LL COOL J Clears Up Biggie's Alleged 'Who Shot Ya?' Diss: 'I Was In The Studio With [Him]'

LL COOL J has set the record straight on rumors that The Notorious B.I.G. dissed him on “Who Shot Ya?”, revealing he was actually in the studio with the late rapper when he wrote the song.

The rap legend stopped by Sway in the Morning on Wednesday (August 2) and was told of an ongoing theory brought forth by journalist Bonsu Thompson that one lyric in particular (“Old school, new school need to learn though“) was a subliminal shot aimed at LL.

According to LL, however, there’s no truth to that narrative.

“I need him to stick to his day job, and if that is his day job, he might wanna reassess that shit,” LL jabbed in response to Thompson’s comments. “I got love for him, I’m just teasing.

“No, that’s not true. I’m in the studio when Biggie wrote ‘Who Shot Ya?’. Like, I was literally in the studio when he made the song. I was literally, physically in the studio with Notorious B.I.G. when he wrote ‘Who Shot Ya?’

He continued: “I said ‘Biggie, why you smoke so much weed when you write these joints?’ He said, ‘It makes me feel like I’m in the track,’ and we just started laughing.

“He was doing what rappers do: ‘Old school, new School.’ He’s saying whoever want it, can get it. That’s regular … Now it’s about selling swag, and that’s okay, I’m not judging but I’m just saying, that’s 100 percent false.”

“Who Shot Ya?” was released in early 1995 and is long believed to have been aimed at 2Pac, who was shot just months before at New York City’s Quad Studios, where Biggie was upstairs recording at the time.

While the Brooklyn rapper and other members of Bad Boy Records denied it was a diss toward ‘Pac, the track ultimately fueled their deadly rivalry, which claimed both of their lives within a six-month span.

Many rap legends have spoken fondly about the cultural impact of “Who Shot Ya?” To celebrate Biggie’s 50th birthday last year, JAY-Z joined TIDAL’s “A Toast To Biggie” Twitter Spaces and shared a story about the first time he heard the infamous track.

“Biggs gave me the ‘Who Shot Ya’ CD. He called me like we had some kind of beef or something,” he recalled. “He was like, ‘Yo, meet me on 120th right now.’ I jump in my car, I’m heavy. I’m like, ‘What’s going on with Big?’

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“I fly up there. I get out my car and get in his car and he plays the song, and he was like, ‘Yeah, you keep the uh’ — it was a cassette tape actually. He was like, ‘Yeah you keep that.’”

After sharing a brief laugh with other speakers in the chatroom, JAY-Z went on to recall his response to hearing the record.

“I wrote like four songs that night,” he continued. “None of them was as good as ‘Who Shot Ya?’ but it was still like four songs. Again, it was that friendly competition, like just trying to push each other to be the best.”

Revisit “Who Shot Ya?” below: