My Dream Came True
What's gonna be your New Year's promise?
I'll do more exercise! Jan. 1st, I'll start doin' 300 pushups each day.
How many are you doing now?
I can do 300 one day, but then I don't do anymore the next day. I'd really like to do something regularly. And I'd like to be some kinda role model so that the next generation actors, entertainers and...yeah, people in general try to get in better shape. It's important!
What does your acting career give you that the music don't?
Orgasms! I used to think that musicians were the ones that got the most sex, Tupac says and laughs so much that he's falling from his chair. Then Tupac tries to give me a serious answer. That's like askin' a woman what she gets from bein' a mother, that the career can't give her. It's a totally different kinda satisfaction, a different kinda joy, but they are similar, 'cause they're both creative, says Tupac, who feels privileged to be both an actor and a rapper. One night I record a video, next mornin' I'm here makin' a movie....
How do you avoid that your success goes to your head?
The society prevent that from happenin', by puttin' me in jail for a crime I've never committed! It makes you humble...
What do you think is the biggest misunderstanding about your personality?
There are so many... The biggest one is that I'm one-sided.. That's me? I'm born in the gemini... I'm a gemini, young, black, and a Bloods member. I've got many different sides. I'm a communist. I thirst for knowledge. I'm hard to put in a box, so they try to make me look like I'm crazy. That's the biggest misunderstanding 'bout me.
Are there anything from your time in prison that you can use in a positive direction?
Good question. In prison I was demanding to go into bankruptcy. I was just about to do it, when a friend of mine advised me not to, 'cause it would lower my credibility. So, instead I went to court, and won, says Tupac and tells that time, in prison I had nothing. No acting career, no music career, nobody wanted to have nothin' do with me. A rape charge is the worst thing you can get! You get marked. But I knew myself that I hadn't committed the crime I was charged for, so I kept the faith. I didn't commit suicide with an AK, did I? And it felt like God, himself, were holdin' his hand over me when my CD- which was the most expensive someone's ever did this year- sold in 6 million copies. The best sellin' album!! So, the good thing by bein' in jail was this: My "million $ dream" came true, you know what I'm sayin'? It's all that! And it ain't stoppin' yet! Nothin' can stop me now! says Tupac and with a serious expression on his face, he continues with, when you've reached the absolute bottom, like I did, then you're free. Nothin' can hurt me!!
Where do you live now?
Where I live? You mean which country or state? I've got a big house n' good friends down in L.A.
Is Tupac your real name?
My real, starts Tupac and tells about his name, the Patriot Tupac who never gave up. Though, when people ask I never tell without sayin' my name means determined, 'cause I've decided never to start slangin' again. Nobody's gonna gimme their power so that I can live longer, that's why I ain't gonna give mine to nobody either. Instead I just take deep breaths.
Which one's the biggest myth about fame?
That all celebrities wanna be famous. People think that you shouldn't complain if someone comes up to you and rip off your clothes, 'cause as a celebrity you've chose it, says Tupac, who describes himself as down to earth and ordinary.
Do you think you'll get a new audience now that you're making a movie?
The fact that I sold five-six million albums shows that it ain't only black homies from the ghetto, and wiggas that listen to my music. I've got audience everywhere. Both Americans and people outside the USA. I love the Swedish! I've been to Sweden and I loved it!
Are you planning to go on tour?
Yeah, I am!!! Tupac Promised.
TUPAC --I'm playin' a soldier that's all. Just like KRS-1 he called himself God, I ain't calling me God. I'm just one doing my part on where I think hip hop should go. Everybody else doing there thing on where hip hop should go....I think hip hop should be about more money, crazier sounds, different beats MORE MONEY. Cause wit more money we could do something for the communities that these hip hop artists are coming out of.
ANGIE -- That's a positive thing.
TUPAC -- By getting more artists on part singing we could go into more coffee shops and do more performances. We've been performing this shit since the 70's. Ya know what I mean? Lets get some papers, get some buildings, get some community centers. Ya can't do that without money.
