10 Things You Didn't Know About Tupac

Even 20 years after Tupac Shakur's untimely passing, there's still something to discover about the fallen rapper.

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best la rap songs tupac

Twenty-two years after his death, Tupac Shakur, a.k.a. 2Pac, remains one of the most discussed and analyzed hip-hop artists of all time. He’s been cited as an inspiration by Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Drake, J. Cole, and Kevin Abstract, just to name a few. Even among the new generation, which sometimes neglects the icons of old school, Shakur’s impact is felt; for every SoundCloud rapper like Lil Xan calling Makaveli “boring,” or 03 Greedo calling him a “bitch ass n***a,” there’s a Cardi B paying homage (“I’m like Big Pop, mixed with 2Pac, I’m like Makaveli”). 

The analysis goes beyond whether or not Pac was as talented and influential as the masses of the ‘90s remember him, though. There are a number of 2Pac conspiracy theories, and constant debate over what information about the West Coast rapper is fact and what is fiction. Despite its ability to uncover truth, the internet has only heightened the mystery surrounding him, making it difficult to nail down the facts about 2Pac. Was he in the Illuminati? Did the Illuminati take him out? Did he fake his own death? Is he chilling in Cuba as we speak? 

Writer Ben Westhoff uncovered lots of new information about Pac while reporting his book Original Gangstas: The Untold Story of Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur, and the Birth of West Coast Rap—which includes over 100 interviews with principal players from the era. From the beginning of his career to his Death Row days, there are plenty of 2Pac facts that may leave you shook. One of those scoops—that Biggie asked 2Pac to manage him—broke last year, but here are ten more things you didn’t know about Tupac Shakur.

Tupac and Dr. Dre never really knew each other.

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The opportunity to work with Dr. Dre was a major incentive for Tupac to come to Death Row Records in 1995. But the timing was bad; just as Tupac entered the Death Row fold, Dre was on his way out. Other than tracks like “California Love,” the pair never got much of a chance to collaborate, and Tupac joined Suge Knight in taunting Dre and (dubiously) calling him gay. “Tupac never knew me,” Dre told journalist Harris Rosen in his book N.W.A – The Aftermath. “Tupac had never been to my house before. He doesn’t even know where I live. We never even been in the same car together.” 

Tupac changed Suge, not the other way around.

Suge Knight with Tupac

The Outlawz smoked Tupac’s ashes. Or did they?

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After Tupac’s murder, the Outlawz took a lyric from his posthumous song “Black Jesuz” at its word: Cremated, last wishes? Niggas smoke my ashes. “We twist up some of that great grandaddy Cali kush, sprinkle some of the big homie in there, and guess what?” Young Noble told XXL. “He’s in our system for eternity.” Unfortunately, E.D.I. Mean told ThisIs50.com that they later found out what they smoked wasn’t actually Tupac’s ashes. But that wasn’t the end of the story. “I don’t know what they smoked, but I smoked his ashes,” Mopreme told me. “Several people from our clique smoked his ashes at different points.”

Tupac tried putting together a kiddie group.

Mopreme Shakur

Tupac might have signed to Ruthless.

Eazy E Compton Hat

The ‘50 Niggaz’ movement turned into the Thug Life movement.

Tupac Stomach Tattoos

Tupac performed in prison, Johnny Cash style.

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Tupac’s stepfather Mutulu Shakur was a black revolutionary convicted of participating in a 1981 attempted robbery of an armored Brinks car containing $1.6 million in Rockland County, New York, which left two cops and a security guard dead. He served much of his time at Lompoc federal prison in California, and organized a concert featuring Tupac and others in 1993. The boys behind bars were particularly glad, however, to see the pulchritudinous female R&B group that accompanied Tupac, called Y?N‑Vee.

Tupac played a crucial role in the 1992 Watts gang truce.

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Together with Mutulu and his son Mopreme, Tupac put together the Thug Life code, a treaty for drug dealers aimed at reducing violence and harm to the community at large. Its 26 bullet points decried selling to the underage and pregnant, as well as protecting civilians and making the hood “safe for squares.” The code was adopted at the 1992 gang truce between Bloods and Crips in Watts, which is given credit for helping reduce gang violence.

Tupac likely shot himself.

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After being shot at Quad Studios in 1994, Tupac claimed his former friend (and mentee) Biggie Smalls knew he was going to be set up. Tupac’s resulting vendetta kicked off the East Coast-West Coast war. But ironically, forensic evidence seemed to indicate he shot himself. “In the haste of getting his gun out of his waistband, I believe he pulled the trigger,” said former LAPD investigator Greg Kading, who has reviewed the investigative material. “I think the wounds to his head were superficial lacerations from being pistol whipped. If [his three aggressors] went there to execute him, they could have certainly done that.”

Tupac and Snoop were planning a supergroup.

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Before they fell out not long before his death, Tupac and Snoop Dogg, along with the Outlawz and Tha Dogg Pound, were planning a collaborative album together as a group called Thug Pound. Just as Tupac had given the Outlawz members nicknames, he also gave Tha Dogg Pound’s Kurupt an “Outlawz alias” (Kurupt Young Gotti) and one to Daz (Daz Dillinger). “Dudes started recording songs together; it was an idea in the air,” the Outlawz’s Young Noble told me. “It was an idea that was brewing that definitely would have came to light if none of the bullshit would have happened.”

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