As written by UPROXX.com Ben Westhoff, author of The Untold Story of Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur, and the Birth of West Coast Rap, sat down with the Murder Master Music Show recently and revealed some interesting news about Biggie and Tupac.
We are all aware of the events that led to the two rap stars falling out, the start of the “East Coast/WestCoast” battle and their subsequent deaths. What you may not know is at one time Biggie wanted Tupac to be his manager. The two were friends early on and Biggie admired Tupac and saw him as someone that could help him achieve success. According to Westhoff:
Tupac kind of took Biggie under his wing and tried to teach him everything he knew, kind of took him to school. Biggie’s career wasn’t taking off as fast as he hoped it would. And so he actually asked Tupac if he would be his manager, and Tupac said, ‘No I think you should stick with Puffy and he’ll get you where you need to be.’
Imagine how 90s hip hop would have unfolded if Tupac decided to take Biggie on? There would be no “can’t stop, won’t stop.” Bad Boy wouldn’t have had the rap game on lock for eight straight summers. In all seriousness, it made sense that Biggie looked to Tupac to manage his career. In 1992 Tupac was already successful and Biggie was signed with an unproven Puffy and a label (Bad Boy) that was in its infancy. But, Tupac declined and Biggie eventually found success. Although both careers were cut short due to senseless violence.
Check out video below of Westhoff discussing what could have been with Biggie and Tupac.