Latest / DISGRACELAND / Tupac Shakur Pt. 2: Life Behind Bars, Suge Knight Saves The Day, East Coast/West Coast Beef, and What Could Have Been

Transcript

Tupac Shakur Pt. 2: Life Behind Bars, Suge Knight Saves The Day, East Coast/West Coast Beef, and What Could Have Been · DISGRACELAND

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. Tupac Shakur, his background,
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: his beginning days as an artist, and the story of
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: his fight to survive the streets he came up on
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: and the career he knew he was destined for, is
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: so complex that two episodes were needed to properly tell
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: this story. If you're just getting hip to this now,
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: I suggest you hit pause and go back to the
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: last episode of Disgraceland, part one of the Tupac Shakur story.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: Or if you're looking exclusively for a deep dive into
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: the East Coast-West Coast beef between Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G.,
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: there is an entire episode dedicated to this subject and
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: both these artists from season one of Disgraceland. We get
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: into their famous rivalry in this episode, but we also
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: explore Tupac's time in prison, how it affected him, his
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: time with Death Row Records, and the potential he had
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: as an actor. We also, of course, get into the
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: great music Tupac made, specifically while signed to Death Row.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: Great music. Unlike that music I played for you at
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: the top of the show. That wasn't great music. That
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: was a preset loop from my Mellotron, called Mellow Cosby
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: Sweater MK2. I played you that loop, cause I can't
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: afford the rights to Fantasy by Mariah Carey. And why
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: would I play you that specific slice of whistle register cheese,
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: could I afford it? Because that was the number one
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: song in America on October 12th, 1995. And that was
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: the day Suge Knight sprung Tupac Shakur from prison, forever
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: changing the course of hip-hop in the young rapper's life.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: On this episode, An aborted prison sentence, exported East Coast G-Funk,
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: and Tupac Shakur. I'm Jake Brennan, and this is Disgraceland.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: Shooting two off-duty police officers and getting away with it
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: does something to a young man. The cops were racist
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: and the cops were crooked and the justice system saw
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: right through them. Tupac got off. The cops were drunk
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: and carrying weapons stolen from the precinct evidence locker. The
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: case was fucked and Tupac felt not only vindicated, he
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: felt invincible. At least that's what he told her. At
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: least that's what she remembered. It was so long ago,
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: in such a crazy time, and who could really remember anyway?
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: Memories have a way of taking their own shape after
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: a while, a way of fitting whatever narrative makes most
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: sense in the present. In the present, 2014 was a
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: much different reality than 1993. The playlist found its way
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: to Janet Jackson's Miss You Much. She hated herself for
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: liking it because she hated Janet. Their rivalry on and
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: off the charts was intense. But in the end, Janet
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: was no match because she had no equals. Not on
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: the charts, not on record, not on the screen, not
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: in bed. Except when it came to her husband. He
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: was her equal. He could go toe-to-toe with her, round
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: for round. It's in part why she loved him so much.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: He was as big a personality and talent as she was,
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: and he was creatively and emotionally mature enough to know
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: better than to compete with her. which is why she
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: was genuinely proud of him tonight. A Kennedy Center honor
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: for him. The thug turned Academy Award winner, turned philanthropist,
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: turned renowned artist celebrated by the likes of President Barack Obama,
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: no less. Janet Jackson could kiss her ass. And Quincy Jones, too,
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: for that matter. The first rapper to receive a Kennedy
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: Center honor for his tremendous lifetime contribution to American arts.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: She'd be lying if she said she didn't secretly take
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: some of the credit. She was his lucky star. After all,
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: it was her idea for him to give up music
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: and focus solely on acting. When they'd hook back up,
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: he was a mess. At the top of his game musically,
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: but in debt and enslaved by his record contract. A
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: contract held by a ruthless street thug. But now, she
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: couldn't help but laugh at the course of events that
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: led to this moment. It was funny, she thought, how
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: life can turn on a dime. One different move and
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: the future consequences can be monumental, life-changing, without you knowing
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: it in the moment even. All of this, his career,
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: his influence, his wealth, the Kennedy Center honor. None of
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: it likely would have come to be had she not
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: paid him a visit in prison back in 95. And
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: she almost never made the trip. At the time, their
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: relationship was just a rumor. There was no internet back then,
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: at least not like there is now. tabloids of paparazzi
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: were vicious, sure, but the cult of celebrity wasn't the
