Two decades after his death on September 13, 1996, Tupac Shakur endures as one of hip-hop’s most iconic figures and its most powerful enigma. His life was a tapestry of often contradictory images: the concerned young father cradling his son in the video for “Keep Ya Head Up”; the angry rapper spitting at cameras as they swirled around his 1994 trial for sexual assault; the artist who animatedly, yet eloquently, pushed back at Ed Gordon’s questions during a memorable BET interview; and the man who seemed to predict his own demise when the “I Ain’t Mad at Cha” video, released weeks after his death, depicted him as an angel in heaven.
Although he is no longer with us, the myth of 2Pac the thug angel remains. No other artist better illuminates hip-hop’s fault lines between regional pride and mainstream success, and the struggle to transcend and elevate beyond humble origins while honoring the streets that raised you. His wayward, conflicting expressions of pride, militancy and gangster-ism resonates in a world when black men and women celebrate their heritage and collectively organize against a racist America, yet are also cautious to protect themselves from each other.
Fans – particularly East Coast rap listeners who, after all these years, still harbor a grudge against him – will continue to debate whether 2Pac’s albums can measure up to Nas’ Illmatic, the Notorious B.I.G.’s Ready to Die, or Jay Z’s Reasonable Doubt. But no one can deny the way he transformed hip-hop into his singularly muscular, tattooed, bald-headed, bandana-clad image. Here are some of the ways 2Pac changed hip-hop – and, by extension, pop culture – forever.
1. Shakur’s appearance in Juice as Bishop, the troubled high school teen who fashions himself into a cold-hearted killer, is the first great dramatic performance by a rapper in a movie.
Yes, Ice Cube launched his acting career with his understated depiction of the Compton crack dealer Doughboy in Boyz N Tha Hood, which preceded Pac by a year. Months after Juice debuted in theaters in January of 1992, Ice-T would become a movie star in New Jack City. But Shakur, who studied acting while attending high school in Atlanta, commanded the screen with an effectiveness that no rapper-turned-moonlighting-actor had managed before, and few have done since.
While he didn’t realize the promise of that early breakout role, he managed a few more solid acting performances before his death, including an overheated reprisal of his Bishop template in the basketball drama Above the Rim, and a nice turn as a heroin-addicted jazz musician in the underrated indie flick Gridlock’d.
2. He’s the man who single-handedly transformed a common epithet for a criminal into a source of masculine strength.
After recording two albums – the muddled 2Pacalypse Now and the slightly improved Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. – Shakur unveiled his crew T.H.U.G. L.I.F.E., an acronym for The Hate U Gave Little Infants Fucks Everybody. At the time, it seemed like an unnecessary variation on the “gangster” trope that dominated West Coast rap at the time.
However, his reimagining of a word that the Oxford Dictionary defines as “a violent person, especially a criminal” into an positive attribute resonated. 2Pac’s vision redefined the word “thug” into a man who triumphs over systemic and societal obstacles. By the end of 1994, Cleveland quintet B.O.N.E. Enterprises had renamed themselves Bone Thugs-N-Harmony; the word has been since been adopted by Young Thug, Slim Thug and too many others to mention
3. Shakur’s New York trial for sexual assault was arguably the first rap celebrity court case.
But the 1994 cemented his reputation as a livewire with a flair for drama.
The press hungrily publicized his every move, like the aforementioned spitting episode and, more tragically, his appearance at his sentencing date in a wheelchair after he infamously sustained five gunshots from unknown assailants at Quad Studios. Countless rappers have weathered the legal system since, but none with as much tumultuousness.
4. Before Shakur reported to prison for his sexual assault conviction, he completed the first rap “pre-prison” album.
Released in March while Shakur was incarcerated, Me Against the World is arguably his most concise and moving work. It found him making peace with his mother, Afeni Shakur on “Dear Mama,” and ruminating over his mess of a life on “Lord Knows.” “It ain’t easy being me/Will I see the penitentiary, or will I stay free?” he asks on “It Ain’t Easy.”
There are also notes of joy like “Old School,” an exuberantly goofy tribute to his rap heroes, and “Outlaw,” where he flashes ill-advised anger at the woman who brought charges against him.
On March 26, 1995, Me Against the World debuts at number one on the Billboard 200 charts. After only 12 days in release.
2Pac’s mixture of remorse, regret, suicidal despondency and life-affirming hope has echoed in “pre-prison” albums like Lil Kim’s Naked Truth, T.I.’s Paper Trail, and C-Murder’s The Truest Shit I Ever Said
5. Shakur signed with the hottest and most dangerous record label in America, Death Row, and dropped the first hip-hop double CD.
1996’s All Eyez on Me teems with “gangsta party” hits, high-wattage collaborations, and even samples – contrary to popular belief, G-funk producers sampled nearly as often as their East Coast counterparts.
It’s hard to describe an album that’s certified Diamond for selling over 10 million copies as “underrated.” But All Eyez on Me‘s reputation is closely tied to Pac’s image at the time as a shit-starter, leading his growing critics to downplay exemplary tracks like “Ambitionz Az a Ridah” and “Heartz of Men.” Nevertheless, its two-disc sprawl inspired a brief wave of double-album opuses, including Biggie’s Life After Death, Wu-Tang Clan’s Wu-Tang Forever, E-40’s The Element of Surprise and, more recently, Jay Z’s Blueprint 2: The Gift and the Curse.
6. Shakur is the first dead rapper that made people think he’s still alive.
No other rapper has generated a legend as profound as The Don Killuminati: The Seven Day Theory, the 1996 album that fueled widespread belief that he had somehow survived the Las Vegas shooting.
There was speculation that Pac called himself Makaveli to evade his antagonists, much as the political theorist Niccolo Machiavelli had claimed to do in The Prince five centuries earlier. “The Seven Day Theory” is modeled on Machiavelli’s claim that he faked death for seven days; Shakur was pronounced dead six days after being shot. As an argument that Shakur is chilling on an island somewhere, it’s suspect. As an incredible piece of myth-making, it has no equal in the genre.
7. Beginning in November 1997 with R U Still Down? (Remember Me), Shakur becomes the first rapper to have his estate mine-stripped for new product.
This practice dates back to the days of Patsy Cline, John Coltrane and Jimi Hendrix, but had no real equal in hip-hop.
The “Tupac effect” is subsequently used for any rap artist of note who meets an untimely demise, including the Notorious B.I.G. (Born Again), Big Pun (Endangered Species), Big L (The Big Picture), and J Dilla (Jay Stay Paid)
8. He recorded a staggering amount of material.
Before Lil Wayne flooded the Internet with his Drought and Dedication mixtapes, and Lil B bragged “you’re not a real rapper until you make a thousand songs,” hundreds of tracks from Shakur’s Death Row sessions appeared on compact disc.
The bootlegs not only intensified talk that he was somehow still alive, but led to accusations that Suge Knight, then in prison and battling Afeni Shakur over control to Tupac’s work, was responsible for the leaks. “13 bootleg albums of his unreleased material have hit the streets. Is Death Row responsible?” asked Rap Pages, which dedicated a September 1998 cover to “The Raping of Tupac.”
Regardless of the source, Shakur’s posthumous deluge set a precedent that everyone from Weezy to Gucci Mane follows to this day: Stay in the studio, and feed the streets until it bursts.
Stacey Smallie aka ”Fuskee” was a recording artist at Death Row Records, between – . Good friend of Danny Boy, she recorded a lot with Nate Dogg, Snoop Dogg, B~rzeel, Danny Boy, Tupac, DJ Quik, Dr. Dre, Ricky Dillard, Darius Brooks, Erron Williams, Lawonda Campbell & others… She recorded a lot of background vocals for Dogg Food, All Eyez On Me (Life Goes On, I’d Rather Be Ya Nigga, Ambitionz Az a Ridah, 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted) and Nate Dogg G.Funk Classics.
Stacy Smallie – Now, that’s another story in itself, but to make a long story short, I was considered the “Singing Secretary,” I was working at the front desk at “Can Am Studios” to make extra money. Sometimes I would work from 11am to 11am the next day while doing background vocals for Danny Boy, Nate Dogg, Snoop, (DJ) Quik, Tha Dogg Pound whoever needed me, I would get someone to watch the phones and go back and lay down the parts, then go back to work at the front desk. When Tupac and Johnny J came they would use me on different songs.
Where were you when you first met Tupac and what was it like?
Stacy Smallie – I actually met Tupac the night that he got out of prison, they brought him down to the studio. I was working at the front desk when he, Suge and others arrived. He seemed really quiet then though.
A lot of people are unaware that you appear on “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted” and “Ratha Be Ya N____”.. Why were you not credited for your contributions to these two tracks?
Stacy Smallie – That’s a very good question! Anyone with ears can hear that it’s my voice, but I wasn’t given credit for the tunes neither did I receive Royalties for any of the songs on either album, All Eyes on Me or the Greatest Hits Album. I’d made a wise decision to move back home when things began to change, so I wasn’t there to take care of the business and all of my calls were unanswered.
What do you think inspired Tupac to write a song about his death and his funeral?
Stacy Smallie – Tupac in my opinion was the definition of a” Gifted Artist,” I think that he just wrote about his thoughts, his experiences and things that he saw. I don’t think that he ever suspected that his life would end that way. However, he was an extremely intelligent young man, and I’m sure that he saw the signs and felt the shift.
Were you around while Tupac was in writing these tracks? What was his writing process like and what was going on in the studio while he was writing these tracks?
Stacy Smallie – Yes, I was there in the beginning. At first the studio was rather unruly and more of a hang out spot than a place of business, then came “Tupac.” When he came, everything changed. He wrote and recorded 6 or more songs a day, while everyone else took a week or more to finish one tune. He changed the entire work ethic around there. He was focused and there wasn’t a lot of “madness, ” in his work area, he sat at the board with Johnny J and the engineer, he wrote then he went straight to the booth, and came out every time with a hit.
How many other tracks were recorded during the studio sessions you attended? What tracks were these?
Stacy Smallie – Wow, the entire All Eyes on Me album plus other songs. He didn’t stop putting out hits. I saw Faith come in, Snoop, Jodeci, Richie Rich, Jewel the list goes on and on.
Who else was in the studio with you?
Stacy Smallie – The day that I did “Life Goes On,” the studio was full of people and Chronic smoke. One of their friends had died that day, Tupac asked me to come in studio B. That was about the largest crowd that i’d seen in the studio with him while he worked. It was a lot of pressure and not my best work, afterward, I asked if I could do it over and Pac told me that it touched everybody in the room, so that’s all that was important to me, the fact that it was heart felt.
What did Tupac do in the studio while he wasn’t writing or recording?
Stacy Smallie – While I was there Tupac was a work-a-holic, it was work, work, work. He worked, ate then he left sometimes very late but the first months after his release he was on top of his music.
Where did Tupac go after he left the studio?
Stacy Smallie – I don’t know, I didn’t know about that part, all that I knew is that he was very kind to me and I respected him tremendously.
What happened when Faith Evans came to the studio?
Stacy Smallie – It seemed extremely awkward to me to see her there, when I went into studio B she was sitting next to Tupac on the couch. I can’t say whether she cheated or not, but I can say that she was there, and not as an enemy or rival.
Did Tupac ever mention any Biggie in the studio? If so what did he say?
Stacy Smallie – I didn’t hear any of that, I tried my best to keep my nose clean and just do my job. It was more important to me to be respected. I’m not “Hollywood,” so I gave them their space and just did what was asked of me.
Do you know who he felt shot him in 1994?
Stacy Smallie – In 1995, when I heard that he had been shot, it was saddening, but I wasn’t surprised. Tupac and Johnny J promised me that they were not going to take me off of the songs and that I would get credit for them, so when the album dropped, it made all of the hardships that I’d experienced, (like being left in California), worth it, I was extremely honored! Yet, there were so many people that started “falling dead” around there before I left. That’s when I knew that it was time for me to “escape,” something was saying to me it’s now or never, and I know that if I’d seen and heard “DEATH” taking numbers, they rest of them did too, we just didn’t know who’s number would be called next.
Have you appeared on any other artists work?
Stacy Smallie – Well, I did backgrounds for Tha Dogg Pound on the “Dogg Food” album released in 1994 I believe. I did backgrounds for Danny Boys entire album produced by DJ Quik and Nate Doggs’ Album, which were never released. I did a lot of singing in California that never came out. I have also sang backgrounds for some gospel artist, Darius Brooks and Ricky Dillard and New G also a few R. Kelly/Coca Cola commercial spots.
Do you know if there was a budget for All Eyez on Me? I so how much?
Stacy Smallie – Of course there was a budget, Tupac, was the first major album after “Murder Was The Case,” and we are talking about Death Row/Interscope, so yes, there was a budget most definitely, how much, I don’t know.
Were you around for the sessions of The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory? Was their a different attitude for these sessions?
Stacy Smallie – You know, I think that I was there when they first started recording for that album, by that time things had started to shift already, you could feel the tension in the atmosphere, so I steered clear.
