When The Notorious B.I.G. was shot and killed in L.A., on March 9 1997, legendary West Coast producer-rapper DJ Quik was initially considered a suspect by the Los Angeles Police Department.

In a 2011 interview with HipHopDX, Quik revealed that the police started to investigate him following the drive-by shooting based on a few things:

  • Quik was at the VIBE party with Big
  • Witnesses claim that the two men were in a heated argument earlier that evening
  • He owned a similar car – ’95 Chevy Impala – to the one that was used in the killing

“Just because I was there at that [VIBE] party [with Biggie before the shooting], they tapped my phones, found out my accountant’s number and went and posted up and waited for me at my accountant’s office to pick me up for questioning,” Quik recalled “And it was only because I owned a ’95 [Chevy] Impala [SS] that was black cherry colored like the one that was used supposedly in the shooting – which was probably black, mine was burgundy, but at night they look identical in color.”

“When they came to my accountant’s [office] to come get me, I ended up calling my lawyer and I told him what was going on. So he called the Parker Center and arranged for me to go up there and talk to ‘em, instead of them gafflin’ me up and making a scene. So I went down there and told ‘em everything I knew, everything I saw, the whole shit. And after I did that the burden was off. ‘Cause it was rumors in the street that I did that shit. How am I gonna kill Biggie Smalls when I like him? Who does that?”

Quik would refer to the incident later in his 1998 song,“You’z A Ganxta”, which was also dedicated to Pac and Big.

Yeah like that night when Biggie died at Quincy Jones spot
Like 400 other people yeah I heard some shots
Broke away with the crowd nervous obviously
and the mothafuckas blamed it on me
What the hell!?!

DJ Quik - "You’z a Ganxta" / Rhythm-al-ism
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