ANGIE -- Ok, so... but do you think that's gonna, I mean do you think that its gonna be boom take care of your business, boom its over, boom everything is happily ever after? You know when you attack somebody and they attack you back, you attack them, they attack y--
TUPAC -- Thats why I don't attack. You think I'm gonna smack these niggas? I ain't smacking these niggas.
ANGIE -- I think by you saying that......
TUPAC -- Do you see me running into Bad Boy wit a gun? Does it look like I'm doing drive-bys on these niggas? No...I'm not that nigga, I..... Fa real I don't give a fuck if nobody understands but I'm a soldier.
ANGIE --But its affecting other people though. Thats the problem.
TUPAC -- Other people need to just know that life's a bitch. Sometimes this shit, this shit I mean, damn life's a bitch and sometimes ya know what? It get hot. What they thought they were just gonna make millions and there wasn't gonna be no problems? You wanna be in the rap game, hustle for it, fight for this shit just like I had to do. I done took bullets and went ta jail for this rap shit, done caught cases and got sued and paid millions for this rap shit. About a muthafucka being uncomfortable cause I'm doing my thing, I don't give a fuck for real..
Master T: Can we talk about Death Row East , what exactly is happening. What can we expect from it?
Tupac: Do you believe in God?
Master T: Certainly!!!
Tupac: Then believe in Death Row East, believe in that for real. If you believe in God believe in Death Row East. We plan to take the same strategy we used with Death Row West, which is mind over matter, taking all our weekness's and making them into our strenghts and numbers. We already run these streets out here. So now we gonna just gonna help some of these brothers get there money on. Cuz we know they got talent. We got the ways to make them use there talents to the maximum affect. And thats what it's about. Everybody raps. We don't rap. We rap to make money. We do business. Ain't no other record company out there that sold as many records as we did. We outsold Bad Boy, Laface every black record label out there we outsold them in one year!! And I'm a convict and my homeboy just got off a murder case. So that tells you it's pure talent. No hype, we don't got no all around american smiles. They don't even wanna buy are record , but they gotta buy our record cuz we represent the streets. So Death Row East is gonna be a personification of what we did on the West Side we gonna do it to the East Side. We gonna prove once and for all that all these people talking bout a East Coast West Coast war they like the Juda's was to Jesus. They only here to cause confusion. We here to bring money and to bring change. They here to bring confusion. All these weak rappers Nas and all these suckaz they battling off East and West like it's a game. This ain't no game. If this was chess , we'd be yelling checkmate three muthafuckin' years ago. Cuz we been beat these muthafuckaz. It's not a game. We out here trying to help out people make money , we trying to get out of this three strikes circle they got us in and start getting our paper on. So that's what we doing. By strenght and numbers we comming to the East Coast to prove there is no fear, there is no problem there ain't nothing but opportunity and opportunity is over throw the government yall got right now which is Bad Boy and Nas and all that bullshit and we will bring a new government right here that will fear every person in New York.
Master T: alright man thank you. Take care.
TUPAC: Because I was raised by a woman half my life in the... streets, it's like I got the woman's side, then I got real rough, manly values, like, forced on me.
MTV: As Tupac's film credits grew, with John Singleton's "Poetic Justice," he faced the possibility of doing time for assaulting director Alan Hughes, who had dropped him from the cast of "Menace II Society."
TUPAC: If I have to go to jail, I don't even want to be living. I want to just cease to exist for however long they have me there, and then when I come out, I'll be reborn, you know what I'm saying? I'll be taking less problems, and that my mind would be sharper, and the venom would be more potent. So, they shouldn't send me there. They should really try to... It's like, you don't want to throw gasoline on a fire to put it out.
MTV: What followed was a cross-country tour of courtrooms and jail houses: 10 days in a Michigan prison for assaulting a fellow rapper with a baseball bat (April 5, 1993); an arrest for allegedly shooting two off-duty Atlanta police officers, in which charges were eventually dropped (October 31, 1993); and sexual abuse, sodomy -- both, allegedly, against a fan -- and weapons charges in New York City (November 18, 1993). The day before he was convicted of sex abuse in New York, Tupac was shot five times in the lobby of a Times Square recording studio. The crime was officially classified as a robbery; and the police dropped their investigation when Tupac failed to cooperate.
