Questlove Clarifies 2Pac “Hit ‘Em Up” Criticism Following Backlash
Questlove has been the talk of the internet for his recent comments on rap beef, especially calling 2Pac’s “Hit ‘Em Up” the “weakest” diss. The 53-year-old musician clarified his comments, specifically his critique of the record interpolating Dennis Edwards’ “Don’t Look Any Further.”
“Lol woke up to a grip of ‘what did Dennis Edwards/Pac do to you?!’ texts,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “I’m speaking of the musical backdrop of that record (‘Hit Em Up’). I feel like my words were taken outta context from that interview so I’m making it clear that I was never a fan of that particular musical interpretation of ‘Don’t Look Any Further.’”
Fans were especially thrown off by his general denouncement of diss records and rap beef, specifically Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s; they reminded him that he played the drums for JAY-Z on MTV Unplugged in 2001 when Hov performed his Nas diss record “Takeover.” Nonetheless, The Roots member stood firm in his current stance.
“Still mostly not a fan of [diss] records mostly because having lived in that period (mid 90s) I never seen any good results from hip hop beef,” Questlove wrote. “& yeah you don’t have to remind me of my role on Unplugged——-that wasn’t one of my brighter moments & had I had a redo I prolly woulda had second thoughts of the ‘Takeover’ situation.”
Quest doubled down on the grim side of rap beef when things leave wax. “I know Battling is part of the sport of hip hop. If there was a history of cats just keeping it on wax? Yeah, idda been [popcorn emojis] w yall,” he wrote. “But as with MOST battles it leaves the MCs & Their Crews & then suddenly the outside world gets involved. Those were dark times if you were there.”
He acknowledged the “health scare era” of Hip-Hop where many rappers aren’t making it to 55, and more recently, some don’t even see 30 years old. “So that is what I meant by ‘No one won [Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s] battle’. And I know that sentiment is ‘corny’ but it’s how I feel. I would rather see cats collaborating than where we are now,” he concluded.
Questlove joined the One Song podcast where he commented on 2Pac’s “Hit ‘Em Up,” which sparked his social media vitriol. “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!”
“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,'” he said later in his rant. “That song, to me, is the weakest musical smack. I can’t get with ‘Hit ‘Em Up.'”
The late rapper released “Hit ‘Em Up” with shots aimed at The Notorious B.I.G., Mobb Deep, and Junior M.A.F.I.A in 1996.
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