Questlove Calls 2Pac’s “Hit ‘Em Up” The “Weakest” Diss Song

Questlove has been vocal about rap beef lately following Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s tense feud, and now he’s got words for 2Pac‘s iconic diss record. The 53-year-old artist claimed that the late rapper’s “Hit ‘Em Up” is the “weakest” diss song.

The Roots member appeared on the One Song podcast to discuss a myriad of topics. While many rap fans hail “Hit ‘Em Up,” which was aimed at The Notorious B.I.G., Mobb Deep, and Junior M.A.F.I.A, as one of the greatest diss songs ever, he revealed that he was in the minority when the record came up.

“I would respect 2Pac’s ‘Hit ‘Em Up’ if his music tracking was better,” Quest said. He clarified that his issues had nothing to do with the content, but the actual sonics. “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!”

Questlove continued, distinguishing himself from 2Pac fans who are around his age. “People who are born in the later part of the decade that I was born in — alright, I was born in the ’70s — their relationship with 2Pac is different to my relationship [with 2Pac],” he said.

“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’ […] That song, to me, is the weakest musical smack. I can’t get with ‘Hit ‘Em Up’ because the music, to me, is just…”

In this era, of course, such a controversial opinion won’t go without angry reactions. “Questlove bugging out wit this one [facepalm emoji],” one fan wrote. “I don’t know what this ni**a was doing around the time Hit ‘em Up came out. But damn near every urban community in America was a BadBoy Killer.”

Another fan called Questlove’s take “the worst hip hop opinion” they ever heard from a legend in the game. One fan cleverly quoted Drake’s diss toward Metro Boomin on “Push Ups,” writing, “Questlove shut yo a** up and play some drums ni**a.”

Quest took to Instagram after receiving the negative feedback to clarify that he had no issue with 2Pac or Dennis Edwards, but rather the interpolation of “Don’t Look Any Further” on “Hit ‘Em Up.”

The Hamilton producer’s discussions about rap beef and diss songs began last week with Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s feud, claiming that it was toxic to the Hip-Hop community. “Nobody won the war,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “This wasn’t about skill. This was a wrestling match level mudslinging and takedown by any means necessary — women & children (& actual facts) be damned. Same audience wanting blood will soon put up ‘rip’ posts like they weren’t part of the problem. Hip Hop truly is dead.”

Drizzy and K. Dot got very personal in the battle, though fans were thoroughly entertained by the back and forth. Women, children, domestic abuse allegations, and pedophilia were brought up across the loaded week of releases that included “Euphoria,” “6:16 In LA,” “Family Matters,” “Meet The Grahams,” “Not Like Us,” and “The Heart Part 6.”