We spoke this week with Ernest Dickerson, who directed Tupac in his big screen debut, "Juice," and asked him what about Tupac might surprise people. Here's what Dickerson told us.
ERNEST
DICKERSON, Director, "Juice": I think that he's very introspective. I mean,
when we were shooting "Juice," in between takes, he would spend a lot of
time by himself, writing. You know, he thinks a lot. He thinks about what's
going on in the world, he thinks about what's going on in the neighborhoods.
He thinks about what's going on in this country and around the world, and
he talks about it in his music. And the thing that I really got from Tupac
was that he was always thinking, always at work. His mind was always going.
TUPAC: That situation with me is like, what comes around, goes around... karma, I believe in karma. I believe in all of that. I'm not worried about it. They missed. I'm not worried about it unless they come back.
MTV: While serving his sentence for sexual abuse, Tupac's third solo release, "Me Against The World," spent four weeks at number one.
TUPAC: It was a trip. Every time they used to say something bad to me, I'd go, "That's all right. I got the number one record in the country."
MTV: After eight months, Tupac's case was appealed, and Death Row head Suge Knight promptly bailed Tupac out of jail, and took the opportunity to sign him to Death Row Records.
TUPAC
(counting a handful of money after being signed to Death Row Records):
If
you come to Death Row, you will see your art brought to a bigger plateau,
and you will be paid one of these days.
Death
Row...
MTV: Tupac turned his troubles to a career that was bigger than ever. His double album Death Row debut, "All Eyez On Me," sold more than 5 million copies, scored a number one single, and included tracks with new label mate, Snoop Doggy Dogg, and Dr. Dre. With three years past since Snoop's last solo release, and the departure of Death Row Co-Founder, Dr. Dre, to start his own label, Tupac became Death Row's artistic centerpiece, as well as its biggest mouthpiece. Death Row and Tupac shared a common enemy: the New York-based Bad Boy Entertainment. Tupac had earlier implicated Bad Boy Producer, Sean "Puffy" Combs, and star artist, the Notorious B.I.G., in his 1994 shooting.
TUPAC: Bad Boy Records. That's for Bad Boy Records (he winks and holds up the handful of money from signing with Death Row). I love you all.
MTV: But despite his taunts, Tupac realized danger could be around the corner. Back in New York City for this year's Video Music Awards, just three nights before he was shot in Las Vegas, Tupac surrounded himself with bodyguards and clutched a walkie talkie throughout the evening as a security precaution.
TUPAC: We are businessmen. We are not animals. It's not like we're going to see them and rush them and jump on them. If they see us and they want drama, we're goin' to definitely bring it like only Death Row can bring it...
On friday April 19 1996, Tupac Shakur graced the airwaves of KMEL Radio's Westside Radio program in San Francisco. Here, in an historic interview he let the entire Bay Area know exactly what he was feeling and thinking at that point in time.
For those who weren't up on the backdrop at the time that interview aired, 2Pac had not spoken to anyone extensively since joining Death Row. His album, 'All Eyes On Me' was the album of choice for more then a few headz especially here in the Bay Area. The Bad Boy/ Death Row conflict was at an all time high... No one from the Death Row camp had spoken on co founder Dr Dre's departure. More importantly, 2Pac had not been through the Bay in what seemed like years...My boy Sway of The Wake Up Show was the person asking the questions..
Interview
by Sway of The Wake Up Show...it first aired
on
KMEL's Westside Radio on April 19 1996..
Transcribed
by KMEL's Davey D
c
1996
Tony Patrick:
Okay, I was fortunate to get a chance to read through your bio during my review of your album, and I understand that your mother was part of the Panther 21 way back in the day.
