The September issue of XXL magazine contains a featured story on the making of Tupac's 9X platinum double disc, All Eyez On Me. Thanks to XxNastyNasQBxX on TupacBoard.com for taking the time to type out a large part of it, which can be read below (the parts that mention the Dre beef are bolded):
"Ambitionz Az A Ridah"
Produced by Daz Dillinger
Dave Aron: That's the first song I ever did with Tupac. The day he got out of jail, he didn't go to the clubs. He didn't go try to meet women. He went straight to the studio like he was on a mission, and he recorded "Ambitionz Az A Ridah" and "I Ain't Mad At Cha." Tupac came in, and he was fresh out of jail. I seen them give him his Death Row medallion that same night. And then he came right in. He was ready to go. He was very hyped, very focused, a lot of energy - mad energy. And you could tell he was really one a mission. He really had a real vision of what was going on, and he wanted to get a lot done in that short amount of time.
Daz Dillinger: The idea came from the me sampling Pee Wee Herman. So if you listen to Pee Wee Herman [the Champs' "Tequila"], I just put the gangsta twist on it. I gave it to 'Pac. Came back to the studio, and it was done.
Kurupt: First day he came home, "Ambitionz Az A Ridah" - that was the first record that he did. Suge brought him in. The word went through the office that 'Pac was home. Everybody [who were] at the studio at that time were up there. I came a little bit later, and when I came, Daz already had the beat started. 'Pac wasn't in the studio for any more than 45 minutes before he had his first verse done and laid. That fast. He didn't even wanna chill; all he wanted to do was get on the mic. Whatever day he landed in Los Angeles, two hours after he landed, he had his first verse laid.
"All About U"
Featuring Dru Down, Hussein Fatal, Nate Dogg, Snoop Dogg and Yaki Kadafi
Produced by Johnny "J" and Tupac
Dru Down: It was me, 'Pac, Syke, Rage and a couple of Outlawz in the studio. We always had bitches in the studio. The only thing crazy was, the Outlawz *****s - Fatal Hussein and Yafeu Fula - were gonna get on the track. It was like an interlude at the end. I did the beginning [uncredited ad-lib-bing]: They were gonna do something at the end. Then them muthafuckas did something where they fucked up. They couldn't get it right. They were too high and too drunk. They were messing up. They were in the microphone booth, and they were fucking up, and 'Pac said, "Y'all gotta get the fuck up out of there. I don't know what the fuck y'all are doing." They was just playing around. They were taking too long, wasting time. They laughed their ass up in there and all the way out.
Johnny "J": That was one of the most hilarious records I've ever done with Tupac... I used Cameo's old school cut [1986 single, "Candy"]. Nate Dogg, Snoop, everybody sitting around on speakers, doing their thing. Next thing I know [Nate Dogg sings]: "Every other city we go. Every other video..." I'm like, "Nate, I know you gotta be fucking playing." They're like, "Nah, man. We're dead serious. That's the hook - we're talking about video hoes."
Nate Dogg: It was me, him and Snoop, and we were talking about all the girls that we had seen before. The whole thing came from a video shoot. We were at a video shoot, and it was so funny how, if it wasn't Snoop that knew the girl, Tupac knew her, or I knew her. It's like, "Damn, everywhere we go, we see the same girls." And that's how the song came about. It was the same as it always is: A little liquor, a little weed, we aiight. 'Pac was one-taking his verses. He did that a lot. We were having so much fun, the song just came out.
"Skandalouz"
Featuring Nate Dogg
Produced by Daz Dillinger
Nate Dogg: That song was done in 10 minutes. The beat was always already made. We don't go in the studio and wait on nobody to make a beat. We'd never stay in there long enough. [Working with 'Pac was] like working with your little brother. He was a little wild muthafucka, full of life. He got an opportunity and ran with it. 'Cause he didn't want to be on Death Row Records. And I think he had a three or four... I'm not sure what kind of album dealk he had. But he wanted to get off, though. So he pushed out at least two to three songs a day.
