Slain Rapper's Themes Were Harsh

By MICHELLE DeARMOND, Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) Industry leaders long tried to dismiss a simmering feud between West Coast rapper Tupac Shakur and his East Coast counterpart The Notorious B.I.G. as just an overblown publicity stunt.

Now both are dead, victims of almost identical drive-by shootings six months apart, leaving fans and investigators wondering if the coastal rivalry is more than an act.

We're not overlooking any possibilities of a payback or gang-related type shooting, or we're not overlooking the fact that this was possibly a hit, a direct target, coming out of possibly New York,'' Moen said. ``It could come out of L.A. It could come out of Atlanta.'' .

Police were interviewing about 200 witnesses and hope to release a sketch of the gunman, described by witnesses as black, in his early 20s, and believed to be driving a dark-colored sedan.

Shakur was in Las Vegas with Death Row Records founder Marion ``Suge'' Knight on Sept. 7 when he was shot while sitting in the passenger seat of Knight's car. He died in the hospital a week later. Knight, who was slightly injured, has been described as uncooperative by Las Vegas police.

Las Vegas police say they have no indication the two shootings are related.

``We really can't say because we haven't spoken to anyone from Los Angeles,'' homicide Sgt. Kevin Manning said. ``We don't know if there's any linkage.''

Some have said the artists were victims of gang violence, while still others say the deaths were the culmination of a growing East Coast-West Coast rivalry that typifies the violence of so-called ``gangsta rap.''

``I think that it's time that the authorities got serious about recognizing that the East Coast-West Coast thing is dangerous, and it's legitimate,'' said Don Cornelius, creator and executive producer of television's ``Soul Train'' music show.

But Phyllis Pollack, a publicist with Def Press in Los Angeles who has represented several rap stars, said it's unfair to speculate that the deaths were the result of a coastal feud.

``Sure, there's been this competition, but that's been since day one,'' she said. ``We don't have artists on the West Coast saying, `Let's kill off all of those East Coast rappers so we can sell more records on the East Coast.'''

The rivalry developed in the 1980s as West Coast rappers grew more popular, surpassing many East Coast rappers' record sales. The Notorious B.I.G., also called Biggie Smalls, was credited with reviving the East Coast scene a few years ago, building his gangsta rap persona around his troubled past that included time he spent as a crack dealer.

His feud with Shakur, which went beyond any East Coast-West Coast rivalry, was personal, and it accelerated in 1994 after Shakur was robbed of $40,000 in jewelry and shot several times. Shakur insisted Wallace was behind the attack, though Wallace denied it.

Shakur also claimed to have slept with Faith Evans, Wallace's estranged wife, bragging about it in a song.

Jesse Washington, managing editor of VIBE magazine, which sponsored the party Wallace attended, noted there was animosity between the rappers. But he cautioned against reading too much into their deaths.

``It's too early to attribute this to a coastal rivalry, Tupac revenge or anything else because there's just so many different possibilities and aspects to this whole situation,'' Washington said.

More importantly, he said, the deaths are a ``sad reflection on the level of violence in our community.''

``The saddest thing about all of this is they have literally generated tens of millions of dollars in sales of records, magazine sales and ratings,'' he said. ``I mean, these were two popular artists.''