Some people believe that Tupac used cocaine and point to his amazing work ethic as evidence. Do you know if there is any truth to this?
Stacy Smallie – You know that’s funny, I don’t know any cocaine users personally but I can say that I neither saw him drunk, intoxicated or anything of that sort, how can you not get a buzz with the air filled with chronic smoke…huh…really all that I saw was that the man was released from prison, and the next day cranking out hits. It’s kind of sad that people can’t remember Tupac as a man with a passion for his craft, oh well maybe I just see the best in people until they show me otherwise.
(…)
Do you believe Tupac had anything to do with Stretch’s death?
Stacy Smallie – I’m just a “Church Girl” that has been exposed to waaaaay too much. I didn’t know that “Tupac,” that’s not who I met, sang for and talked to. Actually i’m glad that I wasn’t around to see that part, I still have to live with the things that I have seen, and that’s quite enough for me. I did my job and went home and stayed there, no parties, no hanging out, just trying to survive.
This is second leaked clip of unheard “No Parts of Dis” song, recorded in 1991. It’s very rough, clearly in its early formative stages as a song. This cassette was auctioned at ebay in September, 2012. Recently, a first clip of the unheard ”No Parts of Dis” song was released in November, 2017. The songs were recorded in 1991.
We hope one day will leaked full.. An unknown Tupac song! Unfinished, but still… Leaked by Kevin aka DJ Skandalous in October 2018.
Shawn Thomas (born January 14, 1972), better known by his stage name C-Bo, is an American rapper. From Sacramento, California, he is currently signed to West Coast Mafia Records. He was one of the first rappers to be jailed due to his lyrical content.
One collaboration in particular by the artist would give him his biggest exposure ever. In 1995 (October 22-28) he worked with Tupac on the album ”All Eyez On Me” (on the two songs “Ain’t Hard To Find” and “Tradin War Stories“) which would sell over 10 million copies in the US alone and to this day is considered by many critics and fans alike to be one of the greatest rap albums of all time. They recorded third song, but unleaked yet.
C-Bo was interviewed in the latest Murder Dog and spoke about Tupac and tracks they worked on together, two of which have not been released yet.
You co-wrote and rapped on two songs on 2Pac’s 1996 album All Eyez On Me–”War Stories” and “Ain’t Hard To Find.” The album went nine times platinum. How did those collaborations come about?
C-Bo: Pac had been listenin’ to my stuff. He was up in the Bay for a while, he knew E-40 and you know, that’s my cousin. He had called my manager and they said he wanted me to come through and get on there. So when I pulled up, he got up to the car and gave me so much love like he was my brother. He said he’d been listening to every one of my albums since Gas Chamber.
What did that mean to you, coming from 2Pac?
C-Bo: It gave me a little validation for the things that I thought that I was, coming from him at the time. And this was really before he took off. He was already out there, but this was before All Eyez On Me came out. He could relate to my shit. Like I said, if you’re a street person or any person from a ghetto–whether you’re a Crip or a Blood or whatever–you can definitely relate to my music. Pac understood where I was comin’ from and he really appreciated it. He showed me love. Actually, we did more songs than that. Suge needs to come over and give me them songs! We did about four total. I haven’t heard the other two.
Dubcnn.com chopped it up with C-Bo just 3 days before he went back to prison for a 14 month sentence (March 2004). He spoke about his upcoming solo album, The Thuglordz album, how 2Pac just reached out to him from the sky, his ties with Bangem Smurf, the true reason why he dissed 50 Cent and so much more. source: dubcnn.com
Here you go Tupac part.
Dubcnn: You have any favourite memory with 2pac?
C-Bo: Aw yea for sure my nigga Pac snatched me mayn. You know he just came up out the sky and snatched me man you know *laughs* without me even knowing Pac he just came and was like hey Im feeling you man I want you to fuck wid me rap on my shit. You know Pac is the only nigga that has really done anything for me just reached out without it having to happen you know what I mean. All respects to this rapgame and everything all this Thugshit go to Pac mayn fuck the rest of these niggaz mayn.
Dubcnn: How many songs did you record with 2pac?
C-Bo: 3 songs 2 only came out.
Dubcnn: Are you gonna release any the..do you have any of the other songs?
C-Bo: Na man could nobody find them..prolly Suge Knight got them or I don’t know where they at.
You know ain’t no telling Daz probably got them Pac mom probably got them. It could be anywhere… WHOEVER GOT THEM THEY BETTER COME HOLLER AT THE LOCO put that in the muthafucka..
Dubcnn: yea
C-Bo: Yea Ima buy that muthafucka Im coming for it!
Tupac mentioned William Garland once: “I thought my father was dead all my life. After I got shot, I looked up there was this nigga that looked just like me. And he was my father; that’s when I found out. We still didn’t take no blood test but the nigga looked just like me and the other nigga’s dead so now I feel that I’m past the father stage.” — Tupac, to Vibe magazine’s Kevin Powell, June 1996.
There were several important male figures in Tupac Shakur’s life. But it wasn’t until he was 23 that he met his biological father. A member of the Jersey City branch of the Black Panther Party in the 1960s, Bill Garland met Afeni Shakur at a strategy officer’s meeting in New York City in 1969. The two had a short affair in 1970, which led to the birth of Tupac, on June 16, 1971—while Afeni was in jail for conspiracies to blow up New York department stores and subway police stations.
Living separately, but around the family for his son’s early childhood, Garland fell out of touch in the mid-’70s and stayed that way until ’Pac was recovering from being shot at New York’s Quad Studios in 1994. After ’Pac’s murder, two years later, Garland sued Afeni for half of the estate, citing, in the lawsuit, her false claim on the death certificate that her only son’s father was deceased. Garland lost the case, but a DNA test he took for the hearing confirmed his paternity.
Billy Garland (Tupac’s Bio Father) & Tupac in the prison, 1995.
Recently, approaching the 15th anniversary of his son’s death, Bill Garland, an employee of the Jersey City Incinerator Authority and a father of six, visited the XXL offices to talk about Tupac.
It’s been 15 years since your son Tupac’s death. How do you feel when you look back?
Billy Garland: It still hurts. We’re talking about someone that is a part of you. Someone that you wish you had spent more time with as a father. Someone that you loved and… Fifteen years, it still feels like yesterday. To anybody out there, the last thing you ever, ever wanna do is lose your child. It’s the most painful thing in the world. Fortunately—I don’t know, fortunately or unfortunately—it’s a child that you see regularly. I walk down the street and see his picture on people’s T-shirts. I see magazines.
You hear him…
Every day on the radio. You know, I’m not the only parent who lost a celebrity son or daughter. But I’ve gotta be one of the few parents that have to see that and be reminded of that daily.
Does it amaze you? There are not too many celebrities who are that big, let alone rappers.
Yes, to a certain extent, because it was always my son. He was never “2Pac, the superstar.” You know, we played Monopoly together. And he tried to cheat. [Laughs] Yeah, in prison. Little, stupid stuff. You know, we ate sunflower seeds together. He had that ability to be down home, just as real as anyone else. He cared for people. That was his main thing. He really cared for people. I think that’s why he would get so upset when people tried to question his commitment, his love for Black women or Black men. The East Coast/West Coast, you know, that’s a fabrication. I don’t have to begin to tell you that. So when that was questioned, it bothered him. Because he would give his heart or soul. He was a giving person. He would give anything to people. He would go in a store. [If there was a] Black man who couldn’t afford a $1,500 pair of boots, he would buy ’em for him. Think that Black man would ever forget Tupac? That’s just the way he is. But I don’t think that he did it for that. He did it because he had it, and he didn’t. That’s the way he is.
Tupac passed at 25. A lot of people aren’t really developed into being a full adult at 25. Do you think that was the case with him?
He still had a lot of childish ways. When I’d visit him [at Clinton Correctional Facility] in Dannemora, I’d ask him about some of the instances—the immature things, the spitting at reporters. He’d say, “Pops, I know I was wrong.” He would say that. He wanted to calm down. He wanted to go watch movies, to stay at home more. He wanted to cool out more. You know, but you get caught up in it. You get caught up in being that which they think you should be. And then you start acting that way, unfortunately. But one on one, any given moment, he’s just a down-to-earth type of person to know.
What was your relationship like? I don’t think most people are familiar with the relationship you guys had. People are confused by it.
I know, I know. It used to bother me, but it doesn’t. ’Cause there’s one thing that he told me, and that’s that he loved me. I knew him up ’til he was five. I got married to another woman. This is when we got out the Panther Party—me and Afeni, that’s where we met. So we lost contact with one another. There’s no doubt in my mind that I could’ve been a better father. There’s no doubt. I have to bear the burden of that, because maybe there was something I could’ve said or have done, maybe, that might not have led to the path that his life has led to. So I have to bear the burden of that. The first time we came back together was the first time he got shot, in New York. It was out of a scene out of The Godfather. Go up to the room, and he sees me, and we talk, and I told him I was with him now, and he realized I was his father.
You hadn’t seen him since he was five years old?
No. Not seen or talked to, unfortunately. I’d seen him in Juice, which was the first time. That was in ’91. And, ironically, there was a woman who was his publicist—her name was Karen—I knew her from Jersey City. The idea was that I would communicate with her. But I later found out that there were some other interests that maybe didn’t want me to communicate with him. I’m not gonna mention any names. [Gestures to a picture of Afeni on the wall] So be that as it may, I’m sending out feelers, ’cause the last thing I want for him to think is that I want something. I might be the only one who’s never taken a dime from my son, if you understand what I’m saying. And I’m talking about people, family, friends who have looked at him as a commodity—I don’t wanna be derogatory—but who have used him. He’d be buying people cars, and they’d say, “Oh, it’s not a good enough car.” He would buy people houses and—he would tell me this; I wouldn’t lie on a dead man—they would say, “It’s not a big enough house.” And I was surprised to hear that.
So you weren’t in touch with him from when he was five until he was 21?
’Til Juice. I’m sitting here watching Juice, and I am crying. I saw the advertisement. I didn’t know which kid was mine until I saw him. And I know somebody in that movie theater had to look at me and say, “Why is that goddamn man crying in the fuckin’ front row of the theater?”
But it just shows up on the screen, and you see your son?
Have you seen Juice? Does he look like me?
Yeah. Exactly like you. And you hadn’t shared a word with him over the years?
Nothing.
That’s pretty crazy. You’re sitting in a movie theater, and all of a sudden, he’s up on a screen?
Yeah. So what do you do? Do you show up at his shoot? That’s what the lawyer was asking me in the trial. “Well, you know, he was in New York at a concert. Why don’t you just go?” I’m supposed to go to the back fuckin’ door, like some groupie, and say, “Hey, ’Pac, I’m your father”?
When you did go to see him, at the hospital, what did he say when he saw you for the first time? And saw how much you looked alike?
He knew. He was shocked. When he came down in the chair, when he was leaving the hospital—which he shouldn’t have, because he still had an infection—he looked at me and smiled and said, “Look at this, just like that.” I was the happiest man in the world when I went back to Jersey City. Oh, my fuckin’ heart was swollen. I made contact with my son, and he liked me. He smiled at me. Shit, that got me. I was like, “Yeah, fuck ’em.” So that was that. Shit happens, you know.
But then you find out that stuff was happening that, if I had had a little help… I was like… After the movie [I talked to Karen and asked], “When can I talk to him?” She said, “Well, maybe you should give him a little time.” This was what Afeni was telling Karen. And I didn’t know this. So now I have to get the stories from Karen. I have to go see her when she comes back to Jersey City and listen to her tell me about my son. And I wasn’t pissed at the time, because I was just happy to hear stuff. Like, he’s carrying around $3,000. What’s he need $3,000 for? I would be laughing. But why should I have to go through you to see my son? First time I saw him after the hospital, she came and got me. I had to go to her hotel room for her to take me to the cab. That’s the way Afeni wanted it. So obviously somebody was running block, and I didn’t know why. A lot of shit you just don’t know. You just don’t know. It hurts… From ’91, I gotta wait ’til [’94]? Whatever I was doing, I just kept on doing it. I’m like, “Fuck it, then.” He don’t wanna see me, I’m thinking. But now I find out that he didn’t know about me. So that’s what pissed me off. ’Cause [if it’s] “I don’t wanna see you,” well, I do want to see you. But I can understand. Even though I’ll be hurt, I’ll understand. I fucked up. I’ll pay that. But to find out he’s asking and you’re lying and not telling him, that fuckin’ hurts.
Did you feel like he understood you with all that, in the end?
