The rivalry

Bad Boy vs. Death Row

In 1993, fledgling A&R executive and record producer "Puff Daddy" Sean Combs founded the New York-centered hip-hop label, Bad Boy Records. The next year, the label’s debut releases by Brooklyn-based rapper "The Notorious B.I.G." (also known as Biggie Smalls) and Long Island-based rapper Craig Mack became immediate critical and commercial successes, and seemed to revitalize the East Coast hip-hop scene by 1995. New York born and California-based rapper Tupac Shakur, meanwhile, forged a rivalry with Biggie, publicly accusing him and Combs of having facilitated him being robbed and shot five times in the lobby of Quad Recording Studios in Manhattan on November 30, 1994.Shortly after 2Pac’s shooting, “Who Shot Ya?,” a B-side track from BIG’s “Big Poppa” single was released. Although Combs and Wallace denied having anything to do with the shooting and stated that “Who Shot Ya?” had been recorded before the shooting, 2Pac and the majority of the hip hop community interpreted it as B.I.G.’s way of taunting him. In August 1995, Death Row CEO Suge Knight took a dig at Bad Boy and Combs at that year's Source Awards; announcing to the assembly of artists and industry figures:“Any artist out there that want to be an artist and stay a star, and don’t have to worry about the executive producer trying to be all in the videos ... All on the records ... dancing, come to Death Row!” It was a direct reference to Combs’ tendency of ad-libbing on his artists’ songs and dancing in their videos. With the ceremony being held in New York, to the audience, Knight’s comments seemed a slight to the entire East Coast hip-hop scene, and resulted in many boos from the crowd.Tensions escalated when Knight later attended a party for producer Jermaine Dupri in Atlanta. During the bash, a close friend of Knight's (Jake Robles) was fatally shot. Knight accused Combs (also in attendance) of having something to do with the shooting. The same year, Knight posted the $1.4 million bail of the then-incarcerated 2Pac, in exchange for his signing with Death Row Records. Shortly after the rapper’s release for five counts of sex abuse in October 1995, he proceeded to join Knight in furthering Death Row’s feud with Bad Boy Records.

Bad boys                                           vs                         Death Row