For a little over a day last year, the beef between ’90s East Coast hip-hop and West Coast hip-hop seemed squashed. It was like one of those age-old stories of two lovers from warring families having a baby, bringing both sides peace. Except this time the baby was a beer can. And it wouldn’t last.
Mile Wide Beer Co. [4] (636 Barret Ave.) only sold its Big/Pac IPA, a mixture of West Coast and Northeast recipes, for about 36 hours, according to Matt Landon, one of the brewery’s owners. The label featured a face that was half Tupac, half Biggie Smalls. Bling floated through a green-yellow background: a cash-sign pendant, Biggie’s crown, one of Tupac’s bandanas. Keep in mind, Tupac and Biggie were high-profile rivals; both died in separate drive-by shootings in the ’90s. Landon says some found the image offensive, though he doesn’t provide too many details. Mile Wide decided to change the labels. It wasn’t a legal issue, Landon says. It was a matter of respect.
None of the Big/Pac beers went to distribution, and Landon estimates the brewery only sold four or five cases from the taproom before the label change. Now you can drink Mile Wide’s Bi-Coastal IPA, which is the same beer with a new look, and think about the reconciled, hoppy hip-hop heaven it once was.
This originally appeared in the February 2019 issue of Louisville Magazine under the headline "Hops So Hip." To subscribe to Louisville Magazine, click here. [5] To find us on newsstands, click here. [6]