I don’t know. I wish we would’ve had one of them…maybe got drunk together and just let it all hang out. It was always people freakin’ around. The first time we meet, there’s six people in the room. What can I ask him? And I felt so bad. And now I wanna be a part of him and his crew. I start my grown ass smoking the chronic. Never had chronic in my life. Chronic will fuck you up. I got fucked up. Now I’m stoned stupid, don’t know what to say. But I’m tryin’ to, you know—like the Indians. When you go with the Indians, everyone smoking the pipe and shit. “I’ll smoke. Give me that.” And there’s a fuckin’ kid over there with a fuckin’ big-ass bowl of fuckin’ pot. And they got this box of cigars, and they’re rolling blunts all fuckin’ night. And I’m bluntin’. “Yeah, I can hang. I’m a tough muthafucka.” But I was fucked up. Jasmine Guy’s apartment—that’s whose apartment it was. I almost passed out. I wake up. Jasmine and him on the couch. I’m the last fuckin’ one. I felt like an idiot. First time I see you, I’m in the fuckin’ place passed out! You know? I felt so stupid. I said, “Damn.”
What was that first sit-down like, when you went to visit him in jail? That was when you got to talk to him more, with fewer people around.
Oh, I was so excited. [Laughs] I got a speeding ticket driving from New Jersey to Dannemora prison, wanting to see him so much. And when I left that visit, I turned to him as I’m walking out the door, when they said visiting hours are over, and I said, “I love you.” He said, “I love you, too, Pops.” So that’s all I needed.
Were you ever concerned that, because so much time had gone by and you guys were reconnecting, he would think, Hey, I’m a celebrity. Now here my father is. He wants something from me.
No, I never thought that.
You weren’t worried that he might?
I didn’t think that ’til later. But I never thought about it then. I just wish I’d have wrote and communicated more with him. ’Cause I was doing some things then. Wasn’t in the greatest interest of being a father. You know, it was the ’80s and ’90s, and I did some things. The social drugs that were out there, I did some of those. They seemed to soothe the emotions over, if you know what I’m saying. You tend not to think so much about…
And then, by the time you get yourself together, he’s a man.
Exactly. Well, the only bad thing I feel? A month before he died, he called me. And for some reason, he woke me up. And I felt bad we didn’t talk more. So he did reach out. ’Cause I had been calling Death Row and found out they weren’t giving him the messages. So maybe he’s thinking, Well, my dad doesn’t care for me. So we had that disconnect. But then Afeni said to me, the night that he died—and I tend to wanna believe her—it was in September, and she said that that November he was planning on sending for all the siblings, and we were gonna have Thanksgiving together. And that just swelled my heart. ’Cause I don’t think she would’ve said that if it wasn’t true. So that made me feel good. You gotta remember, we had a kid who had nothing, who got a little. But not really a lot before he went to jail. Not really superstar status. Didn’t really see his money develop. Not to go to the bank and take out $50,000. Sent to a prison for something we know he had nothing to do with.
Were you a fan of the music?
Yes, I loved it. And that’s what’s so funny. This is a kid who writes about things that I love. Political things. You got other rappers—what do they write about? I call it “gas, cash and ass.” A new car, flashing money and pretty girls in the videos. That’s all it is. The lyrics, the beats are wack. But they make gazillions of dollars rapping about that. He tells a story. A profound one.
And he came from an authentic background. That was such a huge factor for his fans.
Yes, he did. Very political. They always say he came from a Panther. No, he came from two Black Panthers. You have to understand that. And that contributes a lot to that. So I didn’t mind it. I knew he was living his life. He wasn’t even out a year. Got out in [October], got killed in September. He was living his life, feeling good about himself, feeling like a star.
How angry do you think he was when he got out of jail?
He never showed it.
’Cause the public perception was that he was angry at Biggie and Bad Boy and the East Coast…
Hell, no.
He’s raging, and in comes Suge to put the battery in his back, you know?
But you know what? It’s a funny thing. First time I saw him after 15 years, I went to the hospital, Biggie came and walked up to me and said, “Mr. Garland, I’m sorry for your inconvenience. If there’s anything I can do for you, feel free to call.”
That was after the first shooting?
The first shooting, the one that everybody thinks Biggie had something to do with. There’s no way in hell that a man who was involved in a shooting would do that. Not the way he did it. There was no fear; there was no hesitation. You could see he was just as concerned about ’Pac as anybody.
How did you find out he was shot the second time?
I think somebody called. I can’t remember. I jumped on the next plane out there. And I went in the room, and he was comatose—induced coma. Staples here, little swollen here. And they said that, if you talk to him, he might be able to hear. So I would just stay in the room for hours and just kinda talk. But, uh, it was never no response. He never responded. And that lasted for six days. And the one time I leave the room, I go back to the hotel, get in the car to go to the hotel, and I gotta hear it on the news: Tupac Shakur died. I made a U-turn. I think I hooked up with Afeni down at the Golden Nugget [Hotel and Casino], and we talked a little bit. And then I left town that night. I didn’t even wanna stay in Vegas. I haven’t been back since. Fifteen years.
At first, did you think he’d survive?
Yes. I knew he was strong. I just thought he would. He’d been through a lot of shit. I knew he would. I was shocked.
When was the last time you spoke?
The time he called me on the phone. After I tried to reach him.
And you had the quick conversation?
Yes. And it haunts me to this day. It really does. I had so much to say. You know, don’t you wish you could take that back? If you thought you’re not gonna see somebody or talk to them again, for the rest of your life? To know that you didn’t basically offer anything of substance, just, “What’s up? How you doin’?” You know, “Yeah, Pops, yeah. I’m busy doing this, doing that.” You know, “Okay.” I had been up all night, I ain’t gonna lie, doing shit. I was still out of it. I gotta live with that. Certain shit you gotta live with. It hurts, but you gotta just live with it.
After he passed, there was a lot of talk that he was still alive.
Nah. Ridiculous. Ridiculous. I saw the wounds.
Did that hurt?
Nah. People kinda… I like people, but they’re kinda…silly, I guess. Lack of a better word.
Nutty, silly…
Yeah, okay. I didn’t really wanna say that, you know? I don’t wanna call people who like Tupac nutty.
But it’s interesting how Tupac fans are die-hard. They can be a little crazy.
Today. People stop me and ask me for an autograph. I feel stupid. But I feel honored. ’Cause I know they don’t want me; they want him. And they want something related to him. So I do. I sign that picture. I sign this. Makes me feel good. Then I go about my way, and I realize, you know, he’s gone. Only benefit I got is listening to… I got a couple of his unreleased music, and I listen to it, and it feels like he’s talking to me from the dead. I can hear his voice, and he’s saying something, and I think, I have that, you know? I don’t think many parents who’ve lost a kid can say they can hear their kid again. And I do. See what I’m saying? On a consistent basis. And here’s the kicker: If he wasn’t my son, I’d still fuckin’ like him. He’s the best fuckin’ rapper out there, ’cause nobody can rap! And the beats! You understand? The way he lays it down! I got that. That’s all I got. On my phone and at home, I listen.
50 Cent: ”Old gangsta jimmy the Rat paper work, This fool been telling since 1942 Don Julio no cappin LOL ”
James “Henchman” Rosemond (Jimmy Henchman) was behind Salt-n-Pepa’s “Shoop” and he was The Game’s manager during a feud with 50 Cent when The Game recorded the diss track “300 Bars and Runnin'”. In 2006, Henchman and 50 Cent settled a lawsuit regarding a DVD that Czar Entertainment released about 50 Cent’s namesake, Kelvin “50 Cent” Martin, in which interviews with Jackson were alleged to have been inappropriately used. In the settlement, a charity was created with funds going to support Martin and his children.
Back in 2009, a close friend of both 50 Cent and Tony Yayo, Lowell Fletcher aka Lodi Mack was fatally gunned down in the Bronx, only two weeks after being released from prison.
Once hip-hop promoter and manager, James “Henchman” Rosemond (Jimmy Henchman) was immediately enlisted as a suspect, due to an incident between his 14-year-old son, Yayo, and Mack. Apparently, after spotting Rosemond’s son rocking a shirt from his father’s company, Henchman Entertainment, Mack reportedly pulled out a gun on him, as Yayo backhanded the kid across his face. a federal jury has found Henchman guilty for the murder of the G-Unit associate on murder-for-hire charges. The former hip-hop manager was accused of hiring a group of individuals to kill the G-Unit member who assaulted his son.
Rosemond’s case was challenged by three trials. The first trial was concluded by a hung jury. In the second trial, Henchman was convicted, yet a new trial was put into play. Henchman is currently already serving two life sentences for drug and gun convictions separate from the G-Unit murder case.
On June 4, 1996, the late 2Pac officially released “How Do You Want It” featuring K-Ci & JoJo, and some time later dropped the r-rated video to accompany it. Heather Hunter starred in the music video with fellow porn stars Nina Hartley and Angel Kelly, and was asked to appear in it personally by the man himself. On April 19, 1996, Tupac filming the ”How Do U Want It?” music video.
Tupac & Heather Hunter during ”How Do U Want It” Music Video Shoot.
Heather Hunter: “He (Tupac) contacted me and he wanted me to be in his video,” she remembered as she began to get choked up. “He inspired me to come back to LA”.
Heather eventually moved back to LA and the two developed a “spiritual” relationship. “It was everything. He was a really close and dear person to me. Just like anybody I hold close and dear, I respect him.” she recalled. “I think three or four months later he passed away.”
Heather Hunter talk about the private after party:
When DJ Vlad asked Hunter about the private party between her, 2Pac, Angel and Nina, she laughed it off and coyly responded with “yeah it was a nice party.” Hear about her time on set with 2Pac and what happened when she found out about his untimely death below.
HEATHER HUNTER SPEAKS ON WORKING WITH TUPAC (3:40 min) AND MR MARCUS SPREADING STD IN THE PORN INDUSTRY
In a 2012 interview, Nina Hartley said the best part of the production was a private party that she, Angel Kelly, and Heather Hunter had with the late Tupac after the shoot wrapped. According to her, “Tupac had what it took to be a porn stud, no problem!”
Adult Film Star Nina Hartley on Tupac Shakur: ”I met Tupac (April 19, 1996) when I did the video for his single, “How Do U Want It?” I found him to be handsome, super-smart, and very sweet to me. He said he was a big fan, and I had no reason to doubt him.
I was invited to be in the video. I didn’t know he was shooting, and would never have bothered to try to audition. He deliberately sought out me, Angel Kelly, Heather Hunter, and several other porn chicks for the video.
He (Tupac) was so smart and insightful. Creative and a natural leader. The set was a bit of a mess one day and he came onto it and within five minutes had figured out what was wrong, what needed to be done, and had done it. Fucking impressive.
He was an amazing person and we hit it off right away. I had no doubts that, had he lived, he would have been a man of his word and we would have become friends.
The best part was the private party I had with Tupac, Heather and Angel Kelly, after the last day of shooting. I may tell more later, but I will say this: Tupac had what it took to be a porn stud, no problem! It’s really sad that he was taken so soon.”
Nina Hartley talk about Tupac’s ”How Do U Want It” in 1:23 min.
According to former Tupac bodyguard Frank Alexander, the R-rated video is an angelic romp compared to his boss’ offscreen XXX-rated antics. In his book Got Your Back, Alexander describes Tupac’s routine: shoot a couple of scenes, have sex with a dancer in his trailer, eat something off the craft services tables, and begin again. At one point he’d had so much sex he passed out and Alexander couldn’t wake him up. Why did women love Tupac so much? According to the bodyguard, part of it was the rapper’s chiseled looks, part of it was his verbal dexterity, and a lot of it was that he was hung like a Trojan horse.
When Tupac was too tired to have any more sex, he tried to “impress” women with his manual dexterity, which led to Nina Hartley tutoring him on the way to properly rake a woman’s secret garden. Tupac then used his knowledge on every lady-garden he could find.
In a 2012 interview, Nina Hartley said the best part of the production was a private party that she, Angel Kelly, and Heather Hunter had with the late Tupac after the shoot wrapped. According to her, “Tupac had what it took to be a porn stud, no problem!”
There is no information about a possible intimate connection between Sean “Diddy” Combs baby mama, Sarah Chapman and Tupac. This is evidenced only by several photographs taken in November 1995, one month after Tupac out of jail. The photos appear for the first time in 2012, falling into the hands of an unknown photographer.
Tupac & Sarah Chapman, mother of Sean “Diddy” Combs first daughter, Chance.
Tupac With Sarah Chapman, November 18, 1995Tupac With Sarah Chapman, November 18, 1995
Theories about 2Pac’s death are major topics for Hip-hop fans and it is not surprising that people are still trying to find out what exactly happened back in 1996 when 2Pac’s death left everybody in shock. Latest opinion about the tragic event cоmes from Bizzy Bone. He strongly believes that the murder of the Hip-Hop legend was, indeed, an accident. He claims that the initial purpose of the killer was to set up a new street war.
Bizzy Bone
Bizzy Bone reveals his theory during an Instagram Live stream. He reconfirms what tends to be the truth according to many documentary movies and also to many people, which is that Orlando Anderson is the killer of the Hip-Hop legend.
To clarify the historic events for those of you who dоn’t know yet, everything starts when 2Pac and some of his crew beat Orlando Anderson after one of Mike Tyson’s fights in Las Vegas, Nevada.
