To Help Put Things into Context, Tupac Had the Worst Experiences on the East Coast (I. E. New York) Than Any Rapper from the West Coast (I. E. Those Who Are California-Based). in 1993 He Was Accused of Assault in Manhattan, a Crime Which Sent Him to Prison in February 1995 to Serve a 2-4 Year Sentence (Ultimately He Only Did 9 Months). Shortly Before This, in November 1994, Tupac Was Shot Five Times During a Robbery (Which He Alleged Was in Actuality an Assassination Attempt), Again While in Manhattan. in Fact Shakur Famously Attended Court the Next Day, Right After He Was Shot, to Receive the Verdict in the Assault Case.

Birth of “Hit ‘Em Up”

The Above Gave Birth to the Song “Hit ‘Em Up”, the Ultimate Expression of This Animosity. Tupac Represented the “Westside” and Recruited His Underlings, the Outlawz, to Serve as Support on What Can Properly Be Described as a Hate Track as Opposed to a Diss Song. That’s Our Way of Saying That This Tune Is Specifically Designed to Attack Bad Boys Records & Co. and “Hit ‘Em Up” Was Meant to Actually Hit Them Where It Hurts.

And Outside of the Extensive History of the Situation as Summarized Above, What Really Set Tupac off Is a Track B. I. G. Dropped in Early 1995 Entitled “Who Shot Ya? ”

Later Tupac Introduces His “Little Homies”, I. E. the Outlawz, Stating That He as the Boss Man of the Clique Doesn’t Even Need to Confront the Weak “Bad Boy [Expletive]” Himself. This Leads to Hussein Fatal, One of the Members of the Crew, Joining the Occasion. and Basically His Verse Is Centered on Dissing B. I. G. and Junior M. A. F. I. A. , Who Were Also Bad Boy Artists and Notorious’ Sidekicks.

2Pac’s Savage Second Verse

Tupac Then Returns with a Second Verse, as Is Standard When He Collaborates with the Outlawz. This Time He Gets a Lot More Specific in Alluding to the Idea of Actually Murdering His Aforementioned Rivals. He Once Again Brings up the Notion That He’s More a Man Than These Adversaries, Specifically Due to Successfully Overcoming Imprisonment and Jumping Right Back into the Music Industry. It Is in This Section Also When He Drops One of the Most-Notable Disses, as for the First Time He Actually References He and Biggie’s Former Friendship. and in That Regard, Pac Is Basically Saying That He Took Care of B. I. G. When Notorious Was Going Through Personal (I. E. Financial) Issues. He Also States That Biggie, the Artist Who Made Extreme Materialism a Mainstay in Rap Music, Has‘copied His Style’ Due to B. I. G. Referencing Brands Like “Versace” in His Songs. Fyi, Tupac Himself Once Had a Personal Relationship with Fashion Designer Gianni Versace.

Outlawz Take over Again

Then Comes Two Other Members of the Outlawz, Respectively Yaki Kadafi and E. D. I. Mean. and They Faithfully Stick to the Theme of Verbally Thrashing and Threatening Bad Boy Artists. at This Point of the Song It Becomes Clear That, from the Outlawz’ Perspective, This Isn’t So Much About Attacking Bad Boy or East Coast Vs. West Coast as It Is Defending Tupac, Whom They Feel Biggie Smalls and Co. Unjustifiably Targeted.

Pac’s Vicious Monologue in “Hit ‘Em Up”

The Track Ultimately Concludes with Pac Giving an Extended Monologue. and We’re Sure You Already Know What It Is Based On. but He Also Mentions Some Other East Coast (I. E. New York) Rappers Outside of Bad Boy Who Offended Him, Such as Mobb Deep and Chino Xl. in Fact He Even Calls out One Member of Mobb Deep for Having “Sickle Cell” Anemia in Real Life, Showing How Personal This Track Really Is. Indeed During the Course of It All Tupac Actually Gets Quite Emotional, and You Can Detect the Genuine Anger in His Speech.

This All Concludes with Him One Again Exclaiming That He and the Outlawz Are “Bad Boy Killer”. in Fact Such Probably Would Have Been a More-Appropriate Name for This Song Than “Hit ‘Em Up”. and Why Do We Say So? Because as the Track Progresses, Leading to Its Conclusion, Tupac’s Main Desire to Murder the Members of Bad Boy Records Becomes More Palpable and Explicit, Despite Bringing Others into the Beef Also.

One of the Reasons “Hit ‘Em Up” Blew up When It Was Released Was Not Only Due to Its Controversial Lyrics but Also Its Equally-Powerful Music Video, Which Was Actually State-of-the-Art at the Time. and It Also Features Impersonators of Bad Boy Artists Biggie Smalls, Puff Daddy and Lil Kim.

Release Date of “Hit ‘Em Up”

Death Row Records and Interscope Records Released “Hit ‘Em Up” as the B-Side to Tupac’s Track “How Do U Want It” on 4 June 1996. Since Its Original Release, “Hit ‘Em Up” Has Also Been Featured on a Number of Tupac-Related Compilation Projects.

2Pac Dies Shortly After the Release of “Hit ‘Em Up”

Strangely Enough, Tupac Shakur Met His Untimely Demise on 13 September 1996, Just Three Months After This Song Came Out.

Outlawz Officially Began Using the Name “Outlawz” on This Track

Although the Outlawz Functioned as a Group Named Dramacydal Before the Release of This Track, “Hit ‘Em Up” Is Actually the First Song in Which They Officially Adopted the “Outlawz” Moniker.

