Hit 'Em Up

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Hit 'Em Up
2Pac feat. The Outlawz
publication June 4th 1996
length 5:13
Genre (s) Hip hop
Author (s) Tupac Shakur,
The Outlawz
music Johnny "J"
Label Death Row Records

Hit 'Em Up is a disstrack by 2Pac (Tupac Shakur) that he recorded with rap group The Outlawz against his former friend and rapper The Notorious BIG (Christopher Wallace), also known as "Frank White" and "Biggie Smalls" . The song was released on June 4, 1996 as the b-side of the single How Do U Want It from the album All Eyez on Me . In addition to Wallace, other East Coast rappers such as Sean Combs (then still Puff Daddy ) were insulted, especially the signings of Biggie's Bad Boy Entertainment label . Producer Johnny "J" was musically responsible . The accompanying video featured doppelgangers from Notorious BIG, Puff Daddy and Lil 'Kim . The track had a big impact on the genesis of the East Coast vs. West Coast -Hip-Hop.

Hit 'Em Up is considered one of the classic disstracks and served as a model for many other rappers. In particular, the explicity as well as the seriousness of the text, which had a real impact on the lives of the two protagonists (both Tupac Shakur and Notorious BIG were murdered under mysterious circumstances within a year of their release), made the Disstrack one of the best went down in hip-hop history.

Musical and textual arrangement

According to producer Johnny "J", the anger that you can tell in the song was not acted, but authentic. 2Pac suspected his former friend Wallace and his new crew, Junior MAFIA , which he wanted to push with Bad Boy Records, to have had something to do with the attack on his life on November 30, 1994. In this attack, 2Pac was hit by five shots, one of which hit his head. Shortly before that, he had rapped tracks in a studio with Wallace and Combs. He suspected that the two would have been privy to the ambush. In addition, just a few months after the shooting, BIG released the single Who Shot Ya? released that referred to 2Pac. Wallace and Combs denied a connection, however, as the track was created several months earlier and was originally planned for an album by Mary J. Blige , but was then considered too hard for an R&B album. Still, BIG used the track in the beginning West Coast vs.East Coast dispute.

Hit 'Em Up was made in May 1996 at Can Am Studios in Los Angeles , California . For the track Shakur gathered members of the group Dramacydal as well as other of his confidants who thus formed the first line-up of the Outlawz. The song consists of a total of five stanzas, with Shakur rapping one and three himself. The second verse is from Hussein Fatal , verse four from Yaki Kadafi and five from EDI Mean .

Shakur uses the entire first verse to abuse Wallace. He claims to have slept with his wife Faith Evans and that Wallace stole his rap and lifestyle from him. He also refers to their previous friendship. He announces furious acts of revenge and threatens Wallace's life. In addition to Wallace, he also attacks Combs, Lil Kim and Junior MAFIA, especially Lil 'Cease , in the first verse . The three other performers also use savage insults to lyrically discredit their opponents. Shakur also attacks Mobb Deep towards the end of the track . He makes fun of Prodigy's disease of sickle cell anemia funny. Mobb Deep replied to this line a little later with the song Drop a Gem on 'Em . Originally a diss against Jay-Z was also planned, but this was deleted after Shakur was convinced that he was not involved in the feud.

The bassline of the song comes from the song Don't Look Any Further by Dennis Edwards , released in 1984 , the beat itself comes from Junior MAFIA's song Get Money . The chorus is also based on Junior MAFIA's Player's Anthem . The Adlib “ Take money ”, which is repeated several times , also alludes to Junior MAFIA . Rumor has it that Wallace's wife Faith Evans also worked on the chorus, unaware that it was a disstrack against her husband. This was in the studio at the same time to record the song Wonder Why They Call U Bitch with Shakur. Shakur used the rumors to fake an affair with Evans. However, according to Evans, this should never have taken place.

Music video

The music video was recorded in May 1996 in a warehouse on Slauson Avenue in Los Angeles by the production company Look Hear Productions . The video is kept quite simple. It shows 2Pac and the Outlawz rapping the song in several different rooms. Shared clips from 2Pac with Notorious BIG and Puff Daddy are shown on monitors. There are also doubles from Puff Daddy and Notorious BIG, which were previously shown in the documentary 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted .

publication

First, Hit 'Em Up on 4 June 1996 as a B-side of How Do U Want It on the label Death Row Records released. After Shakur's death it was used on various compilations , for the first time on Death Row - Greatest Hits (1996) and later on the 2Pac-Best-Of Greatest Hits (1998). Several live versions are also available, the two best known on Tupac: Live at the House of Blues and 2Pac Live (both 2004). In addition, the song is part of some bootlegs and mixtapes in different versions .

Effects

After the song was released, Wallace protested his innocence in the shooting at Shakur. Despite the harsh attacks on himself, Wallace tried to be conciliatory and did not let the beef get near him. Wallace dismissed the alleged affair with his wife as gossip, but reacted in a rather humorous way in the song Brooklyn's Finest , a collaboration with Jay-Z. Sean Combs was surprised by the hatred that he and Wallace felt, considering Shakur as a friend. He also denied involvement in the act, saying that Shakur was now paranoid, but was still a good person in his heart. Neither of them responded musically to the disstrack. While Junior MAFIA made an ambiguous video about Get Money that some called a diss, Wallace denied it.

