Pac was not a high level exec, he was and up and coming entertainer. Other than that, Puff was very connected in NY, street wise and business wise. I am selective based on the circumstances. You are acting like everyone is the same person and circumstances don’t exist.
And Suge wanting to extort Puff just sounds weird. Why would a big LA exec - who stays in LA, has no will to do anything in NY and is never in NY - want to extort a more connected guy thousands of miles away? Extorting someone means that you have a business relationship with them and they had none.
And Suge paid people to be the boss, Henchman and them earned their “stripes” in the streets. While those guys wanted to downplay their streetness, Suge wanted to exaggerate his. Very different characters. They were career criminals, Suge was a big entertainment bodyguard who leveled up through the entertainment industry and then paid money to live out his childhood dreams.