Tupac:
Yes, My mother, Afeni Shakur, was part of the Panter 21. My father is Mutulu Shakur, Geronimo Pratt is also my godfather, my auntie Assata Shakur, I came from a long list of straight soldiers.
Tony Patrick:
Did your mother give any insight on her experiences as a panther?
Tupac:
Oh, yea, she did. I mean, when you grow up as a single parent, and that single parent happens to be a Panther, who happens to be a single woman, who also happens to be black, then everything becomes an everyday test, and every day was the ultimate "Look at how they're treating us." And when I say look at how they treat us, I don't mean it in the perspective of "Look at how White people treat us" or "look at how the police treat us," but look at how society treats us as a whole, especially a woman. Men at least could fight and will their way to wherever they have to get to, but females got it so hard. I grew up watching that.
Tony Patrick:
It's interesting that you bring that up because what you have now is just a whole bunch of disrespect being shown towards women- shown towards each other, really. What are your thoughts on the foul behavior that has not only become commonplace on rap lyrics, but inside the hip-hop community as a whole?
Tupac:
Well, to me it's like this. It's true that we're doing it to each other and it's fucked up! That's what I'm here for, and that's why I'm rapping about it so that people could see what's going on, and so that brothers could get their heads together. But I don't blame brothers for flippin' the fuck out, and I don't know why we didn't flip out a long time ago, and the only reason that we're flippin' out on the wrong side is because this is the behavior that we've been taught for years. There's no denying that fact. It's been said over and over again, and it sounds like a broken record, but it's the truth--this is the hate that hate made, and in order for us to break that, we have to be able to see love in ourselves, and through rap music I believe that could happen, 'cause I already don't wanna shoot nobody, and I'm comin' from straight bottom, and I'm cool. I'm getting things that I've worked for, and I'm cool now. So if the brothers start seeing some kind of success, then it's going to work. But what's happening now is that they want brothers to be talking that peace shit in the middle of poverty, and that's not going to happen, I can tell you that right now. Whoever thinks that this just say no shit is gonna work, that's not gonna happen; none of that is going to work. You have to offer us a positive solution, ant that's the only way that you're ever going to get people to come over to that side, because it doesn't make any sense to jump outta the fire and into some ol' nuclear shit.
Tony Patrick:
Nowadays, people are just satisfied to just get crumbs off the table. That's one of the reasons that you could never have positive change in the industry--too many people can be bought off.
Tupac:
First, we have to find success. Brothers really have to start gettin' their grip, gettin' paid, gettin' money. And until that happens, we're gonna have a lot of problems. And we're gonna have a lot of problems because of this--if you never had anything in your life, and someone comes over to you and offers you everything you're gonna go for it. That's why I can't blame a certain dancing MC or other MCs that swing their attentions over to the mainstream because that's it, that's the ultimate test for the Black man--survival.
ON RACE
Tupac:
The real tragedy is that there are some ignorant brothers out here. That's why I'm not on this all-White or all-Black shit. I'm on this all-real or all-fake shit with people, whatever color you are. Because niggaz will do you. I mean, there's some foul niggaz out there! The same niggaz that did Malcolm X, the same niggas that did Jesus christ--every brother ain't a brother. They will do you. So just because it's Black, don't mean it's cool. And just because it's White, don't mean it's evil.
ON SELF-ESTEEM AND SELF-RESPECT
Tupac:
To me, I feel that my game is that strong. I feel as though I'm a shining prince, just like Malcolm, and I feel that all of us are shining princes, and if we live like shining princes, then whatever we want can be ours. Anything.
ON BLACK WOMEN
Tupac:
...There ain't nothin' like a Black woman.
ON HIS MUSIC
Tupac:
My music is not for everyone. It's only for the strong-willed, the street soldiers. It's soldier music. It's not like party music--I mean, you could gig to it, but it's spiritual. My music is spiritual. It's like Negro spirituals, except for the fact that I'm not saying 'We Shall Overcome." I'm saying that we are overcome.
