On the 16 year anniversary of Tupac’s death, we reflect back on 16 things you possibly didn’t know about Tupac.

16. Tupac vs Jay Z
On the unreleased version of his legendary track ‘Hit Em Up’, Tupac initially insulted Jay Z at the end of his rant. But according to the Outlawz, they convinced Tupac to take that part out due to the fact that Jay Z seemingly had nothing to do with the beef. (Listen Below)

15. Out on Bail
Although Suge Knight was credited for putting up the $1.3 Million needed to bail out Tupac from jail in 1995, it was Jimmy Iovine and Interscope Records who put the money up. Pac subsequently signed a 3 album deal with Death Row Records, which was a subsidiary of Interscope Records at the time.






14. Tupac vs DMX
Although DMX, by all accounts had never met Tupac, the relatively unknown rapper from Yonkers still took offense to Pac constantly attacking New York. In an unreleased track from 1996 titled ‘I Shot Ya’. DMX sent some shots at Tupac and the West Coast. “That Nigga Tupac Can Suck My Dick” DMX raps. (Listen Below)

13. Bounty Gate
It’s been widely known and verified by the LAPD that Puff Daddy put out a $10,000 bounty for Death Row Chains. Suge Knight reportedly responded by putting a $50,000 bounty on Diddy’s head. Puff got his chain in March of 1996 when Orlando Anderson robbed an associate of Suge Knight in Compton. Anderson was famously beaten by Tupac and Death Row several months later in Las Vegas.




12. Biggie Smalls?
There were 4 “Biggie Smalls” that were connected to Tupac back in the 90s.

Biggie Smalls # 1
The most famous Biggie Smalls, the Notorious B.IG. He didn’t own the naming rights to “Biggie Smalls” so his official rap moniker was ‘The Notorious B.I.G.’

Biggie Smalls # 2
Around 1993 Tupac had an in-house producer by the name of Big D The Impossible aka Biggie Smalls (Tupac introduces him in this clip: Watch Here

Biggie Smalls # 3 : Drik a rapper from Queens was apart of the Live Squad. Tupac gave the deceased rapper an ‘R.I.P.’ shout out on the track “God Bless The Dead”

Biggie Smalls # 4 A Latino rapper named “Biggie Smallz” from the Bay Area who was good friends with Johnny J, Tupac’s main producer.


11. Awards
Although Tupac is the highest selling rapper of all time, he has never won a Grammy or VMA award. (Lil Wayne has 4)









10. Me & My Girlfriend
Tupac’s classic track about his gun ‘Me and My Girlfriend’ was inspired by Nas’ conceptual track ‘I Gave You Power’. According to Young Noble of the Outlawz, Tupac heard ‘I Gave You Power’ in a studio out in North Hollywood in the Summer of 1996 and was amazed at the creativity and power of the track. Which is ironic, since Tupac dissed Nas on the same album. (7 Day Theory)






9. Former Friends
Tupac and Snoop were supposed to perform “2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted” on Saturday Night Live just days before Tupac was shot. Snoop never appeared, and was replaced by Ice T. Snoop’s No-Show only added to the tension between the two. They were never able to bury the hatchet, as Pac was killed just days later. (Watch Pac on SNL)






8. 2pac vs Nas: The Showdown
There seems to be four or possibly more versions on what actually occurred during the infamous showdown between Nas and Tupac at the 1996 MTV Awards.

Snoop Dogg’s Version: (Watch Here)
Suge Knight’s Version (Watch Here)
Nas’ Version (Watch Here)
Jungle’s Version (Watch Here)




7. Ready To Die?
The Notorious B.I.G. released his legendary debut album on September 13th 1994, coincidentally, Tupac died exactly two years to the day, on September 13th 1996.










6. Outlawz
Long time member of the Outlawz ‘E.D.I Mean’ has two kids with 2pac’s sister Sekyiwa.










5. Bad Boys
Although P.Diddy had always maintained an innocent bystander type approach towards the beef with Tupac, he didn’t hold anything back in this unreleased diss track from 1996 in which he went in on Tupac. (Listen Below)

4. Shocking Announcement
On September 13th 1996, Nas was on his ‘It Was Written’ promo tour at the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island NY when his friend, and radio host Ed Lover announced the stunning news that Tupac had just passed away. (Remember there were no Iphones, Twitter etc in 1996, so the announcement was real Breaking News)

3. Enemies Territory
At the height of the East/West Beef on September 4th 1996, Tupac and Death Row ventured out to enemies territory in New York City. Suge Knight, fearing the worst, brought an entourage of over 150 to the MTV Awards.

The crew consisted of rappers, security personnel and members of the MOB Piru Blood Gang from Compton. Pac also linked up with Treach from Naughty by Nature and his crew known as the Queen Street Bloods Gang from East Orange New Jersey.


2. Hov Responds?
In an interview with XXL back in 2006, Jay Z revealed that he made a diss record towards Tupac and even performed it live at the Apollo in August of 1996. Hov claims he destroyed the recording once 2Pac had died. (Read More Here)








1. Civil War?
When Ice Cube and the Westside Connection seemingly joined the East vs West beef by dropping the anthem ‘Bow Down’ 2pac took offense, claiming Cube swagger jacked his style. (Listen Below)