Slow Burn: Biggie and Tupac | Episode 5 – "Wrath of a Menace" (November 27, 2019)

Host: Joel Anderson
Podcast: Slow Burn (Slate Podcasts)
Season 3, Episode 5

Main Theme

This episode of Slow Burn delves into the deepening hostilities and personal vendettas at the heart of the East Coast–West Coast hip hop feud, focusing on the escalating tensions between Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G., and the ways that personal relationships and public slights (particularly revolving around Faith Evans) fueled animosity. The episode unpacks not just the public beefs and infamous diss tracks, but also the human cost—especially the treatment of women caught between the crossfire—and the wider cultural impact of this bitter rivalry.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Biggie's Meteoric Rise and Personal Turmoil

• By late 1995, Biggie’s career soared: Ready to Die was double platinum, he was ubiquitous on radio/MTV, and mainstream attention (e.g., "Martin" sitcom cameo) highlighted his stardom.
• Quote: “Man, that was a beautiful life. We had fun, man, we had fun...We traveled the world, man. We ain’t let nothing bother us.” – Chico Delveque, Junior Mafia [04:45]
• Biggie’s personal life unraveled; early marriage to Faith Evans quickly soured amid mutual infidelity and industry pressures.
  • Faith Evans: “As far as me and him, I don’t really...We don’t really interact right now. Cause I think he’s being kind of tasteless about the way he’s doing a lot of things...As of right now, I’m kind of bitter.” [06:38]

2. Tupac’s Release, New Ambition & Fury

• Suge Knight helped bail Tupac out of prison; Pac committed to making Death Row the biggest label and sought revenge for perceived betrayals.
• Tupac became an unstoppable creative force, recording obsessively and driven by pain, suspicion, and anger.
  • Frank Alexander (bodyguard): Tupac’s motivation was retaliation, especially towards Biggie via Faith Evans. [10:48]
• Tupac’s approach: strategic and deeply personal, targeting Biggie’s relationship.

3. The Faith Evans Incident and Weaponization of Women

• Tupac actively pursued Faith Evans after meeting her post-prison, involving studio sessions and personal encounters under misleading pretenses.
  • Evans described Tupac as manipulative and demanding (including an instance of sexual coercion in exchange for payment), which she refused. [14:26]
• Tupac publicly insinuated they were romantically/sexually involved, fueling rumors.
  • Tupac to Kevin Powell: "You know, I don’t kiss and tell." [24:52]
• The incident made Faith Evans a pawn, mocked in hip hop media while suffering both public and private fallout.
  • Keirna Mayo (The Source): "It’s almost as if Faith wasn’t a full human being...just chalked this up as yet another example of, you know, a woman being used as the pawn in between male beef." [27:10]
  • Faith Evans: “If they got beef with each other… they are two men. They need to go at each other and not, you know what I’m saying? Okay, I ain’t got nothing to do with him.” [37:11]

4. Escalation of the East Coast–West Coast Beef

• Suge Knight and Death Row actively antagonized Bad Boy and Puffy, including entertaining Puffy’s ex-girlfriends and sending West Coast artists to New York.
  • Dan Charnas: "I believe that this beef is really about the small mindedness and insecurity of Suge Knight." [18:05]
• Filming of the Dog Pound’s “New York, New York” video in NYC was perceived as provocation; Biggie’s radio call led to real violence on set. [20:50]
• This cycle of real and rhetorical aggression pushed both camps closer to the brink.

5. The Soul Train Awards: Final Public Standoff

• March 1996: Biggie and Tupac appear in the same room for the first (and last) time post-shooting, both celebrated but underlying tensions high.
  • Tupac: “West side! Fuck y’all.” (yelling at Biggie from Hummer window) [45:08]
  • Biggie, stunned, was hustled into a limo amidst chaos—this was their final face-to-face.