ON GROWING UP
Tupac:
I remember crying all the time. My major thing growing up was I couldn't fit in. Because I was from everywhere, I didn't have no buddies that I grew up with... Every time I had to go to a new apartment, I had to reinvent myself, myself. People think just because you born in the ghetto you gonna fit in. A little twist in your life and you don't fit in no matter what. If they push you out of the hood and the White people's world, that's criminal...Hell, I felt like my life could be destroyed at any moment..."
ON THE STATE OF URBAN AMERICA
Tupac:
We are in the midst of a very dangerous, non-productive, self-destructive civil war. And it's not just rap shit. It's ideals. And this rap shit is just bringin' it to a head. The East Coast believe one thing, and the West Coast believe on thing. The East Coast got one way of life, the West Coast Got another way of life, it always co-existed. We're coming on the turn of the century where we gotta mash together. But we can only do it one way, one style. And that's what we're trying to figure out now, and I think the world is watching that.
ON HIS OWN LEGACY TO HIP-HOP MUSIC
Tupac:
To me, it's really troubling because I look over at what's successful--Marky Mark, Hammer, Vanilla Ice, New Kids on the Block selling twenty-two million copies, and I want that so badly, but I can't do that. I would be wrong to do that, knowing what I know and having the brain that I have, for me to even go and write some simple shit would be wrong even though I would get paid and I would get more people's money. I would rather leave something so that when people pick up 2Pacalypse Now or any of my other albums in 1999, they'll go, 'Damn! Brothers had it hard back in the day, but brothers were working it out.
ON RELIGION
Tupac:
I'm the religion that to me is the realist religion there is. I try to pray to God every night unless I pass out. I learned this in jail, I talked to every God (member of the Five Percent Nation) there was in jail. I think that if you take one of the "O's" out of "Good" it's "God", if you add a "D" to "Evil", it's the "Devil". I think some cool motherfucker sat down a long time ago and said let's figure out a way to control motherfuckers. That's what they came up with-the bible. Cause if God wrote the bible, I'm sure there would have been a revised copy by now. Cause a lot of shit has changed. I've been looking for this revised copy-I still see that same old copy that we had from then. I'm not disrespecting anyone's religion, please forgive me if it comes off that way, I'm just stating my opinion. The bible tells us that all these did this because they suffered so much that's what makes them special people. I got shot five times and I got crucified to the media. And I walked through with the thorns on and I had shit thrown on me and I had the thief at the top; I told that nigga "I'll be back for you. Trust me, is not supposed to be going down, I'll be back. I'm not saying I'm Jesus but I'm saying we go through that type of thing everyday. We don't part the Red Sea but we walk through the hood without getting shot. We don't turn water to wine but we turn dope fiends and dope heads into productive citizens of society. We turn words into money. What greater gift can there be. So I believe God blesses us, I believe God blesses those that hustle. Those that use their minds and those that overall are righteous. I believe that everything you do bad comes back to you. So everything that I do that's bad, I'm going to suffer for it. But in my heart, I believe what I'm doing in my heart is right. So I feel like I'm going to heaven. I think heaven is just when you sleep, you sleep with a good onscience-you don't have nightmares. Hell is when you sleep, the last thing you see is all the fucked up things you did in your life and you just see it over and over again, cause you don't burn. If that's the case, it's hell on earth cause bullets burn. There's people that got burned in fires, does that mean they went to hell already? All that is here. What do you got there that we ain't seen here? What, we're gonna walk around aimlessly like zombies? That's here! You ain't been on the streets lately? Heaven now, look! (referring to his plush apartment) we're sitting up here in the living room-big screen TV- this is heaven, for the moment. Hell is jail I seen that one. Trust me, this is what's real. And all that other shit is to control you. If the churches took half the money that they was making and gave it back to the community, we'd be alright. If they took half the buildings that they use to "praise God" and gave it to motherfuckers who need God, we'd be alright. Have you seen some of these got damn churches lately? There's one's that take up the whole block in New York. There's homeless people out here. Why ain't God lettin' them stay there? Why these niggas got gold ceilings and shit? Why God need gold ceilings to talk to me? Why does God need colored windows to talk to me? Why God can't come where I'm at where he sent me? If God wanted to talk to me in a pretty spot like that, why the hell he send me here then. That makes ghetto kids not believe in God. Why? So that's wrong religion-I believe in God, I believe God puts us where ever we want to be at. They didn't make sense that God would put us in the ghetto. That means he wants us to work hard to get up out of here. That means he's testing us even more. That makes sense that if you're good in your heart, you're closer to God but if you're evil than your closer to the devil; that makes sense! I see that everyday all that other spooky shit, don't make sense. I don't even believe, I'm not dissin' them but I don't believe in the brothers, I've been in jail with 'em and having conversations with brothers; "I'm God, I'm God." You God, open the gate for me. You know far the sun is and how far the moon is, how the hell do I pop this fuckin' gate? And get me free and up outta here. Then I'll be a Five Percenter for life.
