Tupac's Feuds

Tupac’s feuds have often been told in a partisan way, with many unchecked claims. This section explains who was in conflict with Tupac, why, and what of it is documented, without turning those conflicts into a hero story after the fact.

What to know

Nearly all of the feuds fall between Tupac’s release from prison in October 1995 and his death in September 1996. In those eleven months at Death Row he recorded dozens of songs lashing out at real and perceived enemies, many of them released only after his death. Several of the people he attacked he had never even met.

The background was the November 1994 robbery at Quad Studios, which Tupac blamed on people around Bad Boy Records, and the rivalry between the Death Row and Bad Boy labels. The media turned it into a war between the East and West Coasts. At the same time, in 1996, Tupac was working with New York artists and planning an album meant to bring both coasts together.

The pages at a glance

• East vs. West: Tupac, Biggie and Bad Boy, the central conflict, from the 1993 friendship to the murders of 1996 and 1997 and the 2026 verdict.
• Mobb Deep, Hit ‘Em Up versus Drop a Gem on ‘Em.
• Nas, a dispute settled days before Tupac’s death.
• Jay-Z, a conflict on the edge of the big feud.
• De La Soul, a target on Against All Odds with no clear trigger.
• Chino XL, a line about Tupac’s prison time and its consequences.
• Dr. Dre, from partner on California Love to “traitor.”
• C. Delores Tucker, the civil rights activist who fought gangsta rap and sued Tupac’s estate.
• Dan Quayle, the vice president who condemned 2Pacalypse Now in 1992.
• Other conflicts, LL Cool J, the Fugees, Da Brat, DMX.

Claims That Do Not Hold Up

Several widespread claims could not be verified or were wrong, such as an alleged ban on 2Pacalypse Now, a “confession” by a New York underworld contact to the 1994 robbery, Napoleon supposedly hitting Puff Daddy, or the idea that Da Brat was one of the Fugees. Details are on the individual pages. All information on ongoing proceedings is as of October 2026.