Questlove Responds To Backlash Over His Criticism Of 2Pac’s “Hit ‘Em Up”

There have been a lot of conversations about Hip-Hop diss tracks in recent weeks. For example, Questlove shared his opinion about 2Pac’s classic “Hit ‘Em Up” from 1996.

“I would actually respect 2Pac’s ‘Hit ‘Em Up’ if his music tracking was better,” Questlove argued on the One Song Podcast. Pac used that song to slam The Notorious B.I.G. and his Junior M.A.F.I.A. crew.

The Roots drummer also said, “‘Hit ‘Em Up,’ to me, is disqualified, not because of the misogynist… forget all that. It’s like, ‘Dude, you’re rhyming over smooth jazz dinner music.’”

Questlove received online backlash for his comments about 2Pac’s diss record. The 53-year-old musician took to Instagram to clarify his remarks about the late rap star.

“Lol woke up to a grip of ‘what did Dennis Edwards/Pac do to you?!’ texts,” Quest wrote on his Instagram page. “I’m speaking of the musical backdrop of that record (‘Hit Em Up’).”

He added, “I feel like my words were taken outta context from that interview so I’m making it clear that I was never a fan of that particular musical interpretation of ‘Don’t Look Any Further.’”

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Questlove also doubled down on his critique of beefing in Hip-Hop. Additionally, he responded to social media users calling him a hypocrite. In 2001, Quest performed with Jay-Z for the Brooklyn MC’s 2001 MTV Unplugged episode.

“Still mostly not a fan of [diss] records mostly because having lived in that period (mid-90s). I never seen any good results from Hip-Hop beef,” Questlove posted on Instagram.

“That wasn’t one of my brighter moments and had I had a redo I prolly woulda had second thoughts of the ‘Takeover’ situation,” the Oscar winner stated about Jay-Z’s diss track directed at Nas.