| "Who Shot Ya?" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Song by the Notorious B.I.G. | |
| A-side | "Big Poppa" |
| Released | February 21, 1995 |
| Recorded | 1994 |
| Genre | Gangsta rap |
| Length | 5:20 |
| Label | |
| Songwriter(s) | Christopher Wallace |
| Producer(s) |
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"Who Shot Ya?" is a song by American rapper the Notorious B.I.G. (Wallace), backed by Sean Combs. Bad Boy Entertainment released it on February 21, 1995, on an alternate reissue of Wallace's single "Big Poppa/Warning". Its new B-side "Who Shot Ya", a revision of a track already issued earlier in 1995, was "controversial and hugely influential."[1] Widely interpreted as a taunt at Tupac Shakur, the single provoked a "rap battle" between the two rappers, formerly friends.
Wallace, when interviewed, explained his "Who Shot Ya" lyrics as simply portraying a rivalry between drug dealers. The instrumental is a sample that loops a portion of soul singer David Porter's 1971 song "I'm Afraid the Masquerade Is Over", from the album Victim of the Joke? An Opera. The song supposedly references Shakur's 1994 non-fatal shooting, which Shakur had suspected Wallace of being involved with. Wallace disputed Shakur's portrayal, and called the rumors blaming him "crazy" in the track's lyrics.[2] Out of prison, Tupac answered in June 1996 by the B side "Hit 'Em Up"—accusing Wallace by name—a "diss track" which inflamed the East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry to its peak. Associates of Wallace who witnessed his "Who Shot Ya" recording have unanimously disputed that it targeted Shakur.
Tupac's fatal shooting in September 1996 and Wallace's in March 1997, both officially unresolved, drew speculations partly blaming the "rap battle". The track was reissued in 1999 on the posthumous Biggie album Born Again, in 2001 on a "Big Poppa/Warning" reissue with remixes, in 2004 on a remaster of his 1994 or debut album Ready to Die, and in 2007 on his compilation album Greatest Hits. The rock band Living Colour's music video to a 2016 cover version protests gun violence.
- ^ Clive Davis with Anthony DeCurtis, The Soundtrack of My Life (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2012), p 409: "In 1999 Bad Boy released Born Again, a posthumous album of Biggie material that consisted of unfinished songs, previously unreleased material completed by collaborations with other rappers, and the controversial and hugely influential song 'Who Shot Ya?' "
- ^ Fab Five Freddy, interviewer, "Mail: Tupac Shakur: The final chapter"[permanent dead link], Vibe, 1995 Aug;3(6):25–29, where Vibe publishes the most relevant responses to Tupac's January comments published in Vibe's April issue: Andre Harrell & Biggie Smalls on p 25[permanent dead link], James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond, here called simply "Booker", on pp 25–26[permanent dead link], rapper Little Shawn on p 26[permanent dead link], Sean "Puffy" Combs on p 27[permanent dead link], and Randy "Stretch" Walker on pp 27 & 29. (Andre Harrell meanwhile fell from Tupac's suspicions, and Tupac seemingly never quite accused Little Shawn. Incidentally, Fab Five Freddy was an early ambassador of hip hop.) Puffy and Biggie reportedly resumed print silence until interviewed in June 1996 [Joel Anderson, "The B-side that deepened Biggie and Tupac's rift", Slate.com, 13 Nov 2019], yielding a cover story in Vibe's September 1996 issue [The Blackspot, "Stakes is high", Vibe, 1996 Sep;4(7):100–104].