"Got My Mind Made Up"
Featuring Daz Dillinger, Inspectah Deck, Kurupt, Method Man and Redman
Produced by Daz Dillinger
Daz Dillinger: We did that song at my house. Kurupt had brough Method Man and Redman over to my house. And Inspectah Deck was on the song too. He was at the end - "I.N.S., the rebel..." Just his voice. They had taken his voice. They had taken his verse out and kept the background 'cause it sounded good. It wasn't originally Tupac's song. I had transferred it at Dr. Dre's house and had left it out there. [Tupac was] flossing like, "I got a beat with Method man, Redman. Dre made it." That's what Dr. Dre told 2pac. That's how the whole fued started between Dre and 'Pac. 'Cause I happened to be walking by the studio like, "That's my beat. I did that." Tupac [was] like, "That's your stuff?" From that situation, that's when he and Dre started fueding. Dr. Dre was taking credit and wasn't doing nothing, wasn't coming around.
Kurupt: The original record was me, Rage, Redman, Method Man and Daz. I told Daz, "Man, this is the one, we need to drop this, we need to put this on Dogg Food." 'Cause we did it when we was making Dogg Food. When 'Pac came home, we put it up for 'Pac, like "You want this record?" 'Pac was like "Hell, yeah, I want that record!" And he dropped his verse where Rage's was, 'cause Rage said she'd put her verse on something else, and that's how that record made it on 'Pac's album. Me, Method Man and Redman and Daz and Rage - that was the original record, and Inspectah Deck was on it at the end. That's him you hear at the end: "Wish... this...bliss..." That's inspectah Deck. I went and picked up Red and Meth and Deck personally and took them to Daz's house. We knocked the record off in about three, four hours. It was a done deal, and then we... we didn't use it, 'cause Daz wasn't feeling like mixing it and doing all that. We end up taking it to 'Pac when 'Pac came 'cause Suge was like, "When it's time to work on a project, everybody needs to give everything to whoever's project it is."
How Do You Want It"
Featuring K-Ci and JoJo
Produced by Johnny J
Dave Aron: Danny Boy was originally on the hook. I already had it mixed. And at the last minute. 'Pac wanted to put K-Ci and JoJo on it. Maybe that was a decision between him and Suge and whatever, I don't know.
K-Ci: One night we were sitting in the crib, and Suge Knight gave me a call, 'cause we real good friends with Death Row family and everything. They asked us would we like to do a song with 'Pac, and we were like, "Hell yeah, why not?" That's our boy. So we got in the studio that same night, actually, that we got the phone call. Man, we were just tripping in the studio, having fun. If y'all read between the lines, y'all know what we were doing up there. [We] had the girlies up in there, doing our thing. The song came out blazing. The funny part was at first, when 'Pac was trying to sing it, trying to teach us how it goes. I was like, "I see where you're trying to go, 'Pac, but it's not sounding too good." Anyway, then we heard him doing his rhyme, and we're like, "Man, we got to rip this, because he came strong."
"2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted"
Featuring Snoop Dogg
Produced by Daz Dillinger
Dave Aron: We were in the studio and 'Pac was there, and Snoop was in there. In walks Big Suge, and this was before they did "2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted." He's so big, and he walks up. Snoop's kinda tall, but he was very skinny. He grabs 'Pac with one arm, and he grabs Snoop with the other and pulls them both together, almost squeezing them into one. He's like, "I think you guys oughta do a song together. I think that'd be great." That was awesome to see how big he was, and he put 'em both together llike that. And they ended up doing that song.
Daz Dillinger: 'Pac was going to court. Snoop was going to court. There was a lot of chemistry between them.
Rick Clifford: 'Pac was very adamant that the album was spontaneous. Everything that you hear, everybody got one take. They couldn't go back and fix anything. 'Pac said that number one, hip-hop is different from R&B. If a guy can't get out and spit eight to 16 bars, he's not ready yet. Then he said he loves the first take because there's a certain feel to it. He said if people go back and try and fix it, they would start thinking about it, they would lose the feel, they would mess it up. So the only one who refused to get out there like that was Snoop. Snoop said he'd come back tomorrow and do it. I think Snoop went home and wrote his stuff, learned his stuff, came in and knocked it off, first take. All Snoop said was, "Wait a minute. You ain't going to put me out on one take. I'll come back and do it tomorrow"
"No More Pain"
Produced by DeVante Swing
Dave Aron: I was at the studio at 8 late - 10, 11 p.m. At 3 a.m. DeVante showed up by himself. He wanted to lay a few more parts before they mixed it. It was a very sparse track. But the keyboard parts he put in were very eerie and weird sounding. He was very quiet that night. Very focused. It was interesting to watch him work. He finished about five or six in the morning and said, "I want to mix this now." We mixed it that same night. It was a long night