2Pac wasn’t exactly on the best of terms with De La Soul when he passed away tragically in September of 1996. During a recent interview with Ambrosia For Heads, Posdnuos explained why this is, revealing that it all started with the release of the group’s “Ego Trippin’” video. Apparently, 2Pac was under the impression that they were mocking his “I Get Around” visuals, but this was not the case.
“2Pac we had an issue with because when we did the ‘Ego Trippin’’ video, he unfortunately thought we were mimicking and trying to make fun of the ‘I Get Around’ video,” he explained. “He was very disappointed… He reached out to his manager and the people at Tommy Boy at the time and was like, ‘Yo, man, I love those dudes. I didn’t know they had an issue.’”
While Posdnuos says he tried to reach out to 2Pac to clear the air, the late icon was occupied dealing with a legal issue in Atlanta at the time.
De La Soul Cabin In The Sky
They never ended up connecting, and in July of 1996, De La Soul released Stakes Is High. Some artists took the criticisms in the album personally, including 2Pac. Ultimately, he fired back on his own songs, like “Against All Odds” from The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. “Look at De La Soul tryna player-hate on my sh*t, n***a, eat a fat dick!” he raps.
2Pac called them out on his unreleased song “Watch Ya Mouth” too, accusing them of having a problem with “hard sh*t.”