Tupac and Biggie, once close friends, saw their relationship shift when Biggie's wife, Faith Evans, entered the picture. Accusations about Faith's pregnancy and its connection to Tupac fueled intense media speculation and blamed her for worsening the feud.
Now, after 25 years, Faith opens up about the long-concealed truth, shedding light on the secrets surrounding her involvement with Tupac and the events that transpired during that tumultuous time.
Now, after 25 years, Faith opens up about the long-concealed truth, shedding light on the secrets surrounding her involvement with Tupac and the events that transpired during that tumultuous time.
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FunTranscript
00:00 Before their deadly falling out, Tupac and Biggie were close friends.
00:03 But everything changed when Biggie's wife Faith Evans got involved with Tupac.
00:08 And you said that you went to Tupac's hotel room.
00:11 When Faith got pregnant, Biggie accused her of carrying Tupac's baby and the media ran with it.
00:17 I was a little scared. He was so angry and grabbing on me like he was enraged.
00:22 Everyone blamed Faith for escalating the war between the two men.
00:27 Why was I the poster child for the beef?
00:30 But nobody knows what really happened between Faith and Tupac except the one woman who survived.
00:36 I didn't really know what I was walking into.
00:37 What do you want to say about your relationship or lack thereof with Tupac Shakur?
00:43 Well, while I was in Los Angeles, that was when I met Tupac.
00:49 Tupac told me he was a big fan and that he'd heard my music
00:53 and that he would love to do a record with me one day.
00:56 Big had always spoken very highly of Tupac.
00:59 He really considered him like his homeboy.
01:01 We get to the studio and the song was called "Wonder Why They Call You B****."
01:06 And it was just all such a very weird moment for me to be in this place
01:13 and kind of almost realizing that I don't think I was supposed to be here.
01:19 It was evident that Tupac knew what he was doing.
01:23 Someone took a picture of them. It looks like they were sexually together.
01:29 I just knew I needed to get back home, talk to Big and try to explain to him what really happened.
01:34 When he finally came to talk to me, he was so angry that
01:39 I barely got to say much of anything other than, "No, that's not true."
01:42 Like, you know, I wouldn't do that.
01:44 Big, heart to heart, believes her.
01:45 But then at the same time, he's got all these people in his ear saying,
01:48 "Yo, like, how you gonna let her play you like that?"
01:50 When I decided to be his wife, I wanted to be married to him in a
01:55 happily committed and trustworthy relationship.
01:59 But, you know, it's not like we took the time to figure it out.
02:04 Their love story started during a photo shoot for Bad Boy Records,
02:10 where Faith was the only female artist signed.
02:13 I was sitting at the lunch table having a break,
02:17 and I think I was looking at some photographs.
02:19 And he asked, "Can you see my pictures?"
02:21 Big's like, "Is that your daughter?"
02:22 And I'm like, "Yes."
02:23 And then he's like, "Oh, I have a daughter too."
02:25 So he would kind of come and make conversation or stand over me and ask, "Who is that?"
02:29 Like, I'm like, "Look at that."
02:30 Like, you know, as if he knew me already.
02:32 Something about him was very warm and cozy.
02:36 That type of guy, just very warm and caring and physical.
02:41 He had never met anyone like Faith,
02:43 and he knew that from the second that he met her that he was in love with her.
02:46 From the moment he laid eyes on her, he was like, "That's my wife."
02:48 I think we both just knew we had very strong feelings and attractions
02:52 that seemed a little strange because it was so soon.
02:55 But it felt right.
02:56 He said, "You know, we should just get married."
02:59 I was like, "Okay."
03:00 The simplest way to put it is we were young and probably a little rebellious and in love.
03:08 You're married, right?
03:10 Oh, yeah, no question. That's my old lady.
03:12 What do you think that represents a lot of young people out there?
03:14 Unity.
03:17 Unity.
03:18 They moved into an apartment in Brooklyn and started their new life together.
03:23 I felt comfortable enough to move Chyna over there.