ON THE EAST COAST / WEST COAST FEUD
Tupac:
That's so much nonsense, Poppycock! (laughs) It's not a new allegiance to the west coast, I've been on the west coast all this time. Some people, not all, some people on the east coast are on their dicks so hard, they never heard me say that I'm living on the west coast. It's just by me keeping it real, I always said where I come from. I always gave New York their props. On Me Against The World, I took a whole song to give it up. So now on the next album, when I wanna give it up, for my home, where I'm at, everybody got a problem. Why don't they have a problem with Biggie saying Brooklyn in the house every fucking show he do. They just did a Sprite commercial with the "Bridge" and KRS, why isn't it hip-hop when I do it? Everybody else can have a beef within the music, talk about differences and it's ok. It's music, it's hip-hop, it's groundbreaking. When I do it, it's war. That's all I'm doing. All I'm doing is saying that I'm tired of you talking about where you're from; If that's what we're gonna do now. We was doing it like hip-hop was one nation. I have proof to say what I was doing-I've done more for the east coast than the east coast did. I put more guns in east coast niggas hands than east coast niggas did when they came out here. I put them niggas on to more weed gates and weed spots and safe havens and safe spots than the east coast did. I put more rappers on than they did. I gave Biggie his first shows! I was that bridge that niggas used to walk on to get over here. I explained it, I the one that told you. I'm why all these niggas are running around with a gangbanger on their payroll now.
ON HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS FAMILY
Tupac:
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. I do want to know him and I do know him we did talk and he did visit and help me when I was locked down, but I'm past that. What I want to do is form a society in which we can raise ourselves; so we can become our own father figures and the big homies can become their father figures and then you grow up then it's your turn to be a father figure to another young brother. That's where I want to start. Nine times out of ten though we would want them to be there, they can't be depended on to be there. Now, some of the mothers can't be there because they doing their thing [working] I can't blame them, they gotta do what they gotta do. So I think the youth should raise themselves since they got lofty ideas about what's theirs and their rights, what they should deserve. Since you can't whup their asses, these muthafuckers should get out and work at fifteen. I want to be a part of the generation that builds the groundwork for us to raise each other.
