The Program 💫

Jay-Z’s “Dead or Alive” (1996), featuring Sauce Money, was an unreleased diss record aimed at Tupac during the escalating East Coast–West Coast tensions. Although the exact recording date has never been firmly established, Roc-A-Fella co-founder Kareem “Biggs” Burke revealed that the track was performed at the Apollo with The Notorious B.I.G. present. Following Pac’s death, the crew ultimately decided against releasing it out of respect for the fallen rapper. In a 2017 interview, Biggs explained that the record had circulated through mixtape channels before they decided to pull it back. An intriguing piece of mid-'90s hip-hop history, the track offers a glimpse into a battle Jay-Z and his camp were prepared to take further before choosing to let it rest.