Rappers Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls (born Christopher Wallace and also known as The Notorious B.I.G.) were among the first recording artists to reach mainstream success with songs about growing up poor and Black in crime-ridden neighborhoods. Murdered within about six months of each other at the height of their fame in the 1990s, their deaths spawned conspiracy theories of hitmen, coverups and cops on gangbangers’ payrolls.
Both killings went unsolved for nearly three decades, and no one has ever been charged with Smalls’ murder. But in 2023, Duane Keith “Keffe D” Davis – described in court records as a former high-ranking member of the Crips street gang – was charged with killing Shakur. Davis has pleaded not guilty and is set for trial in 2026.
In a Drug Enforcement Administration report detailing a secret police interview, obtained by USA TODAY and filed in a Nevada court as part of the case against him, Davis claimed Sean “Diddy” Combs put a $1 million bounty on the heads of Shakur and Death Row Records co-founder Suge Knight.
Combs, 55, has not been charged in connection with Shakur’s death and has repeatedly denied involvement. A spokesperson for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told USA TODAY that Combs has never been a suspect in Shakur’s murder.
According to the previously confidential report, testimony before the grand jury that indicted Davis and additional police and court records, here’s how the hip hop rivalry escalated into a deadly conflict:
Illustrations by Veronica Bravo; Animations by Ramon Padilla