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: industry it has become in the age of social media. Today,
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: there would have been no way to keep their relationship secret,
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: and thus, likely, no way for her to visit him.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: But she figured it was worth the risk. She knew
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: she loved him. She knew she wanted to spend the
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: rest of her life with him. But she also knew
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: that if their celebrity couple status was made public, that
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: the pressure of it all would destroy their relationship. Not
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: because of her, but because she knew he wouldn't be
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: able to handle it, he could hardly handle it in secret,
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: never mind under the bright lights of the vicious tabloid media.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: So they arranged for her to make the visit to Dannemora,
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: upstate New York, Clinton Correction Center. He was serving a
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: sentence for sexual assault, a one and a half to
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: four and a half year sentence depending on behavior. The
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: conditions were awful, rats, trash everywhere, disgusting food, racist guards,
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: racist skinheads, gangs, sexual predators everywhere. He retreated into himself
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: to pass the time. 23 hours a day in solitary,
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: he read Maya Angelou, Sun Tzu, Sid Field's book on
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: how to write screenplays. He wrote one himself, entitled Live
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: to Tell, as she couldn't help but think that her
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: influence had a little something to do with that. She
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: put the ugly trial behind her and tried to think
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: about the man she knew. It was hard for her
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: to imagine him doing what he was accused of doing.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: sexually assaulting a young woman along with two others, sodomizing
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: her against her will in a midtown hotel. He was convicted, sure,
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: but as he exclaimed outside the courtroom, there was no evidence,
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: no semen, no signs of forced entry. It was as
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: confusing to her as it was to his fans. She
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: had to see him and sort it all out for herself.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: Word was, he was on the men these days. His
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: latest album had gone to number one while he was
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: in jail. knocking off Bruce Springsteen. She was happy for him.
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: What did she care? She already had a number one
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: hit that year. He spent the last few weeks getting
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: ready for her visit, working out, eating better. The guards
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: were even excited. They spiffed the joint up and let
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: him take an extra shower that day. When she arrived,
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: she was treated like royalty. Well, as much of a
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: royal treatment as a prison can provide. Their visit was
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: brief but significant. She attempted to impart whatever wisdom she
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: had at her disposal. She tried to plant a seed,
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: show him a way toward a different kind of success
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: after prison. The type of career and celebrity that she had,
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: it was possible, she told him, but there were rules.
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: They were ridiculous and hypocritical, sure, but not following them
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: had consequences. She could see it in his eyes. He
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: was hearing her. She could also see innocence in his eyes.
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: She believed him. And she impressed upon him to continue
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: to work on his mind. To try and feed his
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: soul with his creativity while on the inside. To keep
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: the light from burning out. To not give in to
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: anger and resentment. This would soon come to an end.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: His appeal would win out in court. Sure, he thought.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: But he couldn't help but wonder why she didn't just
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: pony up the 1.4 mil and bail herself to spring
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: him from his sentence while his appeal played out. It's
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: not like she didn't have the bread. It was a test.
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: He knew it. And she knew he knew it too.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: Ride this out. Get your head right. Do the time.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: Don't let it do you and come out a better man.
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: But it didn't quite happen that way. Tupac Shakur had
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: the number one album in the country, Me Against the World,
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: aptly titled as he was alone, in jail, and broke.
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: Despite his fame and celebrity stature, he was currently at
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: rock bottom, depressed. He missed his mother, Afeni Shakur, the
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: once proud Black Panther who was now living a life
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: of squalor and heavily addicted to crack cocaine. He missed
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: his girlfriend, the pop star, who was living her celebrity
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: life on the outside while he rotted away behind bars.
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: He missed his old life, his boys, the parties, the girls,
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: the shows. The feeling he got when he walked into
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: a room, a studio, or a club. The feeling that
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: he was somebody. In here, he was just another shipbird.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: His loneliness turned to anger. Anger at not only having
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: to serve time for something he felt he did not do,
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: but anger over the fact that he felt betrayed. Betrayed.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: by his friends. The shots came as soon as he
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: entered the hallway at Quad Studios. Five of them, from
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: the pair of 9mms carried by the roughnecks shaking him down.
