Author Claims The Notorious B.I.G. Once Asked Tupac To Manage Him

Just as important as their respective solo careers was The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac's beef with each other, that ultimately defined the East Coast versus West Coast rap rivalry of the '90s. But apparently before the relationship between the two rappers became ugly and tragic, Biggie had allegedly asked Tupac to manage him.

In a recent interview with the "Murder Master Music Show" Ben Westhoff, author of the forthcoming book Original Gangstas: The Untold Story of Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur, and the Birth of West Coast Rap, discussed the early friendship between the two emcees. Before Biggie dropped his debut album Ready to Die, Tupac had already released two albums and made a name for himself as one of the West Coast's most talented rappers.

"People forget that Tupac was already blowing up, was already a pretty big star, when Biggie was kind of just getting started," Westhoff explains. "Tupac kind of took Biggie under his wing and tried to teach him everything he knew, kind of took him to school."

He then adds:

"Biggie's career wasn't taking off as fast as he hoped it would and so he actually asked Tupac if he would be his manager and Tupac said 'No, I think you should stick with Puffy and he'll get you to where you need to be.'"

The commentary not only speaks on the different levels of success the two had at the time, but also to the beef that they became infamous for, with Westhoff saying that Tupac felt Biggie had double crossed him following the incident in which the former was shot and robbed in a Manhattan recording studio that the latter was also at (although it was never confirmed if Biggie was a part of it or not).

It's tough not to think of a "what if" moment where Tupac had actually agreed to mentor Biggie. The course of rap history would've likely made a different turn, and maybe the two rappers would still be with us.

Check out the video below.