1996-02481 words · 2 min
Live from Death Row (Part 2 of 4): Puffy, Stretch and Knight's Rules of the Game
A contract on Puffy, a dead friend in Queens, and Suge Knight waving it off: Part 2 of Kevin Powell's February 1996 Vibe report.
Original: “Live From Death Row” (Part 2) · Vibe · Kevin Powell · February 1996
Sean “Puffy” Combs fears for his life: he has heard about a contract out on him, he tells Kevin Powell, and asks why he is hated so much. Right in the midst of this ominous atmosphere, the second part of Powell’s February 1996 cover story picks up: the feud between Death Row and Bad Boy dominates the action.
Suspicion After New York and a Murder in Queens
Powell recalls Tupac’s insinuations in the April 1995 Vibe interview: Combs, Biggie, Stretch, and others had allegedly acted suspiciously after the New York robbery. Exactly one year after that robbery, on November 30, 1995, Stretch was shot dead in Queens. Tupac declined to comment.
Faith Evans-a Bad Boy artist and Biggie’s wife-sings on Tupac’s new double album. Asked about anything beyond studio work, Tupac says only that he doesn’t talk about his love life.
“Was You There?”, Knight Sidesteps, Dre Waits in the Studio
Then Suge Knight enters the frame. Asked about the rumors, he explains that whoever is at the top naturally attracts rumors. He counters the allegation that he pressured Andre Harrell into new contracts with a question of his own: “Was you there?” With that, the subject is closed for him.
Powell outlines Knight’s background: Compton, football player at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, then his entry into the music business. By his own account, he succeeded through a publishing company that earned money from Vanilla Ice’s hit. Knight would rather sit in the studio with his artists than play golf with executives.
At the end, the scene shifts to Dr. Dre. While waiting in the studio for Tupac, he speaks surprisingly shyly about his early days with the World Class Wreckin’ Cru.
Context: How Far the Conflict Had Already Escalated by Early 1996
The second part shows how far the conflict had already escalated by early 1996. At the Source Awards in August 1995, Knight had publicly mocked Combs. When a friend of Knight’s was shot and killed in Atlanta in the fall of 1995, that escalated the situation even further (more on this in Part 4). Stretch’s death remains unsolved.
The matter involving Faith Evans escalated in June 1996, when Tupac claimed an affair with her on Hit ‘Em Up. Evans has consistently denied this. The Vanilla Ice story is documented: the rapper signed over royalties to a client of Knight’s after Knight confronted him in person. Vanilla Ice later downplayed rumors that Knight held him over a hotel balcony railing.
Both Andre Harrell and Combs himself commented on the New York robbery in Vibe in 1995.