After that, Bizzy Bone’s theory claims that the shooting was supposed to start a street war and not actually kill 2Pac. He thinks that Anderson stole a Death Row chаin with the intention to stay there until somebody from the crew sees him and beats him. Indeed, that’s what happens.
After that, Anderson’s plan was to shoot at the car and start a war. The purpose of all that was, of course, money. The shooter was supposed to go to 2Pac’s enemies who were going to be blamed for the event. Then, the shooter was going to offer them protection in exchange of money.
To sum up, this is Bizzy Bone’s theory behind the tragedy.
In the comments below you can let us know about your thoughts.
Mike Tyson speaks up for Big Boy Rаdio about all sorts of problems regarding his personal life, including his mental issues and the difficulties he had with Don King. During his interview, Tyson recalls heartbreaking memories following the night of 2Pac’s death. The tragic event happens after Mike Tyson’s PPV boxing mаtch with his oppоnent Bruce Seldon.
On the night of Septembеr 7, 1996, Mike Tyson did a boxing match where he had 2Pac as his special guest of hоnor. Before leaving the event, 2Pac even attended the press conference along with Tyson after the match. The events that followed 2Pac’s leaving are filled with mystery and pain.
Tupac with Fan / September 07, 1996
Mike Tyson had a hard time explaining his strong bond with 2Pac during the interview. He was even offered a tissue after Big Boy noticed tears in Tyson’s eyes. After being asked what was his last memory with 2Pac, Tyson says (23:35 min.)‘’He was really hapрy after the fight. Hе came to the prеss conferеnce with me and we were just talking about some sh*t. And then I went home and he left.’’ After he went back home, Tyson received a call about the accident. 2Pac passed away six days lаter.
Mike Tyson remembers Pac as a yоung kid that really wаnted to be great and he became great. If he was alive, 2Pac would have been forty-six years old now.
“I came from a long line of revolutionaries, a long line of Panthers and strong fighters and soldiers who fought for social change and for the betterment of their people, and I said, well, what better way for me to have a career than to make my mom proud, make my people proud and speak out, you know what I’m saying? Be a part of the solution.” — Tupac Shakur (1991)
Having been a diehard fan of Tupac Amaru Shakur for a majority of my life, there are few interviews left of his that I haven’t seen or heard (and that’s saying a lot, considering how much content related to him has been released throughout the years). However, a few months ago I stumbled upon something that I had never heard before: a 1991 promotional interview recorded around the release of his debut studio album, 2Pacalypse Now.
Many know about Tupac’s revolutionary family roots, and how these roots influenced not only his music, but his greater mission as a public figure and artist living in America. This is at the core of what inspires me today as not only a creative, but a human being as well. Still, listening to the linked interview above had me moved and motivated to another degree.
Within around 40 minutes or so, a 20-year-old Tupac states a number of important things that I had always assumed he believed or stood for, but in terms much more clear and explicit than anything I had ever heard from him before — terms that resonate with me deeply now as Black man living in America.
Despite the rage and aggressive tone of much of his earlier, more revolutionary music, he speaks in incredibly rational and nuanced terms about a range of interrelated topics in this interview. Here, I’d like to share ten highlights from the interview along with some of my own thoughts and a closing statement as someone who is not only deeply inspired and influenced by the art and actions of Tupac Shakur, but as someone who has been trying to find a way to honor his legacy for years.
Although the interview begins with topics that many reading this article may already be quite familiar with, I’d like to ask you for patience. Eventually, Tupac begins to introduce some incredibly important concepts and ideas that were not shared by many of our most popular artists then, and that haven’t been shared by many of our most popular artists since. Most of said concepts are relevant now more than ever before (most notably beginning with the ones mentioned in highlight number three and onward).
1. Tupac on Black Love
One of the core subjects that Tupac addresses in the linked interview is the great racial division that we faced in 1991 — the same racial division that we are facing today. At one point towards the beginning of the interview, he speaks on Black Americans loving themselves as Americans first, before loving themselves for their African ancestry (or as “African Americans”).
“I see the young black male in a… I’ll say it like everyone else is saying it: in a state of emergency. This is true. It’s been said 30 million times, but how do we get out of the [cycle]? I see it as… by showing us our own strength… Showing us our own history. Not just the history from Africa and, you know, how we used to be kings and queens, but how we used to be fighters here, how [we’re] soldiers. You know, we damn near built this country, so therefore how could you not love being black?! How could you not wanna build more?! I know if we built this country, we could build ourselves back up… That’s what Tupac is about. It’s about being that spark to start the fire again… I wanna just bring renaissance back for black people. I just want everything to be ‘beautiful black’ again. Not being without white, but just where black is beautiful…”
At the time that this interview took place, the Pan-Africanism movement was virtually in full effect. Many Black Americans (especially young ones) felt the desire to completely denounce their American history in an effort to cultivate a new identity tied to the perceived traditions and cultures of their African ancestors.
Tupac felt it was important that we as Black Americans remember the role that our ancestors played in the development of this nation; not erasing our past within America, but understanding our collective strength in making it through all that we have faced — a strength that, if truly understood and realized, could be used to empower us in all ways moving towards the 21st century.
Tupac emphasizes that he wants to represent the catalyst for this, and for Black Americans to be perceived as “beautiful” as opposed to a stain on the fabric that is this country. As linked audio towards the end of this piece suggests, Tupac would later go on to understand the importance of political engagement in solving many of the issues plaguing Black Americans, but at 20 years of age, his understanding of self-perception amongst Black Americans was crucial.
The idea of Black empowerment helping to unite and empower the people as a whole is another idea that Tupac discusses more directly later on in the interview, specifically with regards to the FBI and its role in destroying the Black Panther Party movement under the leadership of J. Edgar Hoover.
J. Edgar Hoover
2. Tupac on the Term “African American”
With this topic, Tupac shares a view on the term “African American” that I’ve held for many years, but in doing so, also shares sentiments that are used to argue that “black culture” or something inherent about Black Americans perpetuates racial inequality within America. Don’t let his words here fool you, though.
It may appear that Tupac pulls from the culturalist tradition in some areas, but he brings great clarity to the previous point on self love, explaining how it in turn can lead to a greater love amongst everyone, and unite people in a greater fight against injustice as opposed to strengthening a separatist position. Tupac states that he is an integrationist and in speaking on what he feels are solutions for us as Black Americans, reveals that he views our problems through the structuralist framework later on in the interview.
“I understand the whole concept behind saying you’re ‘African American,’ making a more ‘global’ thing… And making it so ‘black’ is just a color. You know, you don’t want to be so limited. But that’s what I want to concentrate on: the color black. Because it’s the black people that’s killing black… It’s the black that’s causing so much red to flow through the streets. It’s the blacks that’s having teenage pregnancy problems.”
“It’s the blacks that’s on crack BIG TIME. Not just blacks, but it’s blacks that’s on crack big time. And that’s who I want to target… And once we feel in love [with] being black, we’ll definitely have a joy in being ‘African Americans.’ That’s no problem. That’ll come easy… But I feel like we have to make it more personal, so that when I see a black man, I feel love. Immediately…”
“I want it to be straight up. Real. And then we can grow and we can love white, ’cause we’ll love black. We’ll say, ‘These are our neighbors. They live here with us.’ I don’t think that white people are devils. I think that there’s evil and there’s a devil everywhere. [He] could be Puerto Rican. He could be black, white, whatever… You gotta watch for evil… Tupac ain’t about just seeing a whole bunch of black people in one spot, because there’s a lot of snakes out there… I want the GOOD in black folks, that’s what I want.”
I’d like to make it clear that Tupac is only speaking to Black Americans here. He states:
“Like I said, we’re in a state of emergency, and I’m talking to my people. I’m talking to my folks. That’s what the huddle is for, but everybody can listen, ’cause I’m not saying nothing that’s evil or [dangerous]… Everybody can listen…”
Acknowledging that Black Americans need greater love amongst themselves does not absolve white America and America as a whole of any sort of responsibility as it pertains to making the country a better place. It does not mean that America as a whole doesn’t need greater love and unity as well. It simply speaks to the fact that if Black Americans were to develop greater bonds and support amongst themselves, they could hold a stronger position within a divided nation.
Although I do not have direct statistics on hand for the degree to which Black Americans faced issues at disproportionate levels in the areas that Tupac mentioned above in 1991, we do know that America was approaching the end of the crack epidemic at this time. The mass drug use that took place within predominantly Black communities around this period (along with the effects of the “tough on crime” policies that were implemented by Bill Clinton and others in the years to come) has been studied at length over the past couple of decades, and we are more than aware of the impact that these events have had on the Black American population in particular.
That being said, more have acknowledged the myth of “black-on-black crime” by 2017 as having been conjured up through a certain perception of concentrated poverty paired with residential segregation. The Atlanta Black Star cites a 2014 FBI report that shows us white Americans not only kill each other more frequently than any other racial group in America, but that there is only an eight percentage point margin between the rate at which Black Americans kill Black Americans, and the rate at which white people kill white people (in 2014, a Black American was killed by a member of the same race 90 percent of the time while a white person was killed by a member of the same race 82 percent of the time).
All things considered, 1991 was a much more dangerous time in America, and Black Americans had (and still do have) poorer access to many things, from quality education, to quality housing and healthcare.
In the part of the interview mentioned above, Tupac is making a point to comment on not only the importance of Black American self love and the disproportionate amount of challenges facing Black America (he uses the expression “big time” to describe such disproportions, in my view), but on racial division as well. This — in addition to police brutality — is something that he speaks to at greater length later on, but listening to the interview is important, for in this moment, one can hear an awareness in his voice as it pertains to the “divide and conquer” tactics at play between Black and white Americans.
America’s long history of racism against Black and Native peoples is well documented and understood by now, but many in the media did (and still do) try to use the extreme statements of Black nationalist organizations and their leaders (such as the Nation of Islam) against Black American people and their progressive movements. Tupac was no stranger to media attacks and misrepresentation at the time that this interview took place, and this is much needed context for his statements about white people.
Many (not all) Black nationalists commonly and frequently refer to all white people as “devils.” Malcolm X himself found this to be inappropriate and false later on in his life following his trip to Mecca (before being assassinated), but the term “white devils” is still heavily associated with his legacy due to his earlier statements, and statements from other Black nationalist organizations/leaders throughout the years.
Malcolm X
Here in this moment, however, Tupac is stressing that he wants Black Americans to acknowledge themselves as human beings worthy of a certain standard of living and justice, and to also understand that the “evil” (which I would argue are the effects of capitalism) works through people of all ethnic groups, despite the fact that white Americans hold the most institutional power. Tupac states the following towards the end of the interview:
“We can do anything… I gotta say this again, it’s not black against white. When I say ‘we,’ it’s the good against evil… If you right, and you got good on your side, I really, truly believe that nothing can stop you. And I’m using the same thing that America taught me. That’s what I’m using. The tools of this country: capitalism and imperialism, colonialism, I’m using all those against them…”
On his first album, Tupac vents at length about his many frustrations with corrupt police officers and government agencies, and speaks to those who have experienced police brutality themselves. In doing this, he calls out many different people and entities by name and sends harsh words to major forces of oppression that played huge roles in not only making life harder for himself and other Black Americans, but infiltrating and destroying the very revolutionary organization that birthed him as well:
I gotta give my fuck offs
Fuck you to the San Francisco Police Department
Fuck you to the Marin County Sheriff’s Department
Fuck you to the FBI
Fuck you to the CIA
Fuck you to the B-U-S-H
Fuck you to the Ameri-K-K-Ka
Fuck you to all you redneck prejudice motherfuckers
That wanna fuck with me, fuck y’all!
As a result of this and other factors, Tupac found himself attacked by many different groups and people, including then Vice President Dan Quayle, who called the release of Tupac’s 2Pacalypse Now “an irresponsible corporate act” after positing that it was responsible for the death of a Texas state trooper, who was shot to death earlier that year by a suspect who was allegedly listening to the album in a stolen truck when he was stopped. Tupac addresses some of the responses to his album that he was receiving at that time:
“They hear the songs and they go, ‘Damn, he’s shooting police officers?’ But to me, come on, be real. Everybody knows that this is just a song about shooting police officers. Let’s talk about the reality of police brutality. Let’s talk about the reality of a situation like Rodney King, and let’s talk about the fantasy of a song like ‘I Don’t Give a Fuck’ or ‘Souldja’s Story’… Those are rebel songs. Just like back in the 60s, you had to have folk songs…”
“That’s what this is, it’s just soul music. It’s like music for us to carry on with. For us to move on. It’s battle songs. It’s songs talking about strong black men fighting back against an oppressor. You never hear me sing a song about me just walking up and shooting a cop. It’s always provoked. It’s always self-defense. And I want to get that strength back, where you CAN fight back. And that’s what I sing about… That’s what I rap about. I don’t rap about ‘we shall overcome’ and peace ’cause that’s a dream. And I want a piece of the dream too, but for me to get a piece of the dream, I have to have a piece.”
