Today is the 22nd anniversary of The Notorious B.I.G.’s sophomore album, Life After Death, which stirred up controversy upon release with subliminal disses seemingly directed at some of his biggest rivals. One of the biggest sources of speculation was “Long Kiss Goodnight,” which appeared to take numerous shots at 2Pac despite never mentioning his name. In a 2014 XXL oral history, Biggie’s close collaborator Lil' Cease cleared up any confusion about the track.
According to Cease, Biggie originally said some “terrible” things about 2Pac before scaling the song back:
That was a one-nighter. That was about ’Pac. He had some shit at the beginning of that though, nobody heard it, on the reel. We had to change it. It was a little too much. I can’t remember what Big said about him, but it was terrible. It couldn’t make it. He didn’t want to do it. He had some fire. But he didn’t want to make it too much. He just wanted to address it and to let nigga know, ‘I know what’s going on, and I could get wreck if I want to.’ Like, ‘If I really wanted to get on ya niggas, I could.’
Despite the changes, the RZA-produced “Long Kiss Goodnight” is peppered with lines which could be interpreted as referring to Biggie’s Death Row rival.
On the first verse, Biggie seems to be referencing 2Pac’s 1996 song, “I Ain’t Mad At Cha,” when he raps:
When my men bust, you just move with such stamina
Slugs missed ya, I ain’t mad at cha (we ain’t mad at cha)
The lyrics could also be alluding to the 1994 incident during which 2Pac was robbed and shot outside of New York’s Quad Recording Studios. Pac believed that Biggie and his label boss Puff Daddy were involved in setting up the attack, setting off a heated rivalry between Bad Boy and Death Row Records.
Later on, Biggie appears to reference 2Pac’s name-dropping 1996 diss track, “Hit ‘Em Up,” when he says:
Uhh.. I’m flamin' gats, aimin' at
These fuckin' maniacs, put my name in raps
Many fans have speculated that Biggie is addressing 2Pac’s time in prison on the third verse:
Slugs hit your chest, tap your spine, flatline
Heard through the grapevine, you got fucked four times
Damn that three to nine, fucked you up for real though
Sling steel slow, as for remorse, we feel no
The lines could be a reference to host Wendy Williams' allegations about 2Pac being raped in jail while serving time on sexual assault charges. However, he was only sentenced to one-and-a-half to four-and-a-half years in prison, rather than three to nine years mentioned in the lines.
Fans have also speculated that Biggie is referring to 2Pac being shot four times during the September 1996 drive-by shooting in Las Vegas which led to his death. Although the public didn’t hear the song until after Pac’s death, it’s not entirely clear when the bulk of the song was recorded. Biggie alludes to a car accident which took place following 2Pac’s murder on the song, but that part could have been added during a later version of the track.
On the outro, Biggie’s label boss Puff Daddy could be saying the song is directed at 2Pac:
The shit that ya’ll done started
Is never gonna stop!
We are never gonna stop!
And we’re not talking about no other rappers
We’re talking about you, motherfucker!
While the Bad Boy-Death Row rivalry was at its peak around the time Life After Death was recorded in 1995 and 1996, Puffy denied they were addressing 2Pac in the same XXL oral history:
Naaah. It was just some MC lyrics. I know people wanna have their imagination, but it was just lyrics. You’re hearing it from the horse’s mouth. I would tell the truth. If Biggie was going to do a song about 2Pac, he would have just come out with it and said his name. Their gloves were basically off. 2Pac had did ‘Hit ’Em Up.’
Elsewhere on Life After Death, Biggie took aim at rappers like Nas, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, and Jeru The Damaja on “Kick in the Door.”
On an episode of Genius Level, producer DJ Premier broke down all the disses on the track:
Read the full XXL interview here, and catch up on all the lyrics to The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Long Kiss Goodnight” on Genius now.
