Havoc Reveals Origins of Tupac Feud, Announces 30th Anniversary Mobb Deep Tour With Raekwon

During a recent interview, Havoc shared details about his past clash with Tupac while announcing a fall tour with Wu-Tang's Raekwon. The 19-city run starts this November.

Havoc believes the conflict started over lyrics in "Survival of the Fittest." “I believe it was a combo of things,” he explained.

"On 'Survival of the Fittest,' we [rapped], 'Thug life, we still livin' it.' At the time, [Tupac Shakur] had an article in Vibe magazine when he was like, 'I don't want to do this thug shit anymore.' So he probably thought we were like, ‘Thug life, we still living it, f*ck what he's doin'.' It piled up on 'L.A., L.A.,' and it was like, f*ck these n****as.

The tension grew worse. After Mobb Deep joined "L.A., L.A." — a track responding to Tha Dogg Pound's "New York, New York" — Tupac struck back with "Hit 'Em Up."

The legendary diss track had him spitting bars, with lines like, "Oh yeah, Mobb Deep, huh, you wanna f*ck with us?/You lil' young-ass motherf*ckers/Don't one of you n***as got sickle-cell or somethin?"

Though Mobb Deep wrote "Drop a Gem On 'Em" in response, they didn't release it. Havoc revealed that Tupac's death came right when the track was set to drop, so the team halted the rollout.

Now, thirty years since Mobb Deep's The Infamous and Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx first hit the streets, the two acts unite on stage. "Me and Havoc from Mobb will be pure hip-hop at its finest. This is gonna take rap shows to the next level — guaranteed," Raekwon in a statement, as reported by Complex.

Starting at Portland's Crystal Ballroom on November 13, the Raekwon & Mobb Deep — 30th Anniversary Tour, which celebrates three decades of their successful albums, will wind through major cities. Stops include LA's Wiltern on the 18th, Chicago's Riviera on the 28th, and Brooklyn Paramount on December 7. The final night lights up the Fillmore Miami Beach on December 15.

Speaking about what to expect on this run, the Wu-Tang clan member stated: “The fans can expect nothing less than pure, raw, unfiltered energy on stage. I'm excited to celebrate these two legendary albums — the world doesn't exist to me without that purple tape in it. This will be a tour the fans will never forget.”

The trek hits 19 cities in North America, including Berkeley, Denver, Houston, Toronto, Boston, Charlotte, and Atlanta. Want to catch them live in your city? You can find all information on their upcoming shows, including dates, venues, and ticket prices, on official ticketing platforms like Ticketmaster, Live Nation, or VIP Nation.