The Notorious B.I.G. versus Tupac Shakur remains one of the most famous rap beefs in history. Fellow 1990s-era Hip-Hop star Busta Rhymes apparently played a significant role in blocking a lyrical shot from Biggie to 2Pac before the two icons passed away.
“I said, ‘Big, I ain’t putting this out,” Busta Rhymes stated on Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson’s All The Smoke podcast. “Because Pac was my friend too. Pac choked a soundman out for me at a college show when we were Leaders of the New School.”
Busta also said, “I loved these n#####, man. I got to be the mediator. I can’t add fuel to this fire.” According to the NYC native, Bad Boy founder Diddy put that unreleased Biggie verse on the posthumous Born Again album.
Born Again hosts a track titled “Dangerous MC’s” featuring Mark Curry, Snoop Dogg and Busta Rhymes. The song includes The Notorious B.I.G. rapping bars about an actor needing a chiropractor followed by lines referencing 2Pac’s “I Get Around” single. Shakur starred in several movies, including 1992’s Juice.
“Diddy was looking for verses that might’ve been laying around that were never released commercially that B.I.G. had recorded. I told Diddy I had this verse for a long time. When Diddy wanted the verse, I said, ‘You gotta give me back the money that I paid B.I.G.,'” Busta Rhymes recalled.
Additionally, Busta Rhymes said he needed Biggie’s mother, Voletta Wallace, to approve anyone using the verse. Busta also revealed he replaced certain lyrics by B.I.G. that dissed 2Pac on the song with his own lyrics.