he was 25. >> shakur has been at the center of a battle between east and west coast rappers. >> for the second time in six months, a star in the often brutal world of gangsta rap has been gunned down. >> music industry sources on the west coast suspect that smalls' death may in some way be payback for the september killing of rap star tupac shakur. >> when tupac and biggie were assassinated, it was a watershed moment i think in hip-hop culture. it was kind of the death of a revolution. >> these two men were two of the most successful rap artists in the industry. phenomenally wealthy. why are we seeing this happen? >> well, both biggie smalls and tupac had talked of trying to break out of that violence, but many say they were trapped in the world they created. they were forced to, in a word, as they say, to keep it real, and that's a sad commentary. >> i remember seeing news reports about how violent it was, i remember seeing editorials, how can we let our children listen to this when these artists are being killed at an incredible rate? and i thought rap was going to