Tag: Bad Boy Records

Was there an actual winner in the 2Pac verses Biggie East Coast-West Coast Gangsta Rap rivalry of the 1990s?

“Only God can Judge me now” -2Pac, from the multi-platimum selling double disc set “All Eyez On Me”, 1996 Death Row Records.
“NO human being, Korean or European be seeing what we be seeing” Notorious B.I.G, from the song “Da B Side” with Da Brat on the soundtrack to the film Bad Boys, 1995.
I do not deny the significance of the feud between Christopher Wallace and Tupac Shakur had on the history of Hip Hop music. Doing so would be absurd. I do, however, disagree vehemently with the narrative they were the two greatest rappers or most important rappers of all time. I was alive in the 90s. I followed Hip-Hop. They were both big names to be sure but there were tons of others being considered for greatest of the time.
Looking at their body of work during that time period. 2Pac grew as an artist, Biggie stagnated and became more pop under the direction of Sean Combs. The leadership of Bad Boy Records was not as tough or outspoken as the leadership at Death Row Records, this was obvious.
What is true, however, since the two men were murdered the shape of their respective coastal tribal mentality shifted. The West Coast gangsta rappers split. Death Row crumbled into an unrecognizable, unfamiliar shell of its former self. Today the works being released by the remnants of Suge Knight and Andrew Young’s legacy bear no resemblance either to the works from their height nor do they resemble the contemporary works of modern artists. Bad Boy Records has works that not only transcend the time period of Biggie Smalls but has made every effort to remain current and relevant throughout. As such it is with deep regret upon looking at the objective facts I declare Bad Boy Records the victors in what is left of the East Coast vs. West Coast Gangsta Rap wars.
Rappers today hardly reference the tumultuous period outside vain attempts at claiming themselves as successors to either 2Pac or Notorious BIG’s thrones. The actual reality is Snoop Doggy Dogg rose to become the king of the West Coast. The East Coast kingdom is evenly split between Hova and his Rockafella Records and P.Diddy and his Bad Boy Records. There is no true successor to Notorious BIG on the East. The closest to claim the dominance and superiority Biggie claimed, at least in the Gangsta Rap scene would be Nas. His music sounds the most similar to the works Biggie Smalls was producing at the time. However, in terms of notoriety, it is with even deeper regret I now recognize, although not on any grounds of respect, Kanye West as the true king of Hip-Hop based on his presence in the game.
 
That being said some would argue there were no winners only losers in the East vs. West narrative. I disagree, death is a natural part of life. Biggie and Pac were always going to die on the dates God ordained. Therefore it is easier for me to determine the basis of the implications of their work on the impact it had on the greater hip-hop community. The death of Biggie and 2Pac and the rise of Bad Boy Records did convert staunch West Coast only followers, such as myself, to explore the greater body of works out there.
 
As a continuing student of the school of rap, I have come to the conclusion that Notorious BIG was inferior to 2Pac but Bad Boy was superior to Death Row. Its an unfair trade off, because looking at just Life After Death, Biggie’s music was clearly being channeled in Nas. However nobody on the West Coast has come close to stirring the angst, fear, anxiety and frustrations 2Pac and his Outlawz were able to instill upon the world.
The violence was shared, real and lyrical, on both sides. The actual reality now is, the violence hasn’t gone away. It is, after all, at the center of gangsta life. The gangsta who becomes a rapper is the true gangsta rapper where as the artist who observes and contemplates, while equally valid, has less impact on the world with his hollowed out words. The real impact is knowing human beings DIED for their respective thug families. Blood was shed. Bloodshed itself does not inherently validate a cause, but a martyr nonetheless has a more powerful impact than a reigning monarch. That is why, even in death, 2Pac Shakur and Christopher Biggie Smalls Wallace will live on in the hearts and minds of the Hip-Hop faithful, regardless of actual skills.
The expression is to the victor goes the spoils. Puff Daddy aptly named the first track on his tribute to Biggie Smalls “Victory” to kick off No Way Out, the 1997 record that laid Notorious BIG to rest while helping begin the healing process of mourning the two legends that not only define and entire generation but inspired them as well.

Master P Ghetto D: A look back at a classic gangsta rap album

Between the years of 1995 to 1997 there was a war waging between the two coasts of the United States. The East Coast Gangsta Rap scene, led by Puff Daddy and his boy Biggie Smalls, against the hardened West Coast Gangsta Rap scene led by veterans of the L.A. gang scene, and pioneers of the genre N.W.A, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, and newcomers Snoop Dogg, The Dogg Pound, and 2Pac. While Death Row Records was at the forefront of the West and Bad Boy was taking the helm in the East, there was a newcomer about to bust things wide open.

