When Drake first broke onto the scene, I thought, “He’s probably just a flash in the pan,” because all I heard was the usual hype. But then it hit me, “Nope, this guy is legit. He doesn’t miss.” Whether it’s in a feud or facing controversy, he’s always on point. I was so struck by this that I took a break, wrapped myself in a blanket, and just zoned out for hours.
When we landed, I asked Pac if he was heading to Vegas for the fight. That was the last time I said anything like that. After ‘All Eyes on Me’ dropped, people were constantly coming up to me, asking if I could get Tupac to sign something or take a picture. They’d say how lucky I was to be around him. Everything was about Pac.
So now, Snoop Dogg is catching heat on the West Coast. People are saying he’s turned his back on Kendrick Lamar and disrespected Tupac’s memory. Remember when Drake had the nerve to use AI to make it sound like Tupac and Snoop were dissing Kendrick? The West Coast was furious, and honestly, they had every right to be. It’s one thing to diss Kendrick, but using AI to make it seem like West Coast legends were in on it was a new low for Drake. Even Tupac’s estate threw their support behind Kendrick.
You’d think Snoop, who was close with Tupac, would have stepped in and told Drake to leave Tupac out of this mess. But at first, Snoop stayed quiet. In fact, he even promoted Drake’s diss track with Tupac’s AI voice on his Instagram. It wasn’t until the whole culture rallied behind Kendrick, crowning him the King of the West Coast, that Snoop finally gave Kendrick his props. Still, Snoop hasn’t said a word about Drake disrespecting Tupac’s legacy.
So, what’s the deal with all this drama? Here’s the scoop: back in the day, Snoop Dogg was apparently pretty envious of Tupac Shakur. The beef started in early ’96 when Tupac’s “All Eyes on Me” totally overshadowed Snoop. The girls were all about Pac, and Suge Knight seemed to be backing him hard. Pac was on fire, and that’s when Snoop began to pull away. Just days before his tragic death, Tupac even cut ties with Snoop after seeing him hanging out with Biggie Smalls.
So, could Snoop’s jealousy be why he’s been so quiet about Drake dissing Tupac? And what are other West Coast rappers making of Snoop’s apparent support for Drake? Let’s break it down. Snoop’s a pro at playing the PR game. He’s the guy who’ll drop a flashy video, giving out money and doing all sorts of eye-catching stuff. When he’s cornered, he doesn’t miss a beat. Remember how he turned Pusha T’s diss into a viral hit with “Kiki Do You Love Me”? It’s not just about out-rapping someone; it’s about making a track that sticks around long after the drama dies down.
The West Coast has always been a major force in hip-hop, with legends like Tupac, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and N.W.A. They didn’t just make music; they created a movement and put the West Coast on the map. So, when Drake disrespects this legacy—like using Tupac’s AI voice to diss Kendrick Lamar or bragging about getting more love in Kendrick’s own city—the West Coast isn’t going to stay quiet. Tupac’s estate wasted no time calling out Drake for this. Howard E. King, Tupac’s estate lawyer, said it was a “flagrant violation” and slammed the use of Tupac’s voice against Kendrick, a friend who’s always shown respect for Tupac’s legacy.
Drake’s mistake of confusing Hollywood with the real heart of Los Angeles shows he doesn’t quite get the culture. He mixed up Delilah for Watts, poppy for comp, and West Hollywood for Inglewood. The real LA vibe isn’t in Hollywood or Beverly Hills—it’s in the neighborhoods where the culture truly lives. DJ Mustard, who produced the track, gets this. When the real LA comes together, it’s not in the fancy spots outsiders think of as LA.
When people started coming together around the record, it was folks like Shamika, Big Ron, LCC—people from the low bottoms of LA—that I saw really getting into it. There’s a lot of confusion about LA, but the West Coast wasn’t about to let any disrespect slide. During Kendrick’s pop-up show in Inglewood last June, he called out Drake for disrespecting West Coast legends. Kendrick was talking about Drake buying Tupac’s ring and using AI-generated voices of Tupac and Snoop.
Kendrick said, “Oh, so y’all ain’t going to let nobody disrespect the West Coast?” [Applause] “Huh? Y’all ain’t going to let nobody mock and imitate our legends?” The whole West Coast had Kendrick’s back. But strangely, Snoop Dogg was quiet about Drake using his and Pac’s AI voices on “Tailor Made Freestyle.” Even more surprising, Snoop was promoting the track on his Instagram stories. Fans also found out that Snoop has a close friendship with Drake’s dad, Dennis Graham. There’s even a post on Dennis’s Instagram where he calls Snoop his “forever brother” and wishes him a happy birthday, saying, “Enjoy your day and smoke one for me. One love.”
But Snoop’s friendship with Drake’s dad isn’t the only reason he stayed quiet about Drake disrespecting Tupac’s legacy. According to some of Tupac’s close friends, Snoop was actually jealous of Pac and secretly resented him for taking the spotlight. When Napoleon, a former member of Tupac’s group Outlaws, was on “The Art of Dialogue,” he was asked how he felt about Snoop saying he never liked Tupac’s diss track “Hit ‘Em Up.” Napoleon called it nonsense, pointing out that there’s video of Snoop back in the day rapping along to “Hit ‘Em Up.”
