DEATH ROW UNCUT PART 3 OF 6
-The Addition of 2Pac-
As the controversy with boycotters and Time Warner was adding fuel to Death Row's engine; Suge Knight, in the meantime, posted bail for the then-incarcerated Tupac ("2Pac") Shakur — in exchange for his signing with Death Row. At the time, Tupac and Death Row shared mutual disdain for the fledgling New York-based Bad Boy Records, along with its CEO Sean Combs and seminal star The Notorious B.I.G.
Upon Shakur's release from jail, he immediately went to work on his Death Row debut album, All Eyez on Me. The album, released in early 1996, topped the albums charts and (going 9x platinum) became the label's biggest commercial success to date. The escalating tension between Tupac and Biggie (as well as Death Row and Bad Boy), meanwhile, fueled what was eventually called the "East Coast/West Coast rap war." What was to follow would be a year-long dispute in which several Death Row artists fired verbal assaults at East Coast artists. Among those who took lyrical shots were: Snoop Dogg, Tha Dogg Pound, and Tupac (with his group, Tha Outlawz). The list of those dissed by Death Row included most famously (but is not limited to): Mobb Deep, Nas, Jay-Z, the Junior M.A.F.I.A., Puff Daddy and the Notorious B.I.G.
Death Row artists who acknowledged Bad Boy Records, or those who didn't support the feud, were looked down upon by Tupac. Lady of Rage commented in an interview that Tupac had once called her the "weakest link in Death Row" because she wouldn't insult Bad Boy. Tupac also spoke ill of Dr. Dre for having not testified for Snoop during his murder trial, discouraging the West Coast-East Coast tension, and for his having departed the label in early 1996. Tupac dissed Dr. Dre on KMEL radio in the Bay Area for not running the streets representing with him and the label and being too slow on producing beats for his album.
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