cross-posted from: lemmy.world/post/17538603
“Who Shot Ya?” is Biggie’s warning to his adversaries not to mess with him and if they do, he will return the favor by killing them.
The song was originally recorded for Mary J. Blige’s 1994 album My Life but didn’t make the cut as Biggie’s version was considered too violent. Instead, Keith Murray was asked to record a different version, which is now known as the “K. Murray Interlude.”
On November 30, 1994, 2Pac was shot and robbed at Quad Studios in New York. He accused Puff Daddy, Jimmy Henchman, and Biggie for setting up the attack. “Who Shot Ya?” fueled Pac’s suspicions as he saw it as a diss track toward him, due to its coincidental release in Feburary 1995. He later responded to the song a year later with “Hit ‘Em Up” and “Bomb First (My Second Reply).”