Themes of rebellion and empowerment continue throughout the interview, and following the above statements, Tupac begins to share his views on the idea of Black armed struggle, and being realistic about our enemies:
“Even though it’s [a state of] emergency, I don’t wanna panic people and just say ‘kill kill kill kill kill kill kill,’ ’cause that’s wrong, and that’s what we done already — we been through that. And we see what happens when black folks try to defend themselves through armed struggle without education, and without self-defense (mentally). We die… But if we start to join up, and start to be more united, and start being realistic about who the enemy is, then we’ll be better off.”
4. Tupac on Black Armed Struggle as an “Option”
Reading the lyrics to Tupac’s first single, Holler If Ya Hear Me, off of his second solo album, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., it’s made very clear that he was far from one to fear the idea of using force to protect himself or his people. He would later go on to prove this in 1993, shooting two drunk off-duty police officers in Atlanta who were harassing a young black male in the street while brandishing guns logged as evidence in an ongoing case.
According to Tupac and his people, the police were the first to shoot at him and his crew. Looking back at the New York Times coverage of the incident, it’s easy to see how public perception of Tupac was being shaped at that time. Tupac would go on to escape any sort of charges or imprisonment for the incident, but one could argue that the negative reputation that would follow him as a result of press coverage for this event (along with many others) never left him.
2Pac – Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z.
From the very beginning of his rap career, Tupac had many different groups coming at him, and from almost all sides. It would be hard to imagine anyone not wanting to be armed coming from an environment like the one Tupac was in.
Many diehard Tupac fans (myself included) do not believe that it was a coincidence or a surface-level byproduct of being a “popular rapper” that drew dangerous entities towards him throughout his career, and if you listen to his words with an understanding of how some of our government agencies have worked throughout the history of America, you’ll begin to understand why this is:
“I think that [armed struggle] needs to be an option. To say that it needs to be a part of the black struggle would predict violence. I say that it needs to be an option. We need to keep our options open as black people. And we need to keep our options open as young people. And we need to keep our options open as human beings.”
“So, for me as a black man, I have three different tasks. That’s why it’s not like I’m racist, but for a white man, he only has one of those things to worry about: getting himself together as a human being. I have to worry about getting myself together as a human being, a young man, and as a black man. So of course I’m gonna be a little bit more angry.”
“My words are gonna cut a little bit [closer] to heart because I got a lot more to fight about, and a lot more to cry about, and a lot more to get from this… And I really don’t care who’s offended, because how could you take offense to somebody trying to dig their way out of a hole? What’s so offensive about me surviving? That’s why I take great offense, because you’re obviously saying you want me to shut up and die…”
5. Tupac Speaks on the American People Being Divided Through Identity Politics, and Uniting to Fight a Common Enemy
When I hear the words of Tupac at this moment in the interview, I am reminded of the brilliant nuance that a 20-year-old Fred Hampton brought to his speeches when speaking on the people uniting against a common enemy:
“It wasn’t no thing for Ice Cube to be talking about killing in the hood, but [as] soon as he was talking about anyone else dying, it was problems. And I’m not saying that Ice Cube is the messiah, because he’s wrong for saying ‘kill a jew,’ because a jew didn’t do that shit. Let’s be realistic. Just like it wasn’t white people [as a whole] that beat me down in Oakland. It was two. white. cops. Two white, crooked cops.
That’s what that was… We have to be more realistic about our enemies. It’s easy to say ‘white folks is evil.’ That’s easy. But then you’re leading us into more of a slaughter, because we’re gonna find out all whites ain’t evil… And you can’t say that all black folks is inherently lazy and evil, because that’s not true either. I like to stand up most for black folks because we have more problems. We have more conditioning.
You don’t ever hear about anybody telling you about ‘white folks wasn’t allowed into this place.’ Never. They never had that problem. I did. So I have an upper hand. And you can’t tell me I don’t… Just like when America beat Great Britain for their freedom, they had the upper hand, because they wanted their freedom by any means necessary. That’s what scares America so much. They see them and us, except we have the right of cause on our side now, and they see that. They see themselves in the position of the oppressor, and they know what happens when an oppressed people fight the oppressor… The oppressed always win…”
Fred Hampton was murdered in 1969 spreading the same ideologies and sentiments that Tupac was tapping into here in 1991, speaking to how dangerous rhetoric used by certain figures divided the people instead of uniting them against our common oppressor.
In 2012, Reddit user Rob0tTesla wrote a comment that has since gone on to be referenced in countless forum discussions online, detailing all of the major enemies Tupac had developed over the course of his life, and the many entities that had been interacting with him in some way, shape, or form since the start of his rap career.
Virtually all of the information that the user mentions is easily verifiable — everything from his mentioning of how 3,896 out of the 4,000 FBI files on Tupac have been censored for “national security” purposes, to Jacques Agnant (aka Haitian Jack) being an FBI informant and setting him up with the woman who would later go on to accuse him of rape, to his concluding statement, “Dare I say it, he was born to die. And he knew it.”
Tupac expressed similar sentiments both directly and indirectly throughout much of his music and interviews over the course of his professional life, just as Fred Hampton did. At the end of the interview linked within this very article, Tupac goes into detail about the origins of his name, telling the story of how brutally the Peruvian revolutionary to which his namesake is owed was murdered fighting for his people, and explains what it reminds him:
“They was fighting the government, and they was really winning — these little fucking tribes was beating the government. And they said, ‘Okay, we want to stop fighting, we want to meet with Túpac Amaru.’
He came in and met with them, and they said, ‘We want to cease the fighting… [We’re] gonna give you what you asked for…’ He said ‘okay’ [and] told [his forces] to cease fire… Soon as [Túpac] said ‘cease fire,’ they cut his arms off, cut his head off, cut his legs off, and stuck him on a stake and put him in the middle of the village… So this is my reminder… That’s my reminder… Every time you say my name, that’s my reminder to never compromise myself and never quit.
There’s no such thing as a ‘truce’ while people ain’t free, regardless of who it is. That’s why I have a problem with Ice Cube saying ‘jew’ and the ‘Killer Koreans,’ ’cause that’s wrong… It might be today we’re fighting against the white man, but next week it’s gonna be me and the Koreans fighting against Ice Cube, ’cause that’s wrong…
And how could you be teaching somebody wrong? We don’t need that. We had a gang of motherfuckers treating us and teaching us wrong. We need to be taught ‘right’ now. That’s why I’m not going out there saying I’m a role model… Fuck that… [This] shit you can get from me; get the rest from Fresh Prince… And the next from the next nigga… Learn from everybody. Learn from women and men alike, ’cause it’s some crazy shit out here. Everybody’s fucked up a little bit. Believe that, like you believe crack kills.”
The “Killer Koreans” comment that Tupac references is in regards to Ice Cube’s response to the senseless murder of Latasha Harlins in 1991 at the hands of a Korean convenience shop owner who, despite being recommended for a maximum sentence of 16 years by the jury, was sentenced to only five years probation, 400 hours of community service, and a $500 fine.
Tupac assessed the situation with a rationality that many still lack today, which is disheartening to say the least. There isn’t a day that goes by where the media (both TV and digital) isn’t painting an entire group one way based off of the actions of a few, subsequently leaving viewers/people on the internet (and in real life) to argue or “hate” each other within the confines of a divisive conversation founded upon what’s usually a false dichotomy or narrative.
Tupac finishes his statement by acknowledging that he is not perfect, something that many people (fans included) feel the need to reiterate when discussing his legacy and “contradictions” as a human being. It is for this reason that he encourages us to “learn from everybody,” a tenet that I live by through my personal studies of the greats before me.
6. Tupac on What “By Any Means Necessary” Means to Him, and Being a Revolutionary Through Music
No commentary needed for this section:
“If you got to take a bullet from a black dude who’s disrespecting a black woman, then that’s ‘by any means necessary.’ Not just dying from a cop, or fighting the government, or marching, ’cause marching really doesn’t help. Whoever don’t know that, ask any 40-year-old lady who was 20 when she was marching. She got the same rights now that she had before. And you gotta question any country that had to ‘free’ you.
I heard this Black History Month celebration, they was talking about Abraham Lincoln ‘freeing the slaves’ in 1992… He did not free me! Because no man — especially no white man — gon’ free me or hold me… The jails don’t work for us; the court systems don’t work for us, and until they do, we’re gonna have continual problems. We’re gonna have ghetto crime, we’re gonna have violence at the theaters, we’re gonna have gang warfare, we’re gonna have drugs, we’re gonna have teenage pregnancy…
All that comes from when things are not right. And I blame this country, because they could do it. Just like J. Edgar Hoover spent time infiltrating the Black Panthers and destroying them, he could have spent time infiltrating them and building them up, using them to make the ghettos a better place, making their message go further instead of cutting it off.
That shows me that somebody needs to pick up where the Panthers left off, because obviously they was dangerous. If the CIA who protects this country had to put their fire out so sloppy and so fuckin’ ruthlessly, something was wrong. We obviously was tripping onto something. And it was what [the] Panthers [were] teaching. And I said, ‘What was they teaching?’
Unity.
For us to come together and for us to defend ourselves. They didn’t knock off MLK quick like that because he was talking that peace shit, so he had time on his hands. But whens someone was talking about fighting back? Them niggas was knocked off with a quickness. I know. I’m a product of those that were knocked off!
This is what me as a young man growing up… this is what I feel like my destiny is. This is my call. I inherited the family business.
That’s what I did. I inherited the family business, and that’s being a revolutionary. Terrorizing this country through my music. I know they would love for me to do it through violence so they can stop me, but I don’t feel like they can stop me through my music, because music is universal, and everybody loves soul music. I see white people listening to Marvin Gaye, and that makes me feel good, and then I see white cops beating down black folks, and that makes me feel bad. But you know, I take the good with the bad. I take the good white folks with the bad white folks. You gotta take them all, just like I take the good black folks with the bad black folks.”
7. Tupac on Checking Your Racism
Tupac was always one to put things into perspective and speak from various angles when describing the differences between the Black American experience, and the experiences of other ethnic groups within America. Taking the classic concept of American “liberty” and juxtaposing a Black demand for it next to the source of said virtue within America’s political lexicon, he does all of that and more within this interview:
“Why can Patrick Henry say ‘Give me liberty or give me death,’ but if I say ‘Give me liberty or give me death,’ you wanna censor me and I’m a terrorist…? But I gots to have it! I gots to have it! Damn it!!! And gots to have it in 1992! I gotta have liberty… In this interview, I’m talking about black people coming together in unity, everybody loving each other, however it gotta be, but FIRST, give me respect. In the next interview, you might be talking to me from behind bars because I had to put my principles to the test… That’s what I mean by ‘state of emergency’ — not just in a word, but I mean it.
A state of emergency. Everybody who hears this, it’s their job to carry it on. It’s your job to check yourself: Am I racist? What am I doing? ’Cause you’re part of the problem, or part of the solution… Check yourself. It’s cool, if you’re a racist, and that’s how you wanna live, cool. But you’re gonna be a victim of racism. That’s how America’s working these days. That’s how the world works. You’ll be a victim of racism, so it’s on them!”
Things haven’t changed much since Tupac’s statements on the Black American’s demand for “liberty” and the response that it evokes from white America. Aside from this one aspect of racism in America, there still seems to be an inability for most people to separate the individual experience from the collective experience, and this is mostly due to our country’s poor educational system.
Not only are most people thinking from a purely individualistic standpoint, and struggling to empathize with people who don’t look like them, but they aren’t informed when it comes to finding and understanding national statistics that explain differences in standards of living amongst different ethnic groups within America.
One would think that new technology and the development of social media in recent years would further people’s understanding of our collective existence as Americans, but on the contrary, many of us find ourselves on Facebook or Twitter engaging in a never-ending game of confirmation bias, seemingly speaking into our own “echo chambers” as opposed to thinking critically and challenging our own views.
Diversity in people and perspectives is important, and this is something that I’d argue Tupac believed in as someone who had the opportunity to study next to people of different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds in high school.
8. Tupac on the Value That Society Places on Entertainers
The unintentionally prophetical tone of Tupac’s words may not be more noticeable than in his following statements, for the American culture that valued “celebrity” over the merit of our educated (and educators) in a variety of fields back in 1991 pales in comparison to the monster that we’re dealing with in 2017 under a Donald Trump presidency.
Tupac was never one to hold his tongue on Trump, and one can only imagine how he’d respond to not only the value that the American public now places on the opinions of entertainers in regards to things like politics (or even medicine), but the value they place on the words and ideas of internet personalities as well.
“And we don’t need no more rappers. We don’t need no more basketball players, no more football players. We need more thinkers. We need more scientists. We need more managers. We need more mathematicians. We need more teachers. We need more people who care. We need more women. Mothers. Fathers. We need more of that.
