Treach and his group Naughty By Nature were a linchpin of 1990s Hip-Hop. The Grammy Award-winning East Orange, New Jersey trio had ties with a cross-section of the Rap scene, including Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls. These connections especially mattered by the mid-1990s, when Tupac and Biggie had entered a feud, only fueled by their record companies, Death Row and Bad Boy Records, respectively.

Appearing on Drink Champs, Treach speaks about his ties in Rap and in the streets, and how he was intent on brokering peace.  “Pac and me was like this,” Treach says with crossed fingers at 12:30 in the three-hour interview.

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“When the East/West s__t started poppin’ off, we both was mind-stormin’ like, ‘Yo, gotta level this s__t out.'” The two artists who had worked together on Pac’s sophomore album and the Above The Rim soundtrack plotted a plan. “It’s kinda like we came up with [a solution] at the same time. [I decided] I’ma get a West Coast group, as Naughty. [Tupac was going] to get an East Coast group. So he got Tha Outlawz, and we got The Road Dawgs. How we got the Road Dawgs, we didn’t go to Cali’ lookin’ for Bloods, Crips, anything; we just wanted a West Coast group. They could’ve been from the Bay or anything. But The Road Dawgs just so happened to be from Inglewood, and they was Damus. So when they came back, they just told stories in the hood and everything else, so that’s why everybody always say ‘Double-I: Inglewood/Illtown’ was the first set on the East Coast with original West Coast backing. It wasn’t just [inspired by] a gang from L.A., ‘Yo, we’ll call ourselves this.’ It had the gang that really came through lyrics.” The duo and Naughty collaborated on EPs and soundtracks as early as 1993. G-Luv of the duo appeared on Naughty By Nature’s award-winning Poverty’s Paradise album in 1995.

Pac’s choice of groups actually changed dynamics in the street. “It was funny, ’cause at first, when Pac got Tha Outlawz, I’m like, ‘Where they from?’ He’s like, ‘They’re from Montclair.’ I’m like, ”Clair, where? Who?'” Tupac mentioned artist Hussein Fatal. Treach happened to know the Montclair, New Jersey native through street beef. “I’m like, ‘Yo, we’re bangin’ with them n____as, man—on the streets.’ Like, we was bangin’. So I’m like, ‘You like these n___as, man?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah.’ I’m like, ‘They dope?’ He was like, ‘Yeah.'”

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Treach admits that in the mid-1990s, he had never heard Tha Outlawz rap. However, based on Tupac’s stake and their mutual plan, he deaded any street tensions. “I’m like, ‘Beef off. It’s over. That’s your squad from the East Coast?’ I’m like, ‘You got a problem with my n____as though, [The Road Dawgs] from Inglewood?’ He’s like, ‘Nah. They good.'”

“So that’s how me, Fatal, and all of us–from then—was all cliqued up.” Fatal—who passed away in 2015—collaborated with Treach. The Road Dawgs eventually teamed with executive producer Mack 10 to release their only album in 1999, featuring Ice Cube, MC Eiht, and others. The duo of G-Luv and Swamp Rat later reunited with Naughty By Nature on 2002’s iicons.

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During the conversation, Treach also dismisses the industry-wide perception of the beef. “[Tupac and I] used to do interviews and s__t, and they’d ask us, ‘What’s up with the East Coast/West Coast beef?’ And we’d look at each other, [and I would say], ‘Pac, f__k you and the West Coast.’ [He would say], ‘F__k you and the East Coast,’ and laugh like, what f___kin’ beef?”

Treach recalls seeing the September 1996 issue of VIBE. Biggie Smalls and Puff Daddy appeared on the cover with the headline “East vs. West: Biggie & Puffy Break Their Silence.” Upon seeing the cover story by Larry “Blackspot” Hester, Treach notes, “I said, ‘This s__t over.'” He explains that “Gangstas don’t read articles.” Instead, Treach believed the headlines would incite tensions in the streets.

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Although the VIBE issue released within weeks of Tupac Shakur’s death, the overall aura prompted action. “We was like, ‘Yo, we gotta do somethin’ to offset this s__t ’cause this ain’t what’s really happenin’. N____as is really f__kin’ with each other, it’s just a battle right now. It ain’t East-verse-f__kin’-West! It’s Pac and Big goin’ back and forth, and they gonna do f__ckin’ records, and that’s the f__k it. Really. Like, I’m on the phone with Pac, with Suge [Knight]. We actually—Naughty was on the road with Bad Boy during the whole turmoil s__t. And I’m askin’ Big and them like, ‘Yo, after the shows, how come y’all don’t go out with us?'”

Treach says that members of the Bad Boy roster expressed reluctance based on tensions with Death Row. Treach mimics an immediate call to Suge Knight, where he tried to understand if the West Coast label or its artists planned to confront Bad Boy. He imitates Knight on speakerphone saying, ‘Man, tell them n____as they can go the f__k out there; we gonna make better records than them, sell more, get more money than them. Ain’t nobody after them. We never even comin’ on no f__kin’ tours to do mothaf__kin’ s__t…’ Every day after that, [Bad Boy affiliated artists] was goin’ to every show. Lil’ Kim, Junior M.A.F.I.A.—ask ’em.”

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Treach says that following the mediation, many of the artists on the Bad Boy family performed in Naughty By Nature’s famed apparel. The veteran artist is wearing the same Naughty boxer shorts he is describing then during the Drink Champs interview. “We were like, ‘N___a, this Hip-Hop! N___as battle, but n____as ain’t gonna f__kin’ die over this s__t! N___a, let’s go!’ And it was a wrap. That was it. For real.”

Treach recently appeared on Kay Slay’s “Rolling 200 Deep” along with Tha Outlawz’ E.D.I. Mean and Young Noble, Snoop Dogg and Sheek Louch.