A major turning point in hip-hop history was undoubtedly the East Coast vs. West Coast beef of the mid-1990s. The conflict is most known for leading to the deaths of hip-hop giants in Tupac, and The Notorious BIG.
After the death of those major figures, it was an arduous process to mend those bicoastal bridges. However, Fat Joe recently opened up about his role in helping bridge that gap during a conversation with Los Angeles OG, Big U.
“You know what stopped the East Coast/West Coast Beef? Fat Joe,” he said before recounting a meeting held at Minister Louis Farrakhan's home to squash the bicoastal beef. Upon arrival, Fat Joe noticed he and Doug E Fresh was the only East Coast representatives and said a verbal confrontation ensued between him and Ice Cube.
“You shoulda been the n***a tryna bring the peace,” Fat Joe said. “That’s what I was trying to tell him...everybody love you, you coulda set this sh** up and squashed this.”
“Mack 10 was Ice Cube’s guy right? At the time. So me and Mack 10 hit it off and he was like, ‘Yo man, I f**k with you Fat Joe, everything I hear about you, this and that,” Joe recalled. “And I’m like ‘Yo, you know I f**k with all of y’all too,’ like you know what I’m saying? So he was like ‘Yo man, let’s show them that an East Coast and West Coast could do something positive, let’s work together, and we shot the movie Thicker Than Water out in L.A.”
Joe continued to recall shooting the film in 1999 and becoming closer with his West Coast counterparts in the process.
“From there, that showed people that New York and L.A. could work together and we became a bond and we was doing videos together and working, and I would like to say that eased the tension between the East Coast and West Coast,” Joe said. “It needed something like that. A Fat Joe, Mack 10, and everybody start working with each other and showing brotherhood and unity.”
Source: youtube.com
