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For years, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ record label, Bad Boy, was locked in a feud with Death Row Records. Diddy and the Notorious B.I.G. clashed with Suge Knight and Tupac Shakur. Their feud played out in song lyrics and, allegedly, in acts of violence. Diddy once said he found the situation painful to his spirit.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs said feuding with Suge Knight and Tupac was painful

After Tupac’s shooting in 1994, a feud kicked off between his label, Death Row, and Biggie’s label, Bad Boy. Diddy once said he disliked the way the rivalry overshadowed his success.

“I’m hurt a little bit spiritually by all the negativity, by this whole Death Row-Bad Boy s***,” Diddy told Vibe Magazine. “I’m hurt that out of all my accomplishments, it’s like I’m always getting my most fame from negative drama. It’s not like the young man that was in the industry for six years, won the ASCAP Songwriter of the Year, and every record he put out went at least gold … All that gets overshadowed. How it got to this point, I really don’t know. I’m still trying to figure it out.”

Tupac Shakur and Suge Knight stand together. Suge Knight has his arm on Tupac's shoulder.
Tupac Shakur and Suge Knight | Nitro/Getty Images

He said he hoped to see an end to the feud soon.

“I’m ready for it to come to a head, however it gotta go down,” he says. “I’m ready for it to be out my life and be over with. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I just hope it can end quick and in a positive way, because it’s gotten out of hand.”

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs said he didn’t think the feud put his life in danger

While the feud began when Tupac intimated that Diddy and Biggie had something to do with his 1994 shooting, Diddy said he didn’t believe his safety was at risk.

“I never knew of my life being in danger,” he said. “I’m not saying that I’m ignorant to the rumors. But if you got a problem and somebody wants to get your a**, they don’t talk about it. What it’s been right now is a lot of moviemaking and a lot of entertainment drama. Bad boys move in silence.”

He later added that if someone really wanted to kill him, they wouldn’t be writing songs about the feud, or discussing it in interviews.

“If somebody wants to get your a** you’re gonna wake up in heaven,” he said. “There ain’t no record gonna be made about it. It ain’t gonna be no interviews; it’s gonna be straight-up ‘Oh s***, where am I? What are these wings on my back? Your name is Jesus Christ?’ When you’re involved in some real s***, it’s gonna be some real s***.”

Tupac once shared his feelings about Bad Boy Records

When asked about the feud with Bad Boy Records, Tupac said they were suffering because they had done something they weren’t supposed to do. 

Tupac Shakur wears a hat and a black vest over a white shirt.
Tupac Shakur | Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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“They know in their hearts — that’s why they’re in hell now. They can’t sleep. That’s why they’re telling all the reporters and all the people, ‘Why they doing this? They f***ing up hip hop’ and blah-blah-blah,’ cause they in hell,” he said, adding, “They can’t make money, they can’t go anywhere. They can’t look at themselves, ‘cause they know the prodigal son has returned.”