We don’t need anymore entertainers… We need to concentrate on what happened to society. What if we did get [everything that we wanted]? We’d have a whole society of basketball players, football players, rappers, dancers, actors, and Michael Jackson to be our president. We’d be stuck! And all this politic stuff is crazy because, be honest: What the hell does George Bush know about 125th Street, Apollo Theater? Any of ‘em! Pick one! Pick any of ‘em! What do they know? And that’s really a bad message to send out for young America… young Black Americans…
Who’s there for them? They don’t say, ‘Bush, it’s wrong for you to be out here talking for young white kids. You need to talk for the whole country, so I want you to… move the White House to the ghetto.’ Why don’t they do that? THAT would be a good president… that would be a GREAT president! A president who felt like, ‘I’m gonna live in the ghetto…’ ’Cause he’s supposed to be of the people, right? So then how can I respect a man who’s not of me?”
9. Tupac on Reclaiming the Word “Nigga”
Anyone not already familiar with the concept of reappropriation should take a second to read the following Wikipedia article on it. I learned of this through my studies in university, and in researching the origins of the word “nigga” — a word that was and still is used almost regularly by myself and my peers in daily life.
It is a word that has become a mainstay/staple within hip-hop terminology and culture as well, which is now global. Here is Tupac explaining what reappropriation is to him in the interview, specifically with regards to the term “nigga” and its popular meaning in 1991 in addition to the acronym that he created for the word:
“I wanted to make [the word ‘nigga’] something that we can live by. I felt like there was no way I could stop calling myself a ‘nigga,’ just as sure as there was no way that motherfuckers was gonna stop calling me ‘nigga.’ So instead of letting them take that away from me, I took it from them. ‘Nigga’ is now mine. And when they say ‘nigga,’ they give me strength… So say it! Say it!
Tupac Shakur. November 09, 1994. (Photo by David Rentas / (c) NYP Holdings, Inc. via Getty Images)
And all those that say I’m wrong for saying it and wanna bleep it out, they wasn’t bleeping the shit out 20 years ago, so don’t bleep the shit out now. I still see Tom and Jerrys and Popeyes with black Sambo babies and shit; they ain’t bleeping that shit out, so I’ll be damned if I bleep out ‘nigga.’ And it’s gon’ be on just like that every time, and I’m gonna say it freely just like I say ‘dude’… NIGGA. That’s MY word…”
The use of the term “nigga” has been the center of much debate amongst Black Americans for quite some time now, the most notable critic of its usage being Oprah Winfrey. While I respect her opinion, the position that I and many other young, predominantly Black American millennials hold is closer to the position that Tupac held: We have reclaimed the word and now use it as a term of endearment amongst ourselves.
10. Tupac on the Government (F.B.I.) Spying on His Family as a Child
Many have made comments about the paranoid behavior that Tupac exhibited later on in his life after being shot and receiving constant death threats from various individuals. Understanding the childhood that Tupac had gives us insight into how and why he responded to the circumstances the way that he did and, even further than that, paints a more vivid picture of what the life of a child birthed from the revolution looks like
“I can remember being like, four, and waking up and going to my window and hearing the police going, ‘Yeah, the black bitch is laying in the bed, uh, we can’t tell who else is in here…’ on the walkie-talkies. They were watching our house. And I didn’t know that for YEARS! I heard that, my mother was asleep, everybody was asleep… I didn’t know what that was for years.
I remember later, after I grew up, I told my mother about it, and she told me what it was. But I didn’t even know it for years! Imagine that being one of your fucking memories! The police outside calling you mother a ‘black bitch.’ You know what I’m saying? That’s really not good. That’s not good. What America doesn’t understand is that they say that black people are lazy, unintelligent, but to me, America is the dumbest motherfucker out here, ’cause how could you not study your own history and not see the fate that you prepared for yourself?
They’re raising me to be a soldier. The more police beat me up, the stronger I get… The more they try to make me into a racist, the more of an understanding [integrationist] I become, I guess, because it’s all about survival… Shit, we a people… And I don’t want us to go back to Africa, ’cause we built THIS country, as great as it is. And it’s a great country, let me say, it’s a great country. Except it’s just the people at the top is fucking our money over, sending it to Iran and shit… We sending billions to take care of the starving people in Russia, but [there’s] people starving in South Central.
We got a lottery where ONE person can win 25 million, and there’s people who don’t have ZILCH… They’re showing me pictures of babies with big bellies in Timbuktu, and I’m seeing babies with big bellies next door… and [they’re] telling me to ‘be all I can be in the army,’ ’cause ‘you’re not gonna be shit in the streets’…”
Lumumba Abdul Shakur (right) and his wife Afeni (center), are escorted from the Elizabeth Street Police Station in New York on April 3, 1969 after their arrest in connection with a plot to bomb five Manhattan department stores. Shakur and his wife were among a group of more than a dozen members of the Black Panther group arrested in the alleged bomb plot (Photo Credit: AP Photo).
The experiences that shaped Tupac as a child were very much connected to the real war that was waged by his mother and her associates (The Black Panther Party) against a corrupt government infrastructure whose agencies were hellbent on destroying any form of Black unification and empowerment. His earlier comments on “black love” make much more sense understanding this part of his life and lineage.
By age 17, Tupac himself was the youngest national chairman of the New Afrikan Panther Party. Not only was he organizing meetings and events in which he educated teenagers and young adults on the social and political conditions in which they were living, but he was doing press as well. Here is a rare and informative interview that he did with Bomani Bakari in 1989 that is also worth listening to in addition to the interview that inspired this written piece.
It’s important that people realize who Tupac was, not only as an artist, but as a human being in America. With Tupac, the conversation was never just about his music. “Hip-hop” itself isn’t just about music. It isn’t just about culture. It’s more.
Tupac proved that and he lived that. I have expressed to many of my closest friends and family that I do not and cannot hold any deep interest in anyone creating through the medium of “hip-hop” today who can’t embody the same tenants and principles that Tupac Shakur did (and I mean to the fullest). There are a lot of hip-hop artists claiming to be like Tupac today, and they still can’t seem to understand who he was as a human being.
People still can’t grasp the most important difference between Tupac and other creatives of our time… the difference between Tupac and many of these artists we consider “legends” today. Most of these “legends” may have helped each of their own respective mediums of expression progress, but I would argue that many of them are frauds for disregarding their consciousnesses and failing to use their platforms for the betterment of American society (and that’s assuming they actually know better). They’re almost all cowards.
I’m tired of certain artists playing with the notion that they’re somehow “revolutionary” when they’re too uneducated and afraid to even stand up and speak out on the most basic of social issues (Trump doesn’t count). They’re too afraid to sacrifice. Most artists today want to play it safe, and in playing it safe, those who know better are complacent in letting suffering continue.
It hurts to see artists I grew up listening to waste their platforms while people suffer. Hip-hop has wealth now. There’s no doubt about that. So much wealth, and yet people of color are still suffering, and our government doesn’t represent us. Some of our most popular artists even endorse politicians who have played major roles in the demise of our people throughout the decades!
Who is to bring the people to the light? Why am I and a few other artists the only ones who seem to feel like the future of America and the human species is important enough to fight for? To die for? Why did Tupac lay this out for everyone and yet still goes unheard and misunderstood? Over 22 years later!!!
Tupac was a revolutionary* (that’s not an exaggeration), not just because of his words, but because of the tangible steps that he was taking to unite the American people (of all ethnic backgrounds) and push them to take more political power and control. I can’t help but to hold other artists to this standard as someone who cares about both art and humanity. It’s incredible that even in these times, the greatest figureheads within hip-hop culture can get away with what they get away with. It’s incredible that they can sit comfortably while much of this pain continues. Some things really don’t change.
I’m realistic. I don’t expect all artists to change the world from a socioeconomic standpoint. Of course not. But I have a problem when some of these artists really do influence and shape large parts of American culture, and have power on so many levels, and yet aren’t using it to help people in need. Some of these same people use the image of a revolutionary like Tupac Shakur to sell merchandise, or to imply that they’re about the same causes. Tupac saw the direction that the industry was heading in, and if he had lived, he would have ensured that the capital and resources the culture wrought were used to support those in poverty.
As an artist who knows better, all I can focus on is myself at this stage, and this means building my platform so that I can lead and mobilize my people for greatness. That’s all that I can try to do right now as an educated artist with a voice. I am fairly confident that I’ll never reach Tupac’s level in terms of appeal, just because of my life story and background.
I don’t come from the same degree of socioeconomic hardship and could never stand as a “messiah” as he did, despite my textbook understanding of the conditions that manifested said hardship. Musically, I could never reach as many people as Tupac did unless I threw out part of my own artistic integrity in some sense. Still, I can guarantee that you’ll see me using whatever I have to speak out on our collective reality and move people towards action, just as Tupac did.
I want to end by stating the following:
People always claim that Tupac died for hip-hop (or something along those lines).
The truth is that Tupac didn’t die for hip-hop.
He died for us…
Let me clarify this statement, because I’d argue that many still don’t have a full grasp on what true sacrifice entails…
The way in which Tupac actually died was a senseless waste. The circumstances surrounding his death are the darkest part of what we can take from his life and legacy. That decision he made to be in Vegas for the Mike Tyson fight in September of 1996 was a decision that he didn’t want to make, but he was willing to put himself in this situation because he felt he needed to be loyal to those who had helped him (i.e. Suge Knight).
In bum-rushing Orlando Anderson with his crew at the MGM casino that night following the fight, the 25-year-old man who once lied in bed as a child with his little sister every night crying, listening to Just Once by Quincy Jones in the heart of an impoverished Baltimore neighborhood…
The 25-year-old man who once studied ballet, read Shakespeare, and developed a diverse group of friends at the Baltimore School for the Arts…
The 25-year-old man who once listened to Kate Bush and wrote poetry about Vincent van Gogh while attending that very same Baltimore school — a middle-to-upper class institution so close in proximity to his home, and yet light-years away from the darkness that plagued his poverty-stricken neighborhood…
This man felt he needed to show those fully immersed in the “street life” that despite this access and exposure to a higher standard of living that he was afforded in his personal life, he was not willing to leave those less fortunate behind, and in this, was willing to put himself at risk for them in the name of loyalty. Some of the individuals he put himself in the line of fire for were anything but deserving of his loyalty and courage, and Tupac himself should’ve chosen smarter characters to surround himself with…
Characters who, like him, were roses that managed to grow through the cracks of the concrete. Even in being active and around areas of poverty/violence, Tupac truly should’ve known better. But one could never really argue that he wasn’t being true by pushing himself into a vulnerable state in an attempt to build rapport with not only the most vulnerable in our society, but those who held the greatest clout and respect amongst the most vulnerable in our society — the figures with the greatest cultural influence over the people he wished to serve and mobilize for systemic change.
One could argue that his entire approach and plan was too risky or flawed. One could argue that he went about it all the wrong way; that he died flying too close to the sun. That’s fair. But it would be hard for one to not see that he was fearless and stuck by his word in his fight for Black American life, even over small matters that put him at big risk. He cared for Black American people in poverty, and America as a whole.
I love Tupac Amaru Shakur with all of my heart, and hope to make him and his family proud in everything that I do. The interview that inspired this very piece is just one of many great interviews, but it most clearly exemplifies how relevant and true those words from Don McLean’s 1971 song Vincent would end up being to the life that Tupac ultimately led…
Tupac’s all-too-short career is legendary, but it’s a few precise moments that made him into the extraordinary rapper, actor and personality that he was.
2. Tupac had some harsh words for Donald Trump back in 1992.
In a unreleased interview with MTV Pac said: “Everybody’s taught that. You wanna be successful? You wanna be like Trump? Gimme gimme gimme, push push push push, step step step, crush crush crush. That’s how it all is… It’s too much money here. Nobody should be hitting the lotto for 36 million and we’ve got people starving in the streets. That’s not idealistic, that’s just real. That’s just stupid… There’s no way that these people should own planes and there are people who don’t have houses.”
Shakspeare
3. Believe it or not, studying Shakespeare would define Pac’s entire career.
It certainly doesn’t sound like a conventional start for a rapper, but one of Tupac’s biggest influences was in fact Shakespeare. He studied the English writer when he attending the Baltimore School for the Arts and said: “I love Shakespeare. He wrote some of the rawest stories, man. I mean look at Romeo and Juliet. That’s some serious ghetto s**t.”
2Pac, Digital Underground and Public Enemy
4. Before he was a famous rapper, Tupac was in ‘Digital Underground’.
He went on to become possibly the most famous rapper in the world, but like most people Tupac has to work his way up the top spot. His career kicked off as a backup dancer and MC in the hip-hop group Digital Underground before he became a solo artist.
2Pac, Biggie and Redman At Palladium, New York City, July 23, 1993
5. The beginning of Pac’s notorious fall-out with Biggie.
Tupac and Biggie were the main agents in the notorious East Coast – West Coast beef. But before it started they were actually friends. The issues started when Biggie released ‘Who Shot Ya?’ – a song that Tupac interpreted as a dis song towards him. The track was the beginning of what went on to become the infamous hip-hop coastal war and shaped the music Tupac made from that moment on.
