Based around a sample from Al Green’s “The Letter,” Queens representatives Capone-N-Noreaga, Mobb Deep, and Tragedy Khadafi step to the frontline in the East Coast/West Coast rap war with “L.A., L.A.” in response to Tha Dogg Pound’s destructive music video for “New York, New York.” Prodigy spoke about his mentality going into the song:

We were watching TV one morning and seen that Snoop video for ‘New York, New York.’ They were kicking over our buildings and stomping through our city. That was some disrespectful shit.

Automatically I was like, ‘I’m going to make a song calling right back out to them’ – L.A., L.A. We were performing that song out there [in California] because that song was number one in L.A.

Prodigy said he took his verse off this song to use it on Nas' “Live Nigga Rap” because it would get more attention on Nas' album. Noreaga, however, refuted Prodigy’s recollection of events:

Loud [Records] called us and said, ‘You have to make sure that Prodigy verse doesn’t exist.’ What happened was in between that time ‘Pac dropped [‘Hit 'Em Up’] and said, 'Mobb Deep, don’t one of you dudes got sickle-cell.’

So, even when he said he was mad at Jay-Z for not representing New York, he’s delusional. [‘L.A., L.A.’] wasn’t him; that wasn’t his idea. That was a Capone-N-Noreaga, Tragedy thing.