6. Diss Tracks: "Hit ‘Em Up" and Crossing the Line

• Tupac’s “Hit ‘Em Up” (released two months after the Soul Train Awards) was unprecedentedly vicious, targeting not just Biggie but his career, friends, and Faith Evans.
  • The track is widely cited in the episode as a moment the beef became “beyond the pale.”
  • Chico Delveque: “Man, let’s just do some diss songs and get at these dudes, man…Big was like, nah, man, leave that alone, man. Like, come on, man, let’s just stay focused on what we gotta do.” [53:30]
• Despite pressure, Biggie refused to retaliate with a diss track.
• Larry Hester (Vibe): “If the motherfucker really did fuck Faye, that’s foul how he’s just blowing her like that. Never once did he say that Faye did some foul shit to him. If Honey was to give you the pussy, why would you disrespect her like that?” [52:13]

7. Misogyny, Trauma, and the Cost on Women

• Episode explores how Tupac’s own experience shaped his anger, but also his participation in demeaning women, especially through music like “Wonder Why They Call U Bitch.”
  • Cheo Hodari Coker: "All Eyes on Me finds the rapper even more venomous than he was before..."
• Discussion on whether disrespect towards women in hip hop is a genre problem or a broader societal (man) problem.
  • Allison Samuels: “…it can be maybe intensified in hip hop because a lot of them are coming from backgrounds where they didn’t have that guidance.” [34:13]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Chico Delveque (Junior Mafia):
  “Man, that was a beautiful life. We had fun, man. We had fun.” [04:45]
• Faith Evans:
  “As far as me and him, I don’t really...We don’t really interact right now. Cause I think he’s being kind of tasteless about the way he’s doing a lot of things...As of right now, I’m kind of bitter.” [06:38]
• Allison Samuels (Newsweek):
  “What other better way to get back at someone, a man, than hey, I have your girl?” [12:05]
• Tupac (to Kevin Powell):
  "You know, I don’t kiss and tell." [24:52]
• Keirna Mayo (The Source):
  “It’s almost as if Faith wasn’t a full human being...just chalked this up as yet another example of...a woman being used as the pawn in between male beef.” [27:10]
• Larry Hester (Vibe):
  "We seen them start from the bottom and work their way to the top and then reap the rewards. And they showed us everything that they reaped again and again and again." [44:26]
• Faith Evans:
  “If they got beef with each other… they are two men. They need to go at each other and not, you know what I’m saying? Okay, I ain’t got nothing to do with him.” [37:11]
• Biggie (to Larry Hester about "Hit 'Em Up"):
  “If the motherfucker really did fuck Faye, that’s foul how he’s just blowing her like that...If Honey was to give you the pussy, why would you disrespect her like that?” [52:13]

Key Timestamps

• 04:45: Chico Delveque describes life on the road with Biggie.
• 06:38: Faith Evans discusses her marriage and separation from Biggie.
• 10:48: Tupac’s motivations for revenge (Frank Alexander).
• 12:05: How Tupac targeted Faith Evans (Allison Samuels).
• 14:26: The studio incident between Tupac and Faith Evans.
• 18:05: Suge Knight's provocation tactics (Dan Charnas).
• 20:50: West Coast artists shoot “New York, New York” video in NYC; violence erupts.
• 24:52: Tupac’s cryptic answer about Faith to Kevin Powell.
• 27:10: Faith as collateral damage in the beef (Keirna Mayo).
• 34:13: Allison Samuels on hip hop and misogyny.
• 37:11: Faith Evans expresses frustration at being used in the feud.
• 44:26: Larry Hester reflects on Bad Boy's rise.
• 45:08: The final public confrontation between Biggie and Tupac at the Soul Train Awards.
• 52:13: Biggie’s restrained response to “Hit ‘Em Up.”
• 53:30: Junior Mafia’s temptation toward retaliation—and Biggie’s refusal.

Takeaways

• The feud between Tupac and Biggie went beyond music, deeply entangling personal relationships and leading to psychological and literal violence.
• Women, particularly Faith Evans, suffered as collateral damage—used as narrative pawns by both sides and disrespected by both the industry and the media.
• Both Biggie and Tupac reached critical turning points during this turbulent period: Biggie struggled with the spectacle and consequences, while Tupac’s anger and desperation alienated even those closest to him.
• The episode compassionately interrogates not only hip hop’s politics of masculinity but also wider cultural flaws regarding misogyny and the handling of conflict.

Next episode preview: The series continues with coverage of the tragic events in Las Vegas.