6. Tupac predicted: “I will spark the brain that will change the world.”
In one of his most extraordinary interviews Tupac ever gave, with MTV in 1994, the rapper came out with the line that would go on to be the most quoted Tupac statement of all time: “I’m not saying I’m going to rule the world or I’m going to change the world. But I guarantee I will spark the brain that will change the world. That’s our job – to spark somebody else watching us.”
November 18, 1993 – Tupac Arrested “JACOBSON MITCH PHOTOGRAPHE” “SHAKUR TUPAC A PROPOS” “MORT A PROPOS” ASSASSINAT MUSIQUE RAP AUTOMOBILE INTERIEUR “SE PARLANT ATTITUDE” “CAMERAMAN FONCTION” “JOURNALISTE FONCTION” “PHOTOGRAPHE FONCTION” “IMAGE NUMERISEE” INTERVIEW
7. Tupac was arrested for sexually assaulting a woman.
The victim alleged that Shakur and his entourage raped her in a hotel room. Pac denied the charges, but was sentenced to 1.5 to 4.5 years in prison. He served nine months in total from February 14, 1995 at the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York
8. Swapping talent for freedom in 2Pac’s legendary deal with Suge Knight.
When Tupac was in prison in 1995 it was music producer Suge Knight and Jimmy Iovine who paid the hefty $1.4 million bail to get him released, as Tupac couldn’t afford to pay it himself. In return Tupac contractually agreed to make three albums under Death Row Records.
9. The controversy surrounding Tupac’s song lyrics.
Tupac often wrote lyrics about issues including racism, police brutality, poverty and politics. His album ‘2Pacalypse Now’ was one of his most political works and a defining moment in his career came as a result of it when it was claimed the album influenced a youth in Texas to shoot a state trooper. Then US Vice President Dan Quayle publicly criticised Tupac at the time, saying: “There’s no reason for a record like this to be released. It has no place in our society.”
10. The release of his first album ‘2Pacalypse Now’.
In ’91 Tupac released his first album 2Pacalypse now. The album didn’t generate any top 10 hits and didn’t find the success that many think it did. Nonetheless, it was a defining moment of 2Pac’s career and proved influential in the creation of the next generation of rappers including Nas, Eminem and Game, who all said it inspired their music.
11. Tupac broke into the mainstream with the release of his second album in ’93.
Tupac may not have found the success he hoped for with his first album but his second studio album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z broke him into the mainstream when it was released in 1993. The album spawned singles ‘Keep Ya Hear Up’ and ‘I Get Around’ and eventually reached platinum status.
12. “We need to shock the people, so let’s shock the people!”
That’s what Tupac told the Grammys crowd in 1996 before being joined on stage by the reunited Kiss, who were in full costume for the first time in 15 years.
14. Tupac had a very close friendship with Jada Pinkett (now Jada Pinkett Smith).
In the documentary Tupac: Resurrection, Shakur says, “Jada is my heart. She will be my friend for my whole life.” Jada also calls him “one of my best friends. He was like a brother. It was beyond friendship for us. The type of relationship we had, you only get that once in a lifetime.” Jada has since denied there was any romance between the pair.
All Eyez On Me Framed 24kt Gold Plated LP
15. The release of ‘All Eyez On Me’.
Tupac’s 1996 album All Eyez On Me, the first double CD in rap music is released featuring some of his most populars singles including ‘How Do U Want It’ and ‘California Love’ went on to become one of the most acclaimed albums in 90’s rap. It was 5x certified platinum after just two months and 9x platinum after just two years.
16. Getting a name on the big screen in his breakout film ‘Juice.’
Tupac had been acting since he was a kid but his breakout-acting role was in the 1992 American Crime Drama ‘Juice.’ Tupac played Roland Bishop, a troubled teen that turns into a murderous sociopath. Two years later Tupac starred in ‘Above The Rim,’ for which he also contributed to the soundtrack with ‘Pour Out A Little Liqour.’
17. More music has been released since Tupac’s death than when he was alive.
Shakur has sold over 75 million records worldwide, with the bulk of that coming after his death; seven of his 11 platinum albums were released posthumously.
18. Snoop Dogg and Tupac’s on off relationship.
Snoop and Tupac were often seen out together, they were close. But Snoop recently confirmed that his last encounter with Pac wasn’t a good one. After being asked in an interview how he felt about Biggie and Puff, Snoop called them his ‘Homeboys.’ Tupac clearly felt betrayed by this, as the next time he saw Snoop he totally ignored him. That was the pair’s last encounter before Tupac died.
2Pac – California Love (Vinyl, Single, Promo), 1995
19. The release of California Love.
The first single 2Pac released, as a part of his deal with Death Row Records was ‘California Love.’ Note the Dr Dre produced track hears Tupac rap “Out on bail, fresh out of jail, California dreamin”. The track went on to become his most successful and probably his most loved.
20. The moment Snoop Dogg was joined by a Tupac hologram at Coachella. In 2012 the Coachella audience didn’t know how to react when Tupac was presented right before their eyes in a hologram form. He performed alongside Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg, making history even after his death.
21. Meeting Joshua and creating ‘Joshua’s Dream.’
In 1993 Tupac received a letter from the parents of a dying boy named Joshua. They said it was Joshua’s dying wish to meet Tupac. Tupac flew to Maryland to meet Joshua and took him to a basketball game. The boy obviously made a huge impact on Tupac, as soon after Joshua’s death Tupac renamed his publishing company from Ghetto Gospel Music to Joshua’s Dream.
22. Fuelling the fire in the infamous East Coast/ West Coast beef.
Tupac was not happy with Biggie and he made it known on 1996 single ‘Hit ‘Em Up,’ when he took shots at his former friend and a ton of other East Coast rappers including Puff Daddy. The most notorious lyric was Tupac claiming that he had slept with Biggie’s wife, Faith Evans. Tupac was killed three months after its release.
Napoleon, a fоrmer member of Outlawz, says that one of Tupac’s friends actually saw the murderer just moments before he started shooting at Tupac from a car.
Mutаh Wassin Shаbazz Bеаle, known as Nаpoleon, also says that the one who is believed to be responsible for Pac’s murder is not actually the one who murdered him.
Some of the members of Outlawz were entourages of Tupac before he was killed in 1996 in Las Vegas.
Napoleon makes a devastating claim regarding one of Tupac’s closest friends. He claims that Yаki Kadafi, who was there when the accident took place, actually saw the murderer and looked right at him. Napoleon also thinks that Orlando Anderson who is thought to be responsible for the murder might not be the actual killer.
Napoleon points out that Outlawz were there when the accident happened but Kadafi was the one who actually saw the killer. The killer and Kadafi looked at each other seconds before the killer pulled the trigger.
However, Kadafi didn’t expect what happened seconds after. Napoleon says: ‘’I dоn’t think it wаs Orlando Аnderson, the оne who Kаdafi seen.’’
Orlando Anderson
Kadafi was only 19 when the accident happened and died just 2 months after Tupac. He died during a shooting in Nеw Jersey that is thought to be an accident, again.
As a question to why Kadafi didn’t tell thе police who was the killer, Napoleon responds that back in the days Kadafi wasn’t ok with helping the police. The 90’s were very different from nowadays, there were no cameras, there were no Instagram pages where you can go and check someone’s profile. It was just really different from what it is now and so it is hard for people nowadays to understand why Kadafi didn’t say who was the killer.
“Kadafi actually seen the person who killed Pac,” said Napoleon in a YouTube video.
“He said the guy looked right at him, he pulled the arm out and saw the shooting you know what I mean.
“They witnessed it, the Outlawz was there but Kadafi seen the guy.
“The guy looked at Kadafi and Kadafi looked back at him.
“And Kadafi didn’t expect, he didn’t know what was about to happen until he seen an arm come out the window.
“I don’t think it was Baby Lane (Orlando Anderson), the one who Kadafi seen.”
Tupac & Napoleon, September 02, 1996
“You gotta understand where we come from in that particular time as Kadafi said to the police, he didn’t want to participate with the police.
“Why Kadafi didn’t tell the police?
“That’s a code from the streets.
“Back then there wasn’t no cameras where can you can just go on Instagram and let me see this dude’s page. Is this the same dude? You know what i mean.”
Marion “Suge” Knight has arrived at the Wasco State Prison and Reception Center in California, where he could be staying for the remainder of his 28 years prison sentence.
Suge was transferred to the Kern County facility on Tuesday (October 23, 2018), according to state records. A mugshot obtained by TMZ shows Knight with a sullen expression.
He’ll have to go through physical and mental examinations and review his records before getting settled at Wasco. Depending on the results he can stay there, or be transferred to another prison.
Suge was sentenced to 28 years in state prison earlier this month. Back in September, the rapper had pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter in a January 2015 hit-and-run incident in which a vehicle he was riding in struck two pedestrians in Compton, California — killing 55-year-old Terry Carter.
Suge pleaded copped to one count of voluntary manslaughter and also admitted he used his vehicle as a deadly weapon.
Suge Knight Eligible For Parole In 2037
Inmate records show Suge Knight is eligible for parole in October 2037
Inmate data present the 53-year-old Suge Knight is eligible for parole in October 2037. He can be 73 on the time of his launch if granted parole.
This is not the first time Knight has faced criminal charges.
In 1992, Suge was charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon. He pleaded no contest in 1995 and was sentenced to five years probation.
Then in February 1997, Suge was sentenced to nine years in prison for violating terms of his probation when he took part in a fight at a Las Vegas hotel hours before Tupac Shakur was wounded in a drive-by attack. Shakur was taken to University Medical Center in Las Vegas where he died on Sept. 13, 1996, at age 25.
Kidada Ann Jones (born March 22, 1974) is an American actress, model, and fashion designer. Kidada lived with and was engaged to Tupac Shakur, for several months until his death. She was waiting for Tupac in their Las Vegas hotel room when he was shot on September 7, 1996 and was at the hospital with Tupac when he ultimately died from his injuries six days later.
Tupac & Kidada Jones
“Tupac was the love of my life.
Kidada Jones: ”We started dating steadily, and one night Tupac and I were sitting in a booth at Jerry’s Deli in LA and these two hands slammed down on Tupac’s shoulder from behind. We jumped up, and there was Dad standing there. He said to Tupac, “I need to kick it with you for a minute.” This was the first time they’d met, so he took Tupac to a booth and they sat and got real for a long time. They stood up and hugged when it was over and they got along fine from then on. Tupac was excited because him and Snoop Doggy Dogg hoped to do this movie that Dad was producing called Pimp, based on the Iceberg Slim book that every other rapper in America also wanted to do. He never got to it, though.
He and I lived together for four months and then he was murdered in Las Vegas in 1996. It was the most horrible thing that ever happened to me.” – The Autobiography of Quincy Jones – get ithere
One of the people who saw him fight for his life during six days, was Kidada Jones. At the time she was his fiancée. Accoridng to her, Shakur opened his eyes only once more. She then asked him “Do you know we all love you?” Shakur nodded affirmatively.
Following his death, a then 22-year-old Kidada got a tattoo of his face in her arm. She later covered the tattoo with a flower.
Kidada was briefly married to Jeffrey Nash. The former couple tied the knot in 2003 but ended in divorce three years later.
Тupac has been dead for 22 years now and his death is still covered in mystery. The rap legend sold more thаn 75 million recоrds all over the world, which makes him one of the most successful rappers ever lived on this planet.
Тupac was shot and pronounced dead six days later but some people believe that he is still alive. There are even pictures of what is believed to be him, and some of the pictures are really convincing.
Reports from the accident state that the rapper was shot 4 times while he was in Las Vegas back in 1996. He was quickly hospitalized but unfortunately, he died from his wounds 6 days after. There is still not a convicted murderer. However, some people claim to have seen the rapper in all kinds of places, including Sweden and even Somalia.
There is a theory that Тupac faked his оwn death and is now living among us. Even the person who was with the singer during the night of the accident considers the idea of Tupac being alive and well. Suge Knight was intеrviewed in prison and answers the question who shot Тupac with some doubt regarding the idea that Тupac is actually dead. He speaks about the night of the accident and says that he doesn’t understand how someone can gо from doing all well to dоing bad because when he left the hospital, they were all laughing and Tupac seemed to be fine. That is why he assumes that there is a possibility of Тupac being alive and living in sеcret. He implies that Tupac is actually capable of doing such a thing.
Some people claim to have seen Тupac and here are some of the places he has been seen.
Photo: dailystar.co.uk
Cubа – 2004
Nеw Yоrk – 2011
A man wearing a yеllоw mac was spotted during the Oсcupy Wall Strеet demo and many people believe that he was actually 2Pac since the man was trying to stаy undercover. It is wide known that Pac was interested in politics back in the days so it is actually possible that, in case he is alive, he would be attending such an event. Even his mother, Afeni, spoke about the protest and prаised the people who attended it.
Swedеn – 2012
There is a YouTube clip that went viral and on this video you can see a man rapping and pretending to be Tupac. Of course, it didn’t take much time for the people to realize that this isn’t actually Tupac. Some of the reasons why this video is fake are the bad rapрing and the fact that the guy didn’t have Pac’s аquiline nose. Some fans even got really angry and felt personally affected by this video.
