advice and even asked him to be his manager, but he insisted he stick by Diddy's side as he would be able to do so much more for him. Things went south when 2Pac was shot five times in the lobby of Quad Studios in New York City, where he was supposed to work on a project with Biggie, who was at the studio with Diddy.
Pac ended up believing Biggie and Puff had something to do with the robbery or knew it was going to happen and didn't inform him, which led to their friendship never being the same. The beef went to another level when Pac continued to say Biggie and Diddy did not help him after the robbery, which they denied.
One of the last lines that was drawn was the release of Biggie's "Who Shot Ya?" which Pac felt was aimed at him. Again, Biggie and Diddy denied the song was directed at Pac, but it was already too late as he would go on to sign with the Bad Boy rival, Death Row Records.