Lil 'Kim released Big Momma Thang , a disstrack that attacked 2Pac and Faith Evans.

reception

Shortly after its release, Hit 'Em Up caused some controversy. Many music journalists agreed that 2Pac had gone too far with this song. The orgy of insults destroyed the positive image that many journalists and fans had of the artist, including after the dramatic attack on his life. JR Reynolds of Billboard magazine stated that Shakur would stir up hatred with this song and was unacceptable. "The PMRC gave the song the warning Parental Advisory because the words" fuck "and" motherfucker "alone were more than 35 times occurred. The two rappers Chuck D and Kool Moe Dee were disappointed with 2Pac and declared in their joint book There's a God on the Mic: The True 50 Greatest MCs that 2Pac had gone too far with this song.

By far, Hit 'Em Up is now considered one of the best disstracks ever released. It was picked up by various artists. In his Disstrack Die Abrechnung, directed against Kool Savas , Eko Fresh used the line Remember when I let you sleep on my couch . Eminem attempted a remake in the second half of Quitter , a title against Everlast . His crew D12 took on the role of Outlawz. Khia used the beat and parts of the hook for her track of the same name, which was directed against Trina and Jacki-O . Bow Wow used a sample in his disstrack What About You, addressed to Soulja Boy . The trio clipping. took over the first line of verse First off, fuck yo 'bitch and the clique you claim in a slightly different form in 2016 for his Diss Fat Fingers directed against Donald Trump .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Chuck Philips: Comment on the 1995 Tupac recording. In: Chuck Philips Post. September 13, 2012, accessed October 9, 2013 .
  2. ↑ The 9 Greatest Rap Disses: Kendrick Lamar, Jay Z, 2Pac & More. The Daily Beast, August 15, 2013, accessed October 8, 2016 .
  3. ↑ a b Jake Brown: Tupac Shakur, (2-Pac) in the studio: the studio years (1989-1996) . Amber Books Publishing, 2005, ISBN 0-9767735-0-3 , pp. 109-110 .
  4. ↑ a b c d e The Blacklist: Stakes is High . In: Vibe Magazine . Vol. 4, issue 7 (September 1996). Vibe Media Group, ISSN  1070-4701 , p. 103-104 .
  5. ^ A b Holly Lang: The Notorious BIG: A Biography . Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007, ISBN 0-313-34156-7 , pp. 45 .
  6. ↑ Candace Sandy, Dawn Marie Daniels: How Long Will They Mourn Me ?: The Life and Legacy of Tupac Shakur . Random House, Inc, 2006, pp. 74 .
  7. ↑ Bill Heinzelman: Top 11 Diss Songs in Hip-Hop. (No longer available online.) UGO.com , archived from the original on April 10, 2009 ; Retrieved March 17, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ugo.com
  8. ↑ a b J.R. Reynolds: How low can you stoop? Just ask 2Pac . In: Billboard Magazine . No. 23 . Nielsen Business Media, Inc, June 8, 1996, ISSN  0006-2510 , pp. 19 .
  9. ↑ Steve Jones / Joli Jenson: Afterlife as afterimage: understanding posthumous fame . Peter Lang, 2005, ISBN 0-8204-6365-5 , p. 150 .
  10. ↑ 16 Things You Didn't Know About Tupac (Sept 13th 1996 RIP). Archived from the original on June 30, 2013 ; accessed on November 1, 2015 .
  11. ↑ 2Pac feat. Outlawz "Hit 'Em Up" samples from Dennis Edwards feat. Siedah Garrett "Don't Look Any Further". In: WhoSampled.com . Retrieved December 11, 2016 .
  12. ↑ Shani Saxon: Back 2 the Essence . In: Vibe . 7th year, 8 (October 1999). Vibe Media Group, ISSN  1070-4701 , p. 107 .
  13. ^ Frank Alexander / Heidi Siegmund Cuda: Got Your Back: Protecting Tupac in the World of Gangsta Rap . Macmillan, 2000, ISBN 0-312-24299-9 , pp. 132 .
  14. ^ Ronin Ro: Bad boy: the influence of Sean "Puffy" Combs on the music industry . Simon and Schuster, 2001, ISBN 0-7434-2823-4 , pp. 90 .
  15. ↑ 2Pac at Discogs (English)
  16. ↑ Cathy Scott: The Killing of Tupac Shakur . Huntington Press, 1997, ISBN 0-929712-20-X , pp. 53 .
  17. ↑ Biggie & Puffy Break Their Silence. In: Vibe . Spin Media , March 9, 2012, accessed January 17, 2014 .
  18. ↑ Adam Fleischer: Notorious BIG Speaks on 2pac Beef in Unreleased 1996 Interview. In: XXL. Harris Publications, March 9, 2012, accessed January 23, 2014 .
  19. ↑ Lil 'Kim - Big Momma Thang (2Pac & Faith Evans Diss). YouTube, July 31, 2010, accessed February 27, 2012 .
  20. ^ Todd Boyd: The New HNIC: The Death of Civil Rights and the Reign of Hip Hop . NYU Press, 2004, ISBN 0-8147-9896-9 , pp. 93 .
  21. ↑ Denard McClairne: Tupac and Elvis: Inevitably Restless . Trafford Publishing, 2003, ISBN 1-55395-691-5 , pp. 24 .
  22. ↑ Kool Moe Dee, Chuck D: There's a god on the mic: the true 50 greatest MCs . Thunder's Mouth Press, 2003, ISBN 1-56025-533-1 , pp. 80/224 .
  23. ↑ Michael Knight: Why I Am a Five Percenter . Jeremy P. Tarcher, 2011, ISBN 978-1-58542-868-7 , pp. 43 .
  24. ↑ Big Pun Dies, Tupac Sentenced and Soulja Boy Bow Wow Beef - Today in Hip-Hop. In: XXL Mag. Harris Publications, February 7, 2013, accessed October 9, 2016 .