LА – 2012
In 2012 reality star Kim Kаrdashian posted a photo on the internet with an interesting caption, what she wrote was ‘’Hmmm Tuрac is alive and wоrking?!?’’
TWITTER/KIM KARDASHIAN
Bostоn – 2014
During a bаsketball game in Boston a suspicious man was seen sporting a bandana in Tupac-stуle and even wаving at the cameras that were recording him. People couldn’t help but stare at this strange man and take pictures of him.
Los Angelеs – 2014
Via: Snoop Dogg
There are all kinds of speculations around Tupac and Biggie’s sudden deaths, including the possibility of them both being alive and well. However, if they were actually alive and hiding from the world, would they be attending one of the biggest musiс events? Here is the guy that was seen at the ВЕТ Аwards.
Californiа – 2015
A strange picture of Tupac and Rihanna appeared on the internet in 2015. It quickly went viral since Rihanna was around 8 years old back in 1996 when Tupac was reported dead. However, in just a couple of days people realized that the picture was photoshopped and was actually two separate pictures of Rihanna and Tupac, joined together by a clever fan.
Unknown locatiоn – 2015
‘’Tuрac Legacy’’ YouTube channel uploaded a photo in 2015. On this picture there is a Tupac lookalike wearing a windbreaker and also a red bandana. The picture was taken at a location that is unknown with a phone which was madе in 2011. Also, the windbreaker was reported to be made in 2014. Another strange thing about this picture is the fact that Tupac looked pretty much exactly as he looked back in the days. People say that he didn’t age at all, which is pretty odd considering the fact that it’s been 19 years.
New Jersеy – 2017
Source: O-4-L.COM
There is a guy spotted in Оutlawz video last year that really looks like Tupac. For some, this is a proof that he is alive and for others this is just a marketing strategy. What is known for a fact is that Pac fоunded Outlawz in 1995 just after he was released from prison. The membеrs of the band were really close to each other and were reported being around Tupac during the last couple of days of his life. Is there a chance that Tupac is alive and Outlawz are hiding him?
Somaliа – 2018
Latest suggestions about Tupac’s location are from this year. People think that he is living in Somalia along with Yаki Kadafi who was part of Outlawz and was killed just three months after Tupac.
A man named Suldаan Mehdi says in a post on the internet that he has seen both Kadafi and Tupac together in Somalia this year. He claims that they were in a car on the opposite direction of Mehdis’ and they were talking to each other. Kadafi was doing hand gestures to Tupac.
The man is strongly convinced that he has really seen both rap stars and he wants to prove it.
Faith Renée Jordan (born June 10, 1973) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born in Lakeland, Florida and raised in New Jersey. On August 4, 1994, Evans married rapper and label mate Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace.
Tupac & Faith Evans / October 13, 1995.
It all started when Evans went to the studio to record on ‘Pac’s 1995 track “Wonda Why They Call U Bitch.” She says she didn’t realize that the controversial rapper was signed to Death Row, a record label which was in the middle of a beef with her parent company Bad Boy Entertainment.
Faith Evans: ”One night in October 95, I went out to the Hollywood Athletic Club with some friends. As soon as we get inside, I see Treach from Naughty By Nature. We exchanged hugs and greetings and I introduced Treach to my friends.”, the date was October 13, 1995.
Somebody here wants to meet you,” Treach said. “Who?” I asked. “My boy Tupac wants to say what’s up,” Treach said, gesturing to a table behind him. Before I go any farther, let me be absolutely clear on something. Many people have asked me why I wouldn’t peel off in the opposite direction when I heard Tupac’s name. And the answer is simple: There was no need.
13 October 1995, Tupac recorded ‘‘Wonda Why They Call U Bitch” feat. Faith Evans.
Tupac claims to have had sex with Biggie’s wife Faith Evans during collaborate on a song called “Wonda Why They Call U Bitch”.
October 1995 with Faith Evans and Treach at the Hollywood Athletic Club in L.A.
Faith Evans: “I went to the studio, I realized there were a bunch of Death Row people there, so kind of in my mind I started figuring it out right there,” she told DJ Vlad.
“I didn’t think that was a good look just because of the fact of the Suge and Puff situation,” Evans continued, acknowledging that she was aware of the tension between the two camps that escalated at the 1995 Source Awards. “Even though I didn’t really know a lot of the details about what happened, but it was clear he took a jab at Puff at the Source Awards and stuff like that. But I was pretty oblivious to the things that had gone on prior to that, until probably a few years later.”
Faith admits that she felt uncomfortable in the studio, but decided to play things cool. When it was time for ‘Pac to pay her the $25,000 she says she was owed, Evans went to the rapper’s hotel to collect. It was there that she says Tupac asked her for oral sex.
“[He asked] in a very surprising and offensive way for sure. By that time it was pretty clear to me, it seemed to me that that was kind of like a plan,” Evans explained.
“I kind of allowed myself to be played and allow myself to get into this situation, because this is totally not how I operate, that ain’t how I do business and that was never up for discussion as far as that being an exchange. That’s not what it was about.”
On June, 1996, Tupac recorded and filmed the most memorable diss track of the East Coast/West Coast rivalry, Hit’ ém Up.
In this song, 2Pac and the Outlawz threaten to kill Biggie, Puff Daddy, Lil Cease, and Mobb Deep; call Lil’ Kim ugly and Biggie fat; and say fuck you to just about everybody and even their mamas.
First off, fuck yo’ bitch and the clique you claim
Westside when we ride, come equipped with game
You claim to be a player, but I fucked your wife
On Juny 19, 1994, Tupac first met Keisha Morris (Tupac Shakur’s ex-wife) at the old Chippendale’s club, now called the “Capitolin New York, N.Y.
Keisha Morris: ”I first met him in June of 1994. We were both at a club (the old Chippendale’s club, now called the “Capitolin New York.”) It was a Father’s Day dance. A lot of people were there. I saw Wesley Snipes, Pac–it was a really nice vibe. I saw Tupac and when I saw him I was with my girlfriend, Jamie, and I told her, “Hold my bag. I’m going to dance with Tupac. We were dancing off Wu-Tang’s song, “C.R.E.A.M.” See full story.
Keisha Morris: ”He gave me his home number and his pager number and he said, “I’m gonna stay a day later. I’m supposed to fly back to Atlanta tomorrow, but I’m going to stay a day later just to take you out.” And I was like, “Yeah right. You know, okay whatever.” See full story.
The next day – July 6, 1994, Tupac called her (Keisha Morris) exactly at 6 and said, “Okay, I’m ready to take you out. Where do you want to go?” She said it didn’t matter and he said, “I’m not coming to Harlem.” She said she wouldn’t go to his hotel so she didn’t know what they were going to do. They debated about it for an hour, then she finally said she’d meet him in the lobby. They went to dinner at a little Italian restaurant. See full story.
July 7, 1994, Friday, she (Keisha Morris) woke up early, left him a note, and kissed him (Tupac) on the cheek. He flew back to Atlanta and left eight messages on her answering machine. She went on a camping trip to Pennsylvania for a week so she couldn’t call him. She tried to find a phone to see if there was any message from him. When she came home she found his message. See full story.
After that day, Tupac and Keisha are probably good friends, but with no connection.
November 18, 1993 – Tupac Arrested
On February 07, 1995, Tupac was sentenced to one-and-a-half to four-and-a-half years in prison for sexually abusing a fan. Tupac was found guilty of groping in his room at the Parker Meridien Hotel on November 18, 1993, when she (Ayanna Jackson) was 19. Tupac together with several of his friends came in and, led by Tupac, forced her to perform oral sex on them. Tupac and his road manager, Charles Fuller, were taken into custody and charged with three counts of first-degree sexual abuse, sodomy, and illegal possession of a firearm after police found two guns in the hotel room.
Keisha began to visit him in the prison, as said: “(For him) it was more like,” I want people to take you seriously and let them know you’re my wife. His thing was he wanted a visit every day, so he could get out that cell.”
Tupac Married Girlfriend Keisha Morris In The Prison, April 29, 1995
Keisha Morris: ”Once Tupac was placed in the Clinton Correctional Facility Tupac asked me to handle all of his business with his lawyers managers and record company because he wanted me to represent him, he felt it would be better and easier if I were married to him. I was kinda hesitant but I agreed. So we decided to wed four months later in a quick ceremony in the prison.”
”We never had sex when he was in jail. He did not feel like that was a place to be intimate or exposed like that.”, says Keisha Morris – Shakur.
This photo was sent to a British fan who began corresponding with Tupac in August of 1995.
Their marriage continues from April 29, 1995 to July 23, 1995, when Tupac and Keisha divorced in jail (unofficially). At that time, Tupac began an emotional connection with unknown to public woman named Desiree Smith aka Dez. This photo was sent to a British fan who began corresponding with Tupac in August of 1995.
On October 19, 1995, seven days after Tupac was released from prison, he divorces (officially) Keisha Morris.
Keisha Morris: ”I had to separate from Tupac after he got released from jail because, though he loved me we knew he couldn’’t be married. My love was sincere from my heart, but at times I did not feel the same from him. I never asked for anything materialistic, because that’s not why I wanted to be with him. When you are out for things that don’’t belong to you it will come back to harm you later. Now, I look back at our relationship and realize it was not a bad thing. We were still friends until the day he passed on. We still saw each other occasionally and spoke all the time. Yes it still hurts sometimes when I can’’t call Tupac and joke around with him. But our relationship has made me the full-rounded woman that I am today. Tupac will always be in my heart and a part of my life.”
Tupac and Keisha Morris-Shakur, April 30, 1995Avery Mitchell, Keisha Morris Shakur visited Tupac in the prison.
After Tupac’s legacy won the 5-year legal battle with Entertainment One for the unreleased master recordings, fans are еager to hear at least two new albums that are expected to be released. The unreleased recordings are over one hundred, including a large amount of unheard / unleaked songs, enough master recordings for at least 2, and possibly 3 new albums. As of now there is not a date set for when they will drop, but we’re told the plan is to start cranking them out ASAP, аccording to a report in The Blast.
However, there is one question that is yet to be answered, which is in what form will the albums be coming out.
Let’s chronologically follow the events that happened after Tupac’s death in 1996.
Tupac left an extraordinary legacy, and in the last few months of his life, he was constantly working on recording music. In fact, after he was out of prison (October 12, 1995), he released only one double album – All Eyez On Me (February 13, 1996), and one album that was recorded in July 1996 , but failed to be released while Tupac was still alive, which is Makaveli – The Don Killuminati. Everything else remained unreleased, except for those songs that were included in the posthumous albums which we are going to discuss in this material.
After Tupac’s death, the new albums were being released every two years. Some of them were successful and some of them were extremely disappointing. Why? Because the first albums – R.U. Still Down?, Still I Rise, Better Dayz, Until The End Of Time, mostly came out in the original versions of the songs that Tupac recorded.
The double album R.U. Still Down?, released in 1997, included songs that were recorded in the period between 1993 and 1994 and were produced by the great Johnny J. It was the album of truth, the true sound of the mid 90’s.
Two years later in 1999, Tupac’s group The Outlawz released songs that hadn’t been heard until then in the album Still I Rise. The album has also been a success and has been certified platinum by the RIAA.
Fans were also pleased with the next two double albums Until The End Of Time and Better Dayz that were released in 2001 and 2002.
The disappointment came just after that. Although the ‘’Loyal 2 The Game’’ album, released in 2004, was certified platinum by RIAA, it really let the fans down. Eminem was in charge of the management of the album and many people think he ruined all the songs on the album, the originals of which were created by producers such as Big D The Impossible, Stretch from the Live Squad, Johnny J, DJ Daryl.
These great tracks were recorded between 1992 and 1994, and the original songs were including the names of people around Tupac such as Mocedes, Mouse Man, Treach, Rated R, Big Syke, Mopreme, Stretch. In the new songs they were replaced by Eminem, Jadakiss , Obie Trice, G-Unit and The Outlawz members – EDI Mean, Kastro, Young Noble. That was such a failure.
Such devastating assault on Tupac’s inheritance is unacceptable, and we harshly condemn this act. But that’s not the end of it.
Loyal 2 The Game (OG Version) feat. Treach by Naughty By Nature (like)
Loyal 2 The Game (Reatil Version)
In the next album, Pac’s Life, released in 2006, the changing of the originals songs continued with full force. The songs in this album, much like the songs in Loyal 2 The Game album, are hardly recognizable and have almost nothing in common with their original recordings.
To conclude with, we’re waiting for two or three new albums, but we do not know what to expect from them.
We beg everyone involved in the release of these albums not to touch or change the amazing work of the legendary Tupac.
Despite your thirst of glory and your desire to be guest performers or producers on Tupac’s album, please stop this. Do not change the originals and release them as Tupac once perceived and recorded them.
Photo: Jeffery Newbury
Show respect for Tupac and for the producers and guest vocals that Tupac invited to create this eternal legacy.
This fool been telling since 1942 Don Julio no cappin LOL 
”
