Today’s “Best Song Ever”: Tupac “Hit Em Up”

By Tim Duffy

In light of their deaths it is occasionally difficult to enjoy their more decimating attacks on each other. The Biggie classic “Who Shot Ya” is a total classic with one of the greatest there ever was ripping apart a never directly named person, Tupac(whom B.I.G. claims was being paranoid) assumed it was him. Pac’s response “Hit Em Up” which prominently features seemingly half a dozen lesser guest rappers is just lyrical torture for the entire Bad Boy Records gang.

The first words heard on the record is “I ain’t got motherfucking friends. That’s why I fucked your bitch.” So much for bygones being bygones.  The rest of the song is a series of lacerating cuts to Biggies character, his crew, and then a series of threats on the whole bunch of them.

Listening to it today on Tupac’s Birthday I honestly was able to laugh at some of this stuff. It’s an impressive battle rap that has maybe been unfairly avoided by most music press because of the tragic circumstances surrounding this conflict.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Today’s “Best Song Ever”: Donna Summer “I Feel Love”
• Today’s “Best Song Ever”: Lou Reed “New York Telephone Conversation”
• Today’s “Best Song Ever”: Brian Eno “Here He Comes”
• Today’s “Best Song Ever”: Gang of Four “Anthrax”
• Today’s “Best Song Ever”: Nirvana “I Hate Myself And I Want To Die”