03:26 He was always just very playful with Chyna.
03:30 I do know that at some point she likened Big to her dad.
03:35 That was the feeling that, you know, he gave her, I guess.
03:37 But after only a few months,
03:40 Faith and Biggie's relationship started to change when Biggie's career took off.
03:44 Big started being on the road a whole lot more.
03:46 I mean, and I was on the road as well.
03:48 You know, by this time my record was out.
03:49 I had my career was going pretty well.
03:52 But he started spending a lot more time away from our apartment.
03:56 And, you know, he would be in hotels in the city, you know.
03:59 And it was kind of like, it just didn't feel right.
04:03 Big went on the road with the Junior Mafia and Lil' Kim.
04:06 My first impression of Kim was she was cool.
04:09 I really thought she was cool.
04:11 She was fun.
04:12 Big kind of encouraged me to befriend her, you know.
04:15 It was like, okay, that's his artist.
04:17 I didn't have a problem with that at all.
04:18 He used to be like, oh, take Kim to the gym or take Kim shopping with you or, you know, whatever.
04:23 I remember even a time when Big was staying at a hotel and Kim was there.
04:27 But I didn't think anything of it.
04:30 I remember her going on the radio saying like,
04:32 something about me and Big and there's no rings.
04:34 And it was just weird to me why she would be speaking on me and our marriage.
04:39 Kim was talking about Big in a way that could have been
04:41 construed as a romantic relationship.
04:44 Only me and him could always know what that relationship was like.
04:48 It was enough to tell something was going on.
04:50 I don't know.
04:51 Something just told me to go to his townhouse in TNA.
04:53 It was all dark.
04:56 And I just started touching around, you know, and I felt somebody right there.
05:00 And he turns on the light and it was Lil' Kim.
05:03 I just started hitting it.
05:05 And then she left.
05:08 When I left a couple hours later, I had a Land Cruiser and it was like
05:11 scratched from like every single inch of the surface of the car.
05:15 I was scratched up.
05:16 Like she got busy.
05:16 Faith was really hurt because she saw Kim as her little sister.
05:23 And I just kind of felt like really stupid.
05:25 Cause I'm like, wait, all this time I've been, you know, like,
05:28 really? And you told me to be around her.
05:30 So I just was very like, I don't think we're going to be together anymore.
05:35 No, Big was just younger.
05:36 He was just slipping up at times, you know, just getting caught up and just,
05:40 you know, doing stupid.
05:41 Man, it messed up their marriage.
05:43 I was very humiliated and hurt.
05:45 But what I'm not going to do is let my feelings right now affect the fact that
05:49 I have to have stability for my daughter.
05:52 I still got my own thing over here.
05:54 China actually gave me a motivation to figure something out.
06:00 Faith called me telling me that she had to move and that she was going to leave Big.
06:06 And I'm like, where are you going to move to Faith?
06:08 Where are you and China going to move?
06:09 She was like, I don't know.
06:10 I just have to get out of this apartment.
06:12 I just left.
06:14 I was kind of done.
06:16 When her and Big started separating, she felt strange being around any bad boy family events.
06:27 I was working, but I'm not as much, you know, I think that may have been even on purpose.
06:32 I was kind of ducking him.
06:33 Faith wanted independence from Bad Boy Records and Biggie and started looking for work outside
06:39 of it.
06:39 While I was in Los Angeles, I was working on a new project with these girls.
06:44 And one night we decided to go out to a club.
06:47 And that was when I met Tupac at Hollywood Athletic Club.
06:52 Big had always spoken very highly of Tupac.
06:56 He really considered him like his homeboy.
06:59 But Faith was unaware that Tupac held ill feelings towards Biggie for the Quad Studio incident.
07:05 When Tupac came out to Quad Studios, there were guys waiting for him.
07:09 Upstairs, Biggie and all these guys were there.
07:13 He ended up getting shot.
07:16 Rap artist Tupac Shakur was apparently attacked in a New York City recording studio.
07:22 Right when it happened, Big called me, scared sounding to me, to be quite honest.
