Questlove doesn’t think 2Pac’s legendary diss track, “Hit ‘Em Up,” deserves the iconic reputation it has due to how he feels about production. The Roots drummer discussed the song during a recent appearance on the One Song podcast. ‘Pac famously targets The Notorious B.I.G., Junior M.A.F.I.A., Mobb Deep, and other East Coast artists in the lyrics.
“I would respect 2Pac’s ‘Hit ‘Em Up’ if his music tracking was better,” he said. “‘Hit ‘Em Up,’ to me, is disqualified, not because of the misogyny — forget all that. It’s like, ‘Dude, you’re rhyming over smooth jazz dinner music.’ Luther Vandross could sing over this! People who are born in the later part of the decade that I was born in — alright, I was born in the ’70s — their relationship with 2Pac is different to my relationship [with 2Pac]. So when this came out, everybody was like, ‘This is hard as sh*t! Yo, he killin’ it!’ And I was like, ‘Dog, he’s smooth jazzed up Dennis Edwards. It doesn’t count’ […] That song, to me, is the weakest musical smack. I can’t get with ‘Hit ‘Em Up’ because the music, to me, is just…”
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Questlove previously made headlines this month for speaking on Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s ongoing feud, remarking that no one won the battle. Instead, he said on Instagram that it only showed “Hip Hop truly is dead.” The two artists have been releasing several diss tracks aimed at one another in recent months.
Questlove Speaks On Legacy Of 2Pac's "Hit 'Em Up"
Check out Questlove's full comments on "Hit 'Em Up" above. Be on the lookout for further updates on Questlove on HotNewHipHop.
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