“I might not agree with everything in ‘Hit ‘Em Up,’ but back then, we were all about it. For Snoop to say he never liked it? That’s weird. There’s video of him on stage with Pac, rapping right along with him. Now he’s saying he didn’t like it? That doesn’t add up.”
Then Len B, who used to be signed to Death Row Records, jumped in to back this up. He said Snoop was definitely jealous of all the attention Tupac was getting. Len B said Snoop couldn’t handle how Pac was taking over the scene, becoming the main focus. Snoop was jealous of how everyone, from fans to the industry and even their own crew, was all about Tupac. “Pac was taking over because he was the hottest thing out there. Snoop was cool, but he didn’t have any new music. Pac had all this new stuff coming out, so he was the hottest thing around.”
The tension at Death Row Records was undeniable, especially between Snoop, Tupac, and everyone else involved. It felt like the pressure was building up, and I remember telling Tupac, “Should we even try to release our record?” because it seemed like nothing was moving forward. We all realized that unless something was fully prepped and had the backing it needed, it just wasn’t going to happen.
At that time, Tupac was at the center of everything, and it was clear that the spotlight was on him. This naturally caused some friction—everyone was starting to feel a certain way about it. People were frustrated and throwing tantrums, all because they wanted their shot, but there was no clear indication of when or if it would come. Meanwhile, all the buzz was around Tupac. It was an exciting time because there was so much talent at Death Row, but that same energy also created tension, with everyone wanting their moment.
Snoop, in particular, might’ve felt a certain way about Tupac’s rise. I mean, Snoop was the guy who had helped put Death Row on the map, and now he had to wait his turn. That’s a tough situation to be in. It wasn’t like Snoop wasn’t ready—he had his music lined up. We had listening sessions all the time, and Snoop was proud of what he’d created. But there was still no telling when his music would actually drop.
Suge Knight even spoke about it, saying that it wasn’t just Snoop who might have been feeling jealous of Tupac, but also Dre, Dogg Pound, and pretty much everyone else at Death Row. As Tupac’s star kept rising, so did the envy. Suge mentioned that he wanted to have a real talk with Snoop, hinting that there might have been some betrayal toward Tupac. Suge knew that Pac had always been loyal, releasing All Eyez on Me, speaking highly of Snoop, and being real with him. If there was any truth to the rumors, there would be some serious conversations needed.
Suge also reminisced about how long he had known Snoop, even bailing him out back in the day. “I’ve been dealing with Snoop for years,” Suge said. “He’s not the young kid he once was, but I’ve been there since the beginning, doing everything I could to keep him free.”
Suge also brought up a story Warren G recently shared on Drink Champs about the night Tupac was killed in 1996. Warren revealed that he had convinced Snoop to stay in LA with him instead of heading to Las Vegas with Tupac and Suge. Warren explained that Snoop originally planned to go to Vegas for the Mike Tyson vs. Bruce Seldon fight on September 7th, 1996, but thanks to Warren, Snoop stayed back in LA, and never made it to Vegas that night.
Here’s where things get really interesting: Warren G dropped some info that got Suge Knight wondering just how much Snoop Dogg might have known about what went down in Vegas that night. Warren revealed that he and Snoop heard about Tupac getting shot through a live update on a Nextel radio or walkie-talkie while they were hanging out at Warren’s place in LA. Suge thought that was pretty suspicious and started questioning why Snoop even had a walkie-talkie that night. He asked, “The only reason to have a radio is if you were at the fight with us and had a security detail. Without a security detail, why would you need the radio?”
But Suge didn’t stop there. He also claimed that Snoop and former Death Row artist Daz Dillinger actually worked on a track with Tupac’s alleged killer, DeAndre Smith. And here’s another twist: Suge said that Snoop supposedly warned Daz not to go to Vegas on the night of September 7th, 1996. Then, Suge dropped yet another bombshell, accusing Snoop of lying about getting kicked out of the hospital when he allegedly went to visit Tupac after the shooting. According to Suge, Snoop never even showed up at the hospital, not once. Danny Boy backed this up, saying he never saw Snoop at the hospital either.
So, what do you think about Snoop Dogg claiming he visited Tupac in the hospital? Honestly, it’s not something worth arguing over—Snoop has to live with that. All I know is that during the time I was there, if he did visit, he must have snuck in.
Some fans think Snoop should be cut some slack about the whole Tupac situation. After all, he had just beaten a murder charge and probably didn’t want to get caught up in more legal drama. They believe he was likely trying to stay out of trouble after going through such a life-changing experience. Plus, let’s be honest—Tupac was always stoking the flames of the East Coast-West Coast beef. Whenever Tupac and Snoop were together, you could almost see the look on Snoop’s face saying, “Here we go again.” So maybe Snoop did care about Tupac, but he couldn’t follow Pac down the path he was on.
And when it comes to Drake, some fans are upset that Snoop didn’t speak out when Drake disrespected the West Coast and Tupac’s legacy. But others argue that Snoop is too old for this kind of drama and probably doesn’t care enough to get involved in today’s rap beefs. As one fan put it, “Snoop is the definition of not picking sides. Just because you hate someone now doesn’t mean I have to. I’m here for the money, and I’m not messing that up.” Another fan added, “Snoop took a page from J. Cole’s playbook. That’s why he’s still alive and doing well today.
“What’s your take on this? Do you think Snoop really sided with Drake, or was he just staying out of it? And what about those rumors that Snoop was jealous of Pac—do you buy it? Share your thoughts in the comments