ON REPORTERS AND (HIS OWN) RACISM
Tupac:
My momma told me this. That when Malcolm was alive, white people said shit like that. And when he died that same nigga would be talkin' about, He interviewed me, He'd be writing a book about my life. And I just don't like that. If you don't understand me, Don't write about me! I don't ask black leaders to jock me. I'm just sayin' be honest. You know you doin' something I can't do and I'm doin' somethin' you can't do. I respect you... Respect me! You know there's no nigga out there like this. I don't have no insecurities about that, and no delusions. Ain't no nigga like Tupac puttin' it down! My weaknesses and my strengths. Everybody knows that my strengths Definitely outweigh my weaknesses. To all the doubt, I'm a human being. Like everybody else. And if I meet somebody who is perfect then they can train me. And they can help me be perfect. But there ain't nobody out there that is perfect. So We'll all just get along with each other. That's how I feel. I mean I feel it was wrong for them to do that cuz I was always raised there's certain times you don't fuck with a nigga. When he's down ya don't kick a nigga. That's what I thought. Ya know what I mean. And all his really taught me about this black people thing. I'm black, I believe in my people but I believe in my people as it relates to my tribe. I don't believe in this overall, just imaginary niggas. Black people attacked me. I mean not all black people, and thats why... some people be sayin' that I don't like black people no more. It's not that. I love black people. I love, I am black. I'm not Racist anymore! It used to be like I go somewhere and somebody see me with a white girl and be like Pac! I can't believe it. But it's not to me. It's like I'm a totally new human being. Before I was like that but I was just bitter, and that's why I was so evil towards black sista's when I went to jail. Cuz I felt like, I didn't sleep, I didn't fuck with them bitches to be down for ya'll. And ya'll can put me in jail! I was wrong to have that kind of thought. Cuz I don't think all, black women... don't owe me shit. And I don't owe them shit.
WestSide! What The Kids Should Know
Tupac:
Everybody
in this rap world, all they talk about is money. You know what I'm sayin.
I'm not saying I'm the richest nigga in the game. All these... There's
lots of niggas with money but I'm sayin' its like, It's not the money that
I'm bragging about. These people see me with these jewels, It's not that!
It's for these little niggas. These kids that have just seen me in cuffs
shot up in a wheelchair with my head wrapped up. Yet you see me no less
than a fuckin' year later bailin' through this motheafucka jeweled down
like Shaka Zulu! Bangin' on niggas! I got this whole shit shook up. Everybody
talkin' bout this WestSide. People sayin' Ice Cube started it. I
was in jail when Ice Cube was out, so that wasn't no problem. The day I
got outta jail it was a motherfuckin' problem, to be where the fuck you
was from! The day I stepped out. That's Power! I want these little niggas
to see that. I didn't get that power from guns cuz there are no guns in
jail. I got that Power from BOOKS, and from thinking, and by strategizin'
That's what I want little niggas to see.
When I was in Los Angeles interviewing the Death Row posse, I was told Tupac Shakur wasn't available to talk. But after Randy "Stretch" Walker was killed, I felt the need to contact Shakur. What I thought would be a five-minute conversation lasted well over an hour. "Lemme get my cigarettes," Shakur said as he got comfortable. He was, as usual, very candid.
Did you move to Death Row for some sort of protection?
Hell, no. There's nobody in the business strong enough to scare me. I'm with Death Row 'cause they not scared either. When I was in jail, Suge was the only one who used to see me. Nigga used to fly a private plane, all the way to New York, and spend time with me. He got his lawyer to look into all my cases. Suge supported me, whatever I needed. When I got out of jail, he had a private plane for me, a limo, five police officers for security. I said, "I need a house for my moms"; I got a house for my moms. I promised him, "Suge, I'm gonna make Death Row the biggest label in the whole world. I'm gonna make it bigger than Snoop even made it." Not stepping on Snoop's toes; he did a lot of work. Him, Dogg Pound, Nate Dogg, Dre, all of them-they made Death Row what it is today. I'm gonna take it to the next level.
Is
it true your marriage was annulled?
Yeah. I moved too fast. I can only be committed to my work or my wife. I didn't want to hurt her; she's a good person. So we just took it back to where we were before.
I wanna put a rumor to rest. Did something happen to you in prison?
Kill that rumor. That got started either by some guards or by some jealous niggas. I don't have to talk about whether or not I not raped in jail. If I wouldn't lay down on the floor for two niggas with pistols, what the fuck make you think I would bend over for a nigga without weapons? That don't even fit my character.
Do you or Death Row have any beef with Puffy or Biggie?
[Laughs] I don't got no beef with nobody, man. I let the music speak for itself. If you know, you know; if you don't, you don't. Ain't no mystery-niggas know what time it is.
So is this an East Coast/West Coast thing?
