Eminem Builds a Song with Tupac and Biggie

On September 25, 2003, MTV News reported that Eminem had completed production of “Runnin’ (Dying to Live)”. The song was slated as the first single for the soundtrack to the documentary film Tupac: Resurrection. Earlier that year, Eminem had already been heard rapping over a Tupac beat, MTV wrote; now it was the other way around, and Tupac was rapping over a beat by Eminem. From this beginning, a full album emerged a year later.

Two Rivals on One Beat

What makes it special: Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G. are heard together on the track, whose feud had divided the scene in the years before their deaths. Biggie takes the first verse, Tupac closes the song. According to MTV, Eminem built the beat from pounding piano chords, violins, and bass. For the chorus, he used an excerpt from “Dying to Live” by blues rocker Edgar Winter, whose lines ask why one fights for life when one only lives to fight.

More Than a Song

According to a spokesperson for Interscope Records, “Runnin’” was not Eminem’s only contribution to the soundtrack. The compilation was intended to tell Tupac’s life and career in chronological order, contain four new Tupac songs, and be released on November 4; the film was scheduled to hit theaters on November 14. More on the album on the page Tupac: Resurrection, on the single at Runnin’ (Dying to Live).