The Notorious B.I.G. Wanted to Show He Had ‘Nothing But Love’ for the West Coast Just Before His Death 

The Notorious B.I.G. spent several years in a feud with California’s Death Row Records. After Tupac Shakur was shot in 1994, he alleged that Biggie and Sean “Diddy” Combs had some involvement, thus kicking off the rivalry. According to Diddy, Biggie had been hoping to ease some tension with a song. He spoke about how excited he was about this on the night he died.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs said The Notorious B.I.G. wanted to express love for the West Coast

On the night Biggie died, he was at a party with Diddy.

“We was drinking and listening to records, sitting at the table the whole night,” Diddy told Rolling Stone. “And he was just being nice. He was nice naturally, but he was being extra nice. He was… chipper.”

According to Diddy, Biggie saw the song as his love letter to California. He wrote about his appreciation for the state.

“He’s proud of himself, talking about how stuff’s going to be when the album comes out, and how it’s going to be better,” Diddy recalled. “He’s like, ‘I’m gonna make them love me.’ He was talking about the West Coast. He was like, ‘I can’t wait till they hear that track “Going Back to Cali,” so they know I ain’t got nothing but love for them.’”

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs recalled The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac’s friendship

Before the feud, Diddy said he greatly admired Death Row Records.

“When we were in our beginning stages, Death Row was established,” he said. “Bad Boy was kind of modeled after Death Row because Death Row had became a movement. We wanted to model ourselves behind the record companies that were movements, like Motown, Def Jam, Death Row.”

He was friendly with Death Row’s founder, Suge Knight, and claimed he could never have predicted any problems between them.

“Whenever Suge would come in town, he would come by the office,” Diddy said. “Whenever I was in town, he would come pick me up, and we’d hang out. There was maybe two times I went over to Snoop’s house. It was all cool. No way in the world I could foresee any problems.”

He got to know Tupac Shakur through Biggie. The pair were friends at the time.

“And Tupac… he was mostly friends with Biggie. That’s really how I got to know him. Biggie loved him to death, and Tupac helped Biggie out when we were just getting off the ground. He would let us come open his shows.”

Tupac encouraged Biggie to work with Diddy

Before the rivalry between them, Tupac and Biggie were close enough friends that the latter asked Tupac to represent him. Tupac encouraged him to stay with Diddy, though.

“Nah, stay with Puff,” he said, per Biography. “He will make you a star.”

Still, Tupac didn’t hold Diddy in high regard. Photographer Monique Bunn told Rolling Stone that Tupac saw Diddy as a “corny executive” and didn’t respect him.