It's not like I got a beef with New York or nothing, but I do have problems. And I'm representing the West Side now. There's people disrespecting the West Coast-"It's only gangsta shit, it ain't creative enough, it's fucking up the art form"-even though we made more money for this art form than all those other motherfuckers. The artists now who selling records stole our style. Listen to 'em-Biggie is a Brooklyn nigga's dream of being West Coast.
You used the word jealousy-
Let's be real. Be real, Kev. Doesn't Biggie sound like me? Is that my style coming out of his mouth? Just New York-tized. That big player shit. He's not no player-I'm the player.
What about all the kids who look up to you and Biggie who don't understand all this?
Regardless of all this stuff-no matter what he say, what I say-Biggie's still my brother. He's black. He's my brother. We just have a conflict of interest. We have a difference of opinion.
How can we stop this disagreement before someone gets killed?
I don't want it to be about violence. I want it to be about money. I told Suge my idea: Bad Boy make a record with all the East Coast niggas. Death Row make a record with all the West Coast niggas. We drop the records on the same day. Whoever sell the most records, that's who the bombest. And then we stop battling. We could do pay-per-views for charity, for the community.
What about Death Row and Bad Boy doing something together?
That's as together as we can get. For money. What about getting together as black men? We are together as black men-they over there, we over here. If we really gonna live in peace, we all can't be in the same room. Yellow M&M's don't move with green M&M's. I mean, you don't put M&M's peanuts with M&M's plain. You hear me?
What about this hostility that people are feeding into? Can you and Suge and Puffy and Biggie sit down-
But that's corny. That's just for everybody else-they just wanna hear what the conversation is about. I know my life's not in danger. They shouldn't feel like they gotta worry about me. Puffy wrote me while I was in jail. I wrote him back that I don't got no problems with him. I don't want it to be fighting, I just wanna make my money. You can't tell me I've gotta sit down and hug and kiss niggas to make everybody else feel good. If there was beef, niggas would know.
Your new album is called All Eyes on Me. Can you describe it in a phrase?
Relentless. It's like, so-uncensored. I do not suggest that children buy this album. There's a lot of cursing. There's a lot of raw game that needs to be discussed in a family moment before you let them listen.
What would you suggest parents tell their kids to prepare them for it?
Explain to them that because I'm talking about it doesn't mean that it's okay. This comes from someone who just spent 11 and a half months in a maximum-security jail, got shot five times, and was wrongly convicted of a crime he didn't commit. This is not from a normal person.
Do you feel that you're a leader?
I think so. I think I'm a natural-born leader because I'm a good soldier. I know how to bow down to authority if it's authority that I respect. If Colin Powell was president, I'd follow him. I wanna get into politics. That's the way for us to overcome a lot of our obstacles. Nothing can stop power or recognize power but power. If Bosnia disrespects America, they gonna go to war. 'Cause America wants its respect. And we sit down after they recognize that they should respect America. Before we can communicate, there has to be mutual respect. And we don't have that.
Where's Tupac gonna be in the year 2000?
I'll be much calmer than I am now.
Why aren't you calm right now?
You know-how would you feel if someone violated you? I was set up. I would rather have been shot straight-up in cold blood-but to be set up? By people who you trusted? That's bad.
Why do you think so many young black men around the country identify with you?
'Cause we all soldiers, unfortunately. Everybody's at war with different things. With ourselves. Some are at war with the establishment. Some of us are at war with our own communities.
What are you at war with?
Different things at different times. My own heart sometimes. There's two niggas inside me. One wants to live in peace, and the other won't die unless he's free.
What about the Tupac who's the son of a Black Panther, and Tupac the rapper?
Tupac the son of the Black Panther, and Tupac the rider. Those are the two people inside of me. My mom and them envisioned this world for us to live in, and strove to make that world. So I was raised off those ideals, to want those. But in my own life, I saw that that world was impossible to have. It's a world in our head. It's a world we think about at Christmas and Thanksgiving. I had to teach my mother how to live in this world like it is today. She taught me how to live in that world that we have to strive for. And for that I'm forever grateful. She put heaven in my heart.
K.P.