This is a Fan Made Unofficial Video for the Notorious B.I.G. Song: "Who Shot Ya?" Movie Clips: Notorious (2009) Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop & particularly gangsta rap, he is cited in various media lists as one of the greatest rappers of all time. Wallace became known for his distinctive laid-back lyrical delivery, offsetting the lyrics' often grim content. His music was often semi-autobiographical, telling of hardship and criminality, but also of debauchery and celebration. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NYC, Wallace signed to Sean "Puffy" Combs' label Bad Boy Records as it launched in 1993, and gained exposure through features on several other artists' singles that year. His debut album Ready to Die (1994) was met with widespread critical acclaim, and included his signature songs "Juicy" & "Big Poppa". The album made him the central figure in East Coast hip hop, and restored New York's visibility at a time when the West Coast hip hop scene was dominating hip hop music. Wallace was awarded the 1995 Billboard Music Awards' Rapper of the Year. The following year, he led his protégé group Junior M.A.F.I.A., a team of himself & longtime friends, including Lil' Kim, to chart success. "Who Shot Ya?" is a song by American rapper the Notorious B.I.G., also called Biggie Smalls, backed by Sean Combs as the "hype man". Puffy's emerging record label, Bad Boy Entertainment, released it on February 21, 1995, on an alternate reissue of Biggie's single "Big Poppa/Warning," out since December 5, 1994. While this 1994 release climbed the Billboard Hot 100, its new B side "Who Shot Ya"—now Biggie's "most infamous classic," with an instrumental now iconic—revised some vocals of a "Who Shot Ya" track, rapped by Biggie & Keith Murray, already issued on a mixtape from a Harlem DJ earlier in 1995. Recalled as "menacing magic" that helps "define New York rap," "Who Shot Ya" was "controversial & hugely influential." Widely interpreted as a taunt at 2Pac, the single provoked a "rap battle" between the two rappers, formerly friends. Biggie, when interviewed, explained his "Who Shot Ya" lyrics as portraying a rivalry between drug dealers. Sharing the mixtape track's instrumental, the single replaces the Murray verse with a second Biggie verse, and expands Puffy's "hype man" vocals. Beyond a synthesized kick drum added, the instrumental is simply a sample that "chillingly" 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. A "snippet" of the mixtape track, but Murray's verse, plays in "K. Murry Interlude," a brief skit on Uptown Records singer Mary J Blige's R&B album My Life, coproduced by Puffy, released on November 29, 1994. That day, James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond, managing an Uptown Records rapper, booked 2pac to record a cameo. Reaching the studio's Times Square building lobby, 2pac was shot resisting robbery by waiting gunmen. Tupac instantly blamed Rosemond & soon suspected privity by Puffy and Biggie. Once a January jailhouse interview of Tupac, hinting the suspicions, was read in Vibe magazine's April issue, "Who Shot Ya" intervening, "the industry rumor mill was churning." The central persons all disputed Tupac's portrayal, and Biggie called "crazy" the rumors blaming him via "Who Shot Ya" lyrics. Either way, the single's timing was suspect. Out of prison, 2pac answered in June 1996 by the B side "Hit 'Em Up" —accusing & menacing Biggie & Puffy by name—which legendary "diss track" inflamed the rap community's East/West rivalry to its peak. In Vibe, then, Puffy denied any aggression at Tupac, and Biggie called "Who Shot Ya" initially "the intro to that shit Keith Murray was doing on Mary J Blige's joint." Biggie's puzzling explanation indirectly spotlit Puffy's vocals, shouting East Coast, motherfucker!. Tupac's fatal shooting in September 1996 & Biggie's in March 1997, both officially unresolved, drew speculations partly blaming the "rap battle." Biggie & studio associates who witnessed his "Who Shot Ya" recording have unanimously disputed that it, or Biggie's "saying that phrase," targeted 2pac. Nashiem Myrick, the main producer, avowed "no reason, no motive, at all, to have set 'Pac up," a query tied to the song. It 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 & in 2007 on his compilation album Greatest Hits. In 2014, the mixtape version, key inspiration to rapper Jay-Z in 1995, drew renewed notice. Rock band Living Colour's music video to a 2016 cover version protests gun violence. Who Shot Ya? is now a trope beyond music. Support the Content via Cash App or Paypal:
