Coastal Rivalry

Chapter 7
 End of the Golden Age
• As the popularity of Hip Hop grew, the more it began to spread
across the nation.
• Eventually, two dominant regions of the genre emerged: The
East Coast (New York) and The West (California).
• By the end of the 80’s, the East was dominant with acts such as
Ice-T, MC Hammer, N.W.A. and The D.O.C.
• Also around this time, Hip Hop had begun to leave the roots of
Reggae, Jazz and Poetry for something new, edgy, and Non-
commercial (for now)…
 Gangsta Rap
• By the late 80’s, new rappers emerged on the scenes of Compton, The
Bronx, and South LA with life stories of poverty and gang life.
• The new violent lyrics were appealing
due to their edgy sound. The race was
on for Record companies to capitalize
on the new rap style.

• However, with the lyrics of gangs comes

the violence of gangs. Soon, the
Companies of the coasts began a
rivalry that would be the bloodiest in Hip Hop History…
 East Coast
• In 1991, Tim Dog released a diss track aimed at
Compton artists (Primarily N.W.A.).

• The track displayed Eastern annoyances at the

West’s new attention and popularity.

• The rise of popular Hip Hop in the

West was seen as an attack on the
genre due to it’s birth in New York.
 West Coast

• In retaliation to Tim Dog, up and coming Western rapper

Tweedy Bird LOC released his own diss track. From here the
feud boiled over into Record Companies.
• In an act of coastal superiority, Suge Knight founded Death Row
Records and quickly produced Dr. Dre’s “The Chronic” (‘92)
and Snoop Dog’s “Doggystyle” (‘93).
• The commercial success of the company and its releases led it
to become the symbol of the West Coast. It had now become
obvious that the new center of Hip Hop was California…but the
East wasn’t going down without a fight.
 The Rivalry
• In 1993, The East attempted to reclaim their former glory
with the founding of Bad Boy Records by Puff Daddy
(Later P. Diddy, then Diddy).
• The new company revitalized commercial attention in the
East by starting the careers of two new
rappers:
– Notorious B.I.G. (Biggie Smalls)
– Craig Mack

• By 1995, the East was

back on top.
 November 30, 1994
• On November 30, 1994, West Coast rapper Tupac
Shakur was shot 5 times in the lobby of a New York
recording studio…
• Tupac publicly accused Biggie and Puff (ultimately
the East) for the attempt on his life.
• After this, Tupac and Biggie began a diss war
(B.I.G.’s “Who shot ya?” / Tupac’s “Hit ‘em up”)
that soon became the center of the Coastal Rivalry.

• By 1995, the Coastal Rivalry had become violent…

 Rivalry goes to the Media
• At the 1995 Source Awards, Knight stated,
“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, on the records and dancing, come to
Death Row!”

– This was a direct attack on P, who tended to “bless” other’s work

with his presence…
• Throughout the remainder of the award show:
– P publicly denied the coastal rivalry (total
BS)
– Snoop & Dr. Dre were booed by the
Yankee crowd.
• Snoop responded, “The East Coast ain’t
got no love for Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg
and Death Row?!”
– A friend of Knight’s was fatally shot
outside. Knight accused P, and later
brought the East’s biggest rival to Death
Row Records by paying his $1.4 million
bail. Tupac was now the West’s most
powerful weapon against P.
 Capitalizing on the feud
• Throughout 1996, Death Row and Bad Boy Records
increased tensions by releasing music videos
featuring prominent acts wreaking havoc on the rival
coast’s skyline.
• With the rivalry beginning to heat up, news media
coverage began to spike a public interest in coastal
record labels. Fans of certain acts began to associate
themselves with either East or West, and would
purchase the releases of their coast.
• The media dubbed this a Coastal Rap War, and
began to report on the events nightly.
• Taking advantage of the sales increase, Death Row Records
began rapidly releasing diss tracks by 2Pac aimed at various
Eastern rappers:
– B.I.G.
– Mobb Deep
– Chino XL
– Da Brat
– The Fugees
– Nas
– LL Cool J
– Jay-Z

• By doing this, 2Pac had now replaced Death Row as the image of
the West and had become a powerhouse in commercial Hip Hop.
By forging a career on commercial hate, 2Pac had put his life on
the line…
 End of the feud
• On March 1996, during the Soul Train Awards,
entourages of Bad Boy and Death Row records
began an armed standoff in the parking lot. The so-
called Cuban Missile Crisis of Hip Hop revealed
that the rivalry had gone too far and a change in
media attention and record production needed to
occur. But not before it was too late…
 September 7, 1996
• 2Pac, Knight, Trey Lane and several Blood body guards were
in a casino in vegas when Lane recognized a Crip who had
stolen his Death Row medallion months before; A brawl broke
out at 8:45pm when Shakur threw the first punch.
• As the cops arrived, the Death Row crew had left in a caravan
of luxury vehicles for a Blood hangout called Club 662.
• The caravan stopped at a light around 11:17pm on a street
crowded with tourists. Shakur began flirting with a car full of girls
to the left of the BMW when a white Cadillac emerged on its
right. Shots were fired at the BMW and Shakur was hit 4 times
in the chest. The Cadillac dissapeared into the night.
• 2Pac was rushed to a hospital were after being revived several
times, his mother requested he be put to rest. Six days later, the
West coast symbol had died…
 March 1997
• Immediately after the death of 2Pac, rumors circulated that the
East had something to do with it; Primarily B.I.G. and P Diddy.
• In an attempt to cool coastal tension, Biggie attended the 11th
Annual Soul Train Awards in ‘97 (in LA) and asked the crowd,
“What’s up Cali?” (They continued to boo through the remainder
of the show. Especially during Biggie’s stage time.)
• Around 12:35am, fire marshals closed down the afterparty due
to overcrowding. The East coast Bad Boy’s piled into two rented
Black and Green GMC Suburbans.
• While at a red light, a man approached Biggie’s vehicle and
Biggie rolled down the window (believing it to be a fan). Then, a
Black Chevrolet Suburban pulled up next to him and shot him
several times in the chest.
• P rushed his friend to a hospital, but Biggie was dead upon
arrival…
 Resolve of feud
• In 1997, a group of rappers including Snoop Dogg,
Bizzy Bone, and Doug E. Fresh met
Louis Farrakhan
(Leader of the Nation of Islam)
and pledged to forgive any slights
related to the rivalry and/or deaths
of 2Pac and Biggie.
• Eventually, Death Row’s artists left the label to
pursue careers on their own and a lawsuit was filed
by Shakur’s mother against the company for
“cheating her son out of millions”.
• These factors, followed by Knight’s arrest in ‘97,
destroyed the West coast Hip Hop scene.
 Aftermath
• With the fall of West Coast organized Hip Hop, the East had
become dominant again. However, due to the murders of 2Pac
and Biggie, the public began to blacklist Hip Hop and view it as
an unnecessary and violent music genre.
• Because of this, the sales of Hip Hop records rapidly declined
on both coasts, making neither side the winner. In the end, Hip
Hop’s culture and spirit ended up being the loser of this “war”.
• Through the remainder of the 90’s several Eastern rappers
attempted to increase the sales of Hip Hop. However, none
were successful (not even the almighty P Diddy).
• It became apparent that the only way to save Hip Hop in the
new millennium would be to keep rivalries from escalating to
the extremes of the Coast War and to revitalize and
innovate the genre. A new sound and style was needed, the
next generation of Hip Hop needed a voice…
Here comes the New Age Rap…
(Chapter 8)