Soon, You’ll Be Able To Watch The Biggie & Tupac Murder Investigations Play Out On TV

Ready for a hip-hop version of The People v. O. J. Simpson? Deadline reports that USA Network gave a pilot order to a new scripted true-crime series called Unsolved that will depict the murder investigations of The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur. The pilot will be directed and executive produced by Anthony Hemingway, who is also responsible for a few episodes of The People v. O. J. Simpson, so you know this is going to be good. Tupac was shot in Las Vegas during a drive-by in the fall of 1996 and died a week later, on September 13. Less than six months after that, on March 9, 1997, Biggie met the exact same fate in Los Angeles. 20 years later, the legacies of these rappers remain permanently engraved in hip-hop history. They are both heralded as two of the greatest MCs of all time. But as the title of this new show suggests, neither of their murders have been solved. There are lots of theories, however. Some people even believe that Tupac isn’t actually dead, but living in isolation in some exotic country. But less-outlandish theories mainly point the rappers at each other. In case you aren’t current on your hip-hop history, let’s get you caught up before Unsolved airs. Friendly competition was not the name of the game for Biggie and Tupac. They were on opposite sides of a bitter East Coast-West Coast beef that played out on a national stage during the '90s. Tupac, who was affiliated with Death Row Records in L.A., accused B.I.G. and his Bad Boy Affiliates (yes, P. Diddy’s Bad Boy) from New York of setting up a robbery while he was visiting Manhattan. That reignited animosities between hip-hop camps from both coasts. The diss tracks were legendary. Many recognize this rivalry as the fuel that ultimately ended both rapper’s lives. Unsolved will be based on the experiences of LAPD Detective Greg Kading, who led multiple task forces to investigate both murders and wrote the book Murder Rap: The Untold Story of Biggie Smalls & Tupac Shakur Murder Investigations. Kading will be consulting and co-executive producing the pilot.