07:26 So he told me he was going to go to Bellevue and make sure he was OK.
07:29 From Tupac's perspective, he said nobody would look him in the eye
07:34 and that the people that were upstairs must have known that he was going to be ambushed and robbed.
07:39 Big, there was no drama. Big didn't dislike Tupac.
07:41 He just felt like, OK, like, dude, like, you're bugging out.
07:44 Before the shooting, they were very friendly and brotherly.
07:47 So when Tupac met Faith, he saw a chance to get back at Biggie through her.
07:55 They came and they were like, hey, Faith, how you doing?
07:57 Yo, Tupac wants to meet you.
07:59 No big deal.
08:02 I didn't feel like I should meet him. The photographer wanted to snap pictures.
08:05 Hey, you guys take a picture. You know, I want to get a picture of you guys.
08:08 Tupac told me he was a big fan and that he'd heard my music
08:13 and that he would love to do a record with me one day.
08:15 You know, I was like, OK, that's really dope. Let me know.
08:18 So we exchanged information.
08:20 Faith wanted to provide for her daughter and wasn't thinking about anything else.
08:24 Tupac and I negotiated me getting $25,000 for writing and singing the hook.
08:30 And at that time, I needed the $25,000.
08:33 When I called Biggie to tell him that Tupac asked me to be on his record,
08:38 he didn't tell me not to do it either.
08:39 As long as the money was straight and the business was straight,
08:42 then it didn't seem like something I shouldn't do.
08:45 We get to the studio and I basically think I'm just coming to do a hook,
08:50 which usually doesn't take me very long.
08:52 And I went in the booth and the song was called Wonder Why They Call You B****.
08:59 And it was just all such a very weird moment for me to be in this place
09:05 to sing this particular song and kind of almost realizing that
09:11 I don't think I was supposed to be here.
09:13 I did the song, did the session for a couple of hours.
09:17 It wasn't that long. And that was it.
09:20 He told me that his manager was going to bring the check to his room.
09:23 We could drive to the hotel.
09:26 I can go. We can go get it.
09:27 Especially in this situation, I definitely got to get my money.
09:30 When we get into his room and his friends, they all, you know,
09:34 kicking it and having drinks and smoking.
09:36 And, you know, I just kind of felt it becoming a little menacing in a way.
09:40 And then he said that I needed to suck his d*** to get my money.
09:46 And I, you know, I got, I was shocked.
09:51 I was a little scared.
09:56 But I think I kind of started crying a little bit, like, you know,
10:00 being somewhat humiliated that he would even think that that's how it is.
10:03 And I never got my money. I ended up leaving.
10:07 They already had a plan to win by any means.
10:11 It's just the art of war. She was caught in the middle, crossfire.
10:13 And his song hit them up.
10:14 Tupac mocks Biggie and claims that he slept with his wife.
10:17 The media was writing all about it.
10:24 What's the situation with you and Tupac? The L.A. situation. What's going on?
10:27 Why was I the poster child for the Big? Like, what, how, what is really going on?
10:33 I just knew I needed to get back home, talk to Big and try to explain to him what,
10:39 what really happened.
10:40 I mean, we were going through problems, but he was still my husband.
10:44 I remember him being really angry to the point where he came in my hotel
10:49 and I, like, locked him out of the door because I didn't know
10:52 what he was going to do. He was so mad. He was just screaming like,
10:55 you know what? Why is he doing this?
10:58 I barely got to say much of anything other than, no, that's not true.
11:01 Like, you know, you know, you know, I wouldn't do that. You know, that's not true.
11:03 That was pretty much all I could do was keep repeating that.
11:06 While the media claimed that Tupac had stolen Fave, Biggie took out his anger on her.
11:12 She was supposed to perform and he grabbed up crazy.
11:15 He grabbed up in a chokehold, bruh.
11:18 I think it was because of the rumors about her and Pop.
11:21 Biggie was torn, but he couldn't let go of Fave yet.
