New Book Reveals The Notorious B.I.G. Once Asked Tupac to Manage Him
It's long been reported that Tupac helped guide a young Biggie Smalls when the latter first came into the game. When they beefed later on, 'Pac claimed The Notorious B.I.G. even took his subject matter and ran with it. In a new book called Original Gangstas: The Untold Story of Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur, and the Birth of West Coast Rap, author Ben Westhoff (Dirty South) claims Biggie actually asked Tupac to manage him at one point. You can hear the interview where Westhoff talks about it above.
“People forget that Tupac was already blowing up, already a pretty big star when Biggie was just kind of getting started,” says Westhoff in a new interview with the Murder Master Music Show. “Tupac kind of took Biggie under his wing and tried to teach him everything he knew, kind of took him to school. Biggie’s career wasn’t taking off as fast as he hoped it would. And so he actually asked Tupac if he would be his manager, and Tupac said, ‘No I think you should stick with Puffy and he’ll get you where you need to be.'”
It's funny to hear, because there's also been a longstanding rumor that towards the end of his career, Biggie even approached Suge Knight and said he wanted to get off Bad Boy, but that's never been confirmed. Of course, we all know how the story tragically ended.
“After he got shot, Tupac believed that Biggie knew about it in advance, knew it was going to happen,” Westhoff continues. “That made him doubly mad because he mentored Biggie so much and helped him, and he really believed that he double-crossed him.”
Westhoff's Original Gangstas is set to release on Sept. 13. You can pre-order a copy right here.
13 Feuds Involving Rappers Going at Non-Rappers