Shots were fired, literally, in late 1994 when 2Pac was gunned down entering the Bad Boy Record studio. He miraculously survived this attack, taking five bullets and then recovering to launch the war full force at Death Row records a couple of years later. In September of 1996 the shots fired again, this time ending 2Pac’s life. Presumably in retaliation, or perhaps as an indirect results of the gang wars, for whatever reason Biggie Smalls was shot and killed just a few months later right before the release of his double album, Life After Death.

Just when everyone thought the Gangsta Rap genre was going to fizzle out, Puff Daddy quickly dropped the gangsta rap persona and shifted to a more radio friendly hip-Pop sound, reminiscent of the main stream sound Will Smith was employing. The gangsta scene looked like it was going to disappear for a brief moment. Even Bad Boy’s next rising star, Ma$e, altered his gangsta image to a more MTV friendly look and their music videos reflected this by focusing more on their flashy parties and money than their gangsta life styles as previous videos had done. The Mafioso rap would live on, under the head of superior producer to Puffy, Jay-Z, as his masterfully crafted Rocafella Records picked up the pieces of the crumbling Bad Boy empire.

In the middle of all the coastal wars there was a new gangsta rap guru waiting to take over and push both Bad Boy and Death Row into obscurity. The mans name was Master P. The record label was No Limit Records. The album, Ghetto D.

By the time No Limit Records came onto the scene, gangsta rap was either west coast G-Funk or east coast mafioso, the southern blend of hard core street and down to earth thugs just trying to make a living was a different change of pace. Although No Limit Records quickly supplanted the two dominant gangsta rap labels of the day, they did so using the very same talent Death Row used to launch. Snoop Doggy Dogg, rebranded as just Snoop Dogg when he left Death Row and joined No Limit. This story is going to focus on the record that made the shift happen. Keep an eye on part two where you can learn more about Snoop’s time with Master P and company.

Ghetto D (short for Ghetto Dope, as per the albums title track) came out hitting hard and fast. The first track on the record hits you in the face with it’s message, “a shout out to drug dealers” as the record claimed. The record didn’t spend a lot of time talking about pimping hoes, drive by shootings, or hit men coming to snipe the snitch, the record just painted a picture of a working class thug trying to make a living selling drugs.

The album gets straight to the point with tracks like Weed & Money, Ghetto D, and Stop Hatin’, it’s the single and subsequent music video that really propelled the record to mainstream recognition. “Make Em Say Ugh!” quickly became a radio hit, a hit on MTV and the anthem for the new wave of hard core gangsta rap that was about to burst onto the scene. That track brought the entire No Limit studio crew right to the front of the Hip-Hop scene and proved that gangsta rap didn’t have to take a side in the deadly gang wars.

The record itself is massive. It sports 19 tracks of pure, hard core hip-hop. Not a single track of interludes, fake radio broadcasts or people talking. The album didn’t tell a story using theatrics like Doggystyle, a superior gangsta rap album in many respects, it did manage to get straight to the point. Master P didn’t need a lot of story lines cluttering up the record, he let the music speak for itself. With solid base lines, quick battle raps, hard beats, and lot’s of G-Funk melodies mixed with some southern beats, the record demonstrated there truly was a middle ground to the gangsta rap turf wars.

1998 was defined by the sounds of Master P, C-Murder and Silkk The Shocker, all who quickly dethrowned the entire Bad Boy and Death Row crews from prominence. Ice Cube, one of the founders of the Gangsta Rap scene, turned to Hollywood and left the music industry mostly behind. Dr. Dre responded to the  new label by hiring a White Boy to get his game back on track. Snoop Dogg himself even followed the old, if you can’t beat em, join em, mantra as he released several albums on the record label that left Death Row in the ashes. Silkk The Shocker would quickly follow up Master P’s glorious sounding Ghetto D with a record of his own, Charge it to The Game, featuring the hit “It Ain’t My Fault” and prominently featuring newcomer Snoop Dogg on some respectable gangsta tracks.

Much like Doggystyle before, each track serves a purpose in getting the listener to fear and respect the talents of the producer behind the scenes. Ghetto D rose to the occasion of filling in the gaps created by the decline of the two East Coast/West Coast giants. Their reign didn’t last forever as Jay Z and his Rockafella Records would soon surpass all three gangsta rap labels in terms of sales, money, presence in the market, and number of important artists all combined.

The aftermath of the decline of the Coastal Wars left Death Row in ruins, Bad Boy turned pop, and Dr. Dre selling records featuring a bleached blond Backstreet Boy lookalike. Master P stood up and reminded the world that gangsta rap music could still be about hard music with a prominent message interlaced within some head bobbing tracks. Ghetto D is easily one of the top 25 gangsta rap records of all time.