11:25 When he called me to come see him in New Orleans, you know,
11:28 he just kind of appealed to me as if he really wanted to see me.
11:31 He really wanted to spend some time with me.
11:33 And, you know, I went down there. I know for a fact that's when I got pregnant.
11:36 When I told Big that I found that I was pregnant,
11:41 he was sounded surprised like, you sure?
11:43 I was like, yeah, I'm sure.
11:45 When Biggie's song "Brooklyn's Finest" came out,
11:48 media rumors started to spiral that Fave was pregnant with Tupac's baby.
11:53 Biggie's song lyric says that if Fave is having twins, she is having Tupac's.
11:58 Very, very shocked. Hurt. I didn't even speak to him. I was so mad at him.
12:02 The media claimed that East Coast and West Coast were fighting because of Fave.
12:06 There were a lot of people just saying,
12:09 if you're from the East Coast, don't come out here. Just straight up threats.
12:12 The atmosphere was becoming more and more charged and dangerous.
12:18 The streets were shaking. There was some war going on.
12:21 It felt like, you know, somebody is going to get hurt.
12:23 I think I was in my apartment in Manhattan when Big called me to tell me that Tupac was killed.
12:31 You know, naturally, I started to fear for Big's safety.
12:35 People sometimes go to certain extremes for things that they stand for,
12:38 which they don't even know the truth about sometimes.
12:41 And I just did not want that to ever affect the people that I love.
12:45 Big and I didn't talk as much, you know. He would check on me with the pregnancy and stuff,
12:49 but we didn't kick it all the time. But I do remember him saying like,
12:53 "Yo, what's going to happen? What's going to happen next?"
12:56 That was a time that I really did wish we were a little closer,
13:01 because I specifically know that was a moment that I heard a difference in his voice.
13:06 During all this chaos, Fave and Biggie's son Christopher was born.
13:13 I just saw him looking at him and looking at him so adoringly and being so proud.
13:17 And it was just like, it was the perfect moment. I don't even think I addressed it first.
13:21 He probably started crying or something and apologizing to me.
13:24 And, you know, and then we kind of, you know, that was the way we talked about him.
13:28 Big was super happy when CJ was born. He was ready to raise his son.
13:31 You know, he wanted to make a little biggie. He had plans for his son, you know.
13:34 It did give me the thought that maybe he was thinking about getting back together.
13:38 It certainly didn't sound like a bad idea.
13:41 If there was any way of us getting back together,
13:44 most of the work would have had to been on his part.
13:48 But Biggie would never get the chance to get his family back.
13:51 I was at that party that night and they were like, "You're going to go speak to Biggie?"
13:55 And I was like, "No, he's seen me." You know, just that whole prideful thing.
14:01 There was an after party at a house in the hills.
14:04 As we were driving up the Hollywood Hills, Heavy D
14:07 saw me getting out of my car, walking up to the house where the party was.
14:10 And he told me, "I think something happened to Big.
14:13 I think you should get go in the car and go to the hospital because I think something happened."
14:16 I started thinking about all the things that I felt weird about
14:19 in the first place with him being here.
14:21 And I just remember starting just praying as I was walking back to the car, like,
14:25 "Oh my God, oh my God, please let him be okay. Oh my God, oh my God."
14:28 I went directly to Cedars-Sinai Hospital.
14:31 And I do, you know, there was a lot of people outside.
14:34 And I think in my heart, I felt like I'm about to walk in here and touch him
14:42 and kiss him and it's going to be okay.
14:44 When I walked inside the emergency room, I just could kind of tell that something bad happened.
14:54 And then the doctor actually told me that we had lost Big.
15:00 There's nothing really to describe how I felt, like, when they said that he was dead.
15:05 I was like, "Whoa."
15:06 Like, I didn't know what to do.
15:09 Faye was really breaking down and just like, you know, really hurt, crying,
15:18 throwing her rings, her jewelry.
15:20 The pain that I saw on her face and the tears that I saw like that,
15:24 it was hurtful, very hurtful.
