Tupac Shared Why He Thought Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ Bad Boy Records Was in ‘Hell’

Tupac Shakur and his label, Death Row Records, feuded with Sean “Diddy” Combs’ label, Bad Boy Records. While the relationship between the two labels was initially friendly, things soured after Tupac was shot in 1994. He believed that Diddy and the Notorious B.I.G. had advance knowledge of his shooting, kicking off the bitter rivalry. He said everyone at Bad Boy was in “hell” because they knew they did something bad.

Tupac thought Bad Boy Records had something to do with his 1994 shooting

In 1994, gunmen approached Tupac as he entered Quad Studios in New York. He initially assumed the men were Biggie’s bodyguards and was stunned when they opened fire on him. He was shot multiple times before the men fled. 

In the aftermath, Tupac hurried up to the studio, where Biggie, Diddy, and others waited. Their reaction chilled him.

“So we jumped in the elevator and went upstairs,” he told Vibe Magazine in 1995. “I’m limping and everything, but I don’t feel nothing. It’s numb. When we got upstairs, I looked around, and it scared the s*** out of me.”

He became suspicious that it had been a setup.

“Nobody approached me. I noticed that nobody would look at me,” he said. “Andre Harrell wouldn’t look at me. I had been going to dinner with him the last few days. He had invited me to the set of New York Undercover, telling me he was going to get me a job. Puffy was standing back too. I knew Puffy. He knew how much stuff I had done for Biggie before he came out.”

Tupac said Bad Boy Records wanted out of their feud because they did something bad

When asked about Bad Boy Records in 1995, Tupac told Vibe Magazine he thought “fear got stronger than love” for them. He said that this was why they “did things they weren’t supposed to do,” likely vaguely referencing the shooting. Tupac believed this was why Diddy spoke to the media about wanting the feud to end.

“They know in their hearts — that’s why they’re in hell now,” he said. “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 believed that they still feared him.

“They can’t make money, they can’t go anywhere,” he said. “They can’t look at themselves, ‘cause they know the prodigal son has returned.”

Biggie shared why he didn’t retaliate 

According to Biggie, he had yet to retaliate to Tupac’s words because he didn’t think it would be a good look for him. He had escalated the feud between them with the song “Who Shot Ya?” but he claimed this was not about Tupac and didn’t want to worsen things with another song.

“He got the streets riled up because he got a little song dissing me,” he said, “but how would I look dissing him back?”

Biggie added that he hadn’t retaliated physically because of Diddy, noting, “Puff don’t get down like that.”