During a recent conversation on Sway in the Morning, LL Cool J cleared up some ongoing speculation. Earlier this year, journalist Bonsu Thompson shared his theory with Sway that The Notorious B.I.G. dissed LL Cool J on his 1994 Ready to Die track, "Who Shot Ya?" The rapper, however, denies this. LL Cool J took the opportunity to set the record straight, claiming that the rumors aren't true. According to him, he even tagged along with Biggie while he wrote the iconic track.
“I need him to stick to his day job, and if that is his day job, he might wanna reassess that sh*t,” he jokingly said of Thompon. “I got love for him, I’m just teasing." LL continued, “No, that’s not true. I’m in the studio when Biggie wrote ‘Who Shot Ya?’ Like, I was literally in the studio when he made the song. I was literally, physically in the studio with Notorious B.I.G. when he wrote ‘Who Shot Ya?’" The artist goes on, “I said ‘Biggie, why you smoke so much weed when you write these joints?’ He said, ‘It makes me feel like I’m in the track,’ and we just started laughing."
LL Cool J Reveals He Was In The Studio When Biggie Wrote "Who Shot Ya?"
The specific lyric Thompson cited in support of his theory was “Old school, new school need to learn though.“ LL Cool J says, however, that Biggie was simply making a broad statement. “He was doing what rappers do: ‘Old school, new School.’ He’s saying whoever want it, can get it. That’s regular … Now it’s about selling swag, and that’s okay, I’m not judging but I’m just saying, that’s 100 percent false.”
"Who Shot Ya?" is also widely accepted to be a diss track toward 2Pac, and is known to have fueled the famous beef between him and Biggie. As a response to the track, 2Pac later released "Hit 'Em Up" in 1996, only months before he was fatally shot.