15:26 I don't think I've ever felt like that ever.
15:28 Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, as he was known,
15:35 until he was murdered nine days ago in Los Angeles.
15:38 Basically, my life was changed in a matter of seconds.
15:45 I didn't really want to do anything.
15:48 I kind of shut down.
15:49 I was just like, "F*** everybody. F*** everything."
15:51 You know, I can't even tell you how long it was before, you know, I was able to even
15:58 think about functioning as, you know, as an individual as far as what I had to do for me.
16:03 It was new to me, not only just, you know, being a widow and losing a husband,
16:07 but being in that type of situation and having so much on my shoulders to deal with.
16:13 I was still very much in a gray cloud, but I had a two-month-old baby,
16:20 you know, as well as a toddler, and I've got to keep it together.
16:26 And Faith channeled her grief to honor her husband's memory.
16:31 Puff approached me with the idea to do this tribute.
16:34 You know, he was like, "I want it to be the biggest tribute record ever done."
16:37 And none of this came in my mind about money or nothing.
16:39 It was more about, like, honoring Big.
16:41 And what he did say to make me want to, you know, go in the studio was,
16:46 "I want the proceeds to go to the kids."
16:49 The first time we tried to record it, it was this slow, sad song, you know,
16:53 and it was so just sad we couldn't even finish it.
16:56 And when we went back in, I'm like,
16:57 "I don't think, you know, we're going to be able to move past the grief."
17:01 We have to look at it like we have to celebrate the life that he did live.
17:04 And it's never going to get easy.
17:06 It's never going to, you know, it's never going to be like,
17:08 "Okay, it doesn't mean anything to me that he's gone."
17:10 But it's going to definitely get easier.
17:12 The icy wall will melt slowly, but he's going to always be in your heart, you know?
17:16 Faith Evans gives the biggest tribute to her late husband, Biggie,
17:20 with the song "I'll Be Missing You."
17:22 I consider myself very blessed to have shared the love with Big that we had.
17:29 Faith even reached out to someone else who cherished Biggie.
17:32 Little Kim and I were on the Bad Boy reunion tour together and, um...
17:38 Actually went and, you know, started a conversation and, you know,
17:41 talking to her about the baby and how she doing.
17:44 And not only did my problems or issues with her,
17:47 but I was also talking to her about the baby.
17:49 Not only did my problems or issues with her or any other woman pertain to him,
17:54 they went out the window when he passed away, as far as I'm concerned.
17:56 Really, that's beautiful.
17:57 I mean, there was no reason for me to...
17:59 Hold on, yeah.
18:00 Right.
18:01 She was so receiving, respectful and humble, yes.
18:05 And you know what, to me, that made me say to myself,
18:09 "She's worth having a relationship with."
18:12 Well, I definitely know Big is proud of me just, you know, still...
18:18 Making my way.
18:20 It really doesn't matter how much time has passed.
18:23 The fact that Big is not here is always gonna affect me.
18:27 And, you know, I wish he would have gotten to see CJ grow up.
18:32 I know that he would have been an amazing dad.
18:37 Faith continues to find strength in raising her kids and building a stable family.
18:42 I have beautiful children who mean more to me than all of this.
18:46 So that's constantly what's on my mind, more than anything.
18:50 And I feel like God put me in this place to be their mom,
18:54 and I have to do the best job that I can.
18:56 Oh, she's always giving me support, just always giving us lessons,
19:01 just teaching us stuff and making sure we're making the right choices.
19:05 Faith overcame her grief, hoping that her story inspires others.
19:09 Okay, I'm glad that I had the faith to know that there's a reason I'm here
19:13 and not be overwhelmed by all of these different things that have taken place in my life and career
19:18 and able to still be here and have somebody even care about what I have to say, you know?
19:23 God chose me to go through so much for a reason, and I'm okay.
19:27 I'm at peace with myself, and, you know, I'm happy to share those experiences because
19:31 just like with my music, I never know, I just never realize how many people I touch.
19:38 [BLANK_AUDIO]