Slow Burn: Biggie and Tupac

Season 3: Bonus Episode 9
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“Keep Your Hands High”

From Slow Burn’s Feb. 5 live show in Washington.

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About the Show

In its first two seasons, Slow Burn looked back at two of the biggest stories of the late 20th century—the Watergate scandal and the impeachment of Bill Clinton. Season three tackles another: the murders of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. The story takes place at a moment when hip-hop was taking over pop culture, and a former theater kid from the Bay Area and a one-time crack dealer from Brooklyn were changing the music forever. They went from friends to enemies. And they ended up victims of a deadly rivalry between two rap scenes.  

How is it that two of the most famous performers in the world were murdered within a year of each other—and their killings were never solved?

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Host

  • Joel Anderson is a staff writer at Slate and the host of Season 3 of Slow Burn. Previously, he worked as a reporter on sports, culture, and politics for ESPN and BuzzFeed News.

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Episode Notes

This bonus episode comes from Slow Burn’s Feb. 5 live show in Washington. Host Joel Anderson interviews Tracey Lee, a hip-hop artist and attorney who collaborated with the Notorious B.I.G. on the song “Keep Your Hands High” in late 1996, about being in the studio with Biggie and what it was like being with the rapper on the night of his fatal shooting.