Trivia

• 2Pac’s and The Notorious B.I.G.’s vocals were recorded in 1993. Stretch of Thug Life, Lil Vicious, Brown Man, and Dramacydal also recorded vocals for the song but were omitted from Eminem’s version.
• 2Pac recorded two completely different versions of his verse for the original track, with Eminem ultimately choosing the mellower second version.
• The “original version” of the song was officially released in 1995 on the compilation album One Million Strong, featuring 2Pac’s original verse. However, the song’s producer, Easy Mo Bee, still considers that version a remix because the track was completed without his involvement. Production was finished by Moe ZMD, who also produced “Young Niggaz” and “Outlaw” from 2Pac’s 1995 album Me Against The World. The beat underwent minor changes prior to release, most notably the addition of a new snare, while the most significant change overall was a new chorus by Buju Banton, replacing versions previously recorded by Lil Vicious and Brown Man.
• In a 2020 Q&A, Eminem named his version of the song as his favorite beat he has ever produced.
• The song’s video director, Philip G. Atwell, also directed many of Eminem’s videos, including “My Name Is,” “The Real Slim Shady,” and “Stan.”

Words from Eminem

“

I know the movie is documentary-style, so I tried to make the song documentary-style. It has a chorus by Edgar Winter, and as he’s singing the chorus you’ll hear 2Pac come in. Basically, it was his last interview that he did. He was down-talking Biggie, then Biggie will come in.

Then, after Biggie’s verse, you’ll hear Biggie in an interview trying to downplay the whole thing, then 2Pac comes in with his verse. It’s kind of like they’re just talking about each other and the whole drama that was going on.

Basically, what I was trying to do with it was make people realize — take them back to that time, ’95, when that beef was happening — and make them realize how ridiculous the beef was in the first place.