Mobb Deep Almost Retaliated

Of All the Various Artists Tupac Dissed on Hit Songs in the Short Time Between His Release from Prison in October 1995 and His Murder in September 1996, One of the Few Who Were Prepared to Retaliate Directly Were Mobb Deep. Later in 2017, One Half of the Duo, Prodigy, Actually Died from Health Complications Related to the Sickle Cell Anemia Tupac Made Fun of on This Track. He Also Stated in Regards to “Hit ‘Em Up” That He “Never Had Any Beef with Tupac” and Was Caught off-Guard by His Disses, Especially the Personal Nature of Them.

Writing and Production Credits

“Hit ‘Em Up” Was Produced and Co-Written by Johnny J (1969-2008).

Does “Hit ‘Em Up” Contain Any Samples?

Yes. as Aforementioned, This Song Samples a Junior M. A. F. I. A. Track Entitled “Get Money”. but More Specifically, Both “Get Money” and “Hit ‘Em Up” Derive Their Bassline from a Classic African-American Party Song Entitled “Don’t Look Any Further” (1984) by Dennis Edwards.

In “Hit ‘Em Up”, 2Pac Talks About Sleeping with B. I. G. ’S Wife. Who Was He Talking About?

Apparently Pac Was Talking About Singer Faith Evans. at the Time of the Making of the Song, Bad Boy Artist, Faith Evans, Was Married to Yet Estranged from the Notorious B. I. G. and Even Though Tupac Never Drops Her Name Directly, This Is Who He Refers to When He States That He Slept with Biggie’s Wife. Moreover It Is Apparently a Little-Known Fact That She Provides Background Vocals on “Hit ‘Em Up”, Albeit Not Being Aware of the Track’s Intended Purpose at the Time. That Being Said, Throughout the Year's Evans Has Faithfully Proclaimed That She Never Slept with Tupac, Although He Did Try to Get Some.

Sean Combs (Also Known as Puff Daddy) Talks About the Beef

In 1996, Sean “Puffy” Combs Went on to Express That the Real Reason Tupac Was Accusing Bad Boy Records of Setting Him up Was Because He Was Afraid to Confront the Guys Who Actually Did So. Moreover Puffy Even Went on to Refer to Tupac During the Interview as a “Nice, Good-Hearted Guy”.

What Caused the Feud Between Tupac and Notorious B. I. G. ?

Hip Hop in America Reached Its Maximum Height in the 90S When Rappers Like Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, Nas, Lauren Hill, and Busta Rhymes Sprung onto the Stage. However, the Most Popular During This Period Were Tupac Shakur and Notorious B. I. G Who Always Stole the Show and Were Constantly in the News. These Two Dominated the Hip Hop Terrain, Especially Between 1994 and 1997. These Greats Were Once the Best of Buddies. However, Their Relationship Later Deteriorated and Things Went Really Bad Between Them.

It Is Not Clear How These Two Met for the First Time, Though There Have Been Suggestions That Pac Granted Biggie His Wish and Invited Him to a Party in His House in 1993. Other Hip Hop Analysts Have Also Argued That Biggie, Who Was Then an Upcoming Artist, Was Honored to Hear a Superstar Like Pac Playing His ‘Party and Bullsh—“ S Ong and Decided to Get Close to Him. Whichever Way, There Is No Doubt That These Two Rappers Became Friends.

Shooting at Times Square

This Was the Beginning of the End of the Friendship of These Rap Superstars. on November 30, 1994, a Group of Unknown Thugs Attacked Pac at the Quad Recording Studio in Times Square, New York. Pac Was Shot Five Times and Was Robbed of His Jewelry and Other Materials. During This Period, Pac Had Been Accused of Abusing a Woman and Was Standing Trial. He Had the Impression That the Act Was Pre-Planned and Suspected People from Within Who Invited Him to the Studio. Pac Was Convinced That the Incident Was Masterminded by Biggie After He Realized That the Latter Was in the Building with Puff, and That Was Where Things Changed for the Worse.

Murder of the Rappers

The Tension Between the Two Rappers Grew and Both Adopted the ‘Gangstar’ Life. the Rivalry Didn’t End on the Music Stage as Both Parties Lived in Fear. on September 7, 1996, the World Was Stunned After the News Broke That Pac Has Been Murdered in a Drive-by Shooting. Though the Killers Were Unknown, Biggie Was the Prime Suspect Considering How Things Developed Between Them. However, His Wife, Faith, Condemned That Notion and Said: “I Remember Big Calling Me and Crying. ”

Effect of the Rivalry

The Feud Between These Superstars Had a Negative Impact on Hip Hop. This Drift Deepened the East and West Coasts War. Though These Two Weren’t the Originators of the Rivalry, It Is Believed That Their Continuous Misunderstanding Was the Peak of the Conflict. Biggie Was Then on the New York-Based Bad Boy Label. Pac, on the Other Hand, Was Signed onto Death Row Label Which Was Located in Los Angeles. This Rivalry Continued Even After the Death of the Rappers and Has Become One of the Notable Rivalries in the Music Industry.

2Pac’s “Hit ‘Em Up” Lyrics Meaning

By Alexander Ross

• Oct 8, 2026 • 16 min read

Direct Answer • Key Takeaway

By Smf · Published · Updated

Alexander Ross

Gaming, Esports & Interactive Media Writer

Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.

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