That same year, as he worked on music for his debut album, Biggie Smalls met Tupac Shakur for the first time. Their encounter, detailed in Ben Westhoff’s book, Original Gangstas, took place at a party held by an L.A. drug dealer. They ate, drank and smoked together, and Tupac, already a successful recording artist, gifted Biggie, then unknown outside New York, a bottle of Hennessy. After that, Tupac mentored Biggie whenever the two met up — at one point Biggie even asked if Tupac would become his manager. “Nah, stay with Puff,” Tupac apparently said. “He will make you a star.” Biggie was particularly concerned about money around that time because he became a father in August to T’yanna, his daughter, with high-school sweetheart, Jan. It has been reported that Biggie went back to drug dealing at this point, until Combs learned what he was up to and made him stop.