Xzibit dropped a surprising piece of hip-hop history: DMX‘s hit single “Party Up (Up In Here)” was actually a direct response to Kurupt‘s infamous diss track “Callin Out Names.”
During an interview with Effective Immediately that aired last week, Xzibit explained X’s legendary performance at the infamous Woodstock 99 concert wasn’t the craziest thing he knew about the late rapper.
“I think what was crazy was when I found out that ‘Party Up’ was the answer to ‘Callin Out Names’,” said Xzibit before rapping part of the X’s lyrics. “‘Party Up’ was his response to Kurupt. ‘Your girl’s a hoe/You’re broke, the kid ain’t yours, and e’rybody know.'”
According to Xzibit, the beef between the two rappers stemmed from their past relationships with rapper Foxy Brown. Kurupt’s”Callin Out Names,” released in 1999, was a scathing track calling out various artists—most notably DMX—over a perceived betrayal involving Foxy. While the diss was public, many fans never realized DMX fired back in the form of one of his most commercially successful records.
“They were fighting over Foxy Brown […] we need to do a ‘Hip Hop 101’ like ‘did y’all remember this?'”
DMX released “Party Up” in 2000, and while it became a party anthem, few connected the track’s aggressive tone and personal insults to the East Coast beef brewing behind the scenes. In an interview with HipHopDX in 2013, Kurupt spoke about his diss track and how it came to be.
“My thing was personal. I was engaged to Foxy Brown. DMX and Foxy did their little thing, and I got offended,” said Kurupt.