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: They wanted his money and his jewels. Two shots to
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: the head, two to the leg and groin, one to
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: the hand. The shooters split after running Tupac's jewels and
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: his cash. He crawled into the hallway elevator, got a
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: bloody finger on the button, and was lifted to the
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: second floor studio. When the elevator doors opened, there was
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: shock on the faces of his friends, rapper The Notorious B.I.G.,
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: and his producer-slash-mogul-on-the-make Sean Puffdaddy Combs. Why were they surprised
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: to see him? They'd just buzzed him into the front
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: door of the Times Square building to come upstairs to
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: the previously scheduled recording session to guest on a new
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: single by Little Sean, the rising star of Big and
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: Puffy's label, Bad Boy Records. At the time, the November 30,
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: 1994 shooting was too much to handle for Tupac. It
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: came right in the middle of his trial for sexual assault.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: He survived the five gunshots, but had to be wheeled
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: into court with fresh bullet wounds. The why of it all,
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: the how and the who. He didn't have the brain
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: space with all that was going on to piece it
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: together then. But now, behind bars, with all the time
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: in the world to think, he'd figured it out. In
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: a prison interview with Vibe magazine, Pac implied Biggie and
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: Puff may have been involved in the attack. Considering they
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: were so shocked to see him, possibly shocked to see
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: him alive, and not moving in to help even as
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: he bled out in the studio waiting for an ambulance.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: The writer, who was familiar with Tupac, knew him from
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: way back, would later remark that at the time of
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: the interview, he no longer recognized him. He was a
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: different person, far more aggressive, even angrier than his critics
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: accused him of being. Prison changed him. He was broken, vulnerable.
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: Something had to give, something had to change. Tupac was
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: worried he wouldn't survive his sentence. And then, he was
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: saved from prison by death row. Suge Knight, the notorious
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: Blood Street Gang affiliated record label boss, put up 1.4
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: million in bail to spring Tupac Shakur from jail while
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: he awaited his appeal in exchange for shifting Tupac's Interscope
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: Records contract over to Suge's Interscope imprint, Death Row Records.
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: In addition to the $ 1. 4 million, Suge pledged to manage
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: Tupac and to finance his lifestyle, his legal defense, and
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: to even buy his mother a house in exchange for
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: Tupac Shakur's next three records. Tupac came out of prison swinging.
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: He was, indeed, a very different man. Emboldened by Suge
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: Knight's millions, in addition to his notorious street rep, Tupac
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: dropped the gloves, and as a semi-free man on the outside,
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: immediately began spouting off at the media who he believed
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: betrayed him by convicting him in the public eye before
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: he was able to get a fair trial. He shouted
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: down the authorities who he believed betrayed their promise to
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: uphold the law at his personal expense, and he doubled
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: down on his claim that his friends, Biggie Smalls and
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: Puff Daddy, had betrayed him as well, claiming in no
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: uncertain terms that they were behind the shooting at Quad Studios.
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: Biggie's track, Who Shot Ya?, even though it was recorded
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: before the shooting, enraged Tupac, who was convinced it was
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: a diss track aimed at him. The beef between the
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: two larger-than-life rap stars was officially on. Tupac was battling
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: his detractors and his enemies, and he was winning. His
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: first piece of work with Death Row was the Dr.
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: Dre-produced California Love, a banger that went to number one
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: on the charts in and firmly established Tupac, an East
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: Coast expat, as now being without a doubt property of
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: the West Coast. Tupac's debut album with Death Row, All
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: Eyes on Me, also hit number one. On the back
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: of subsequent singles, another banger, How Do You Want It,
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: and Two of America's Most Wanted. The video for the
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: latter featured Death Row label mate Snoop Doggy Dogg and
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: included a parody scene of Pac meeting with big and
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: puffy lookalikes and discussing the studio shooting. it further fueled
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: the theory that they were involved. And then, in the
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: summer of 1995, Tupac released Hit Em Up, one of
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: the most famous diss tracks ever, in which Pac talked
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: shit about literally fucking Biggie's wife and made his accusations
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: about the studio shooting clearer than ever, repeatedly calling out
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: Biggie and Puff by name. Whatever the truth, the song
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: drove in hard, driven by Tupac's bottomless rage over what
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: had happened to him. The East Coast, West Coast beef
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: was in full flex, with Tupac Shakur smack dab in
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: the eye of the storm, right alongside his former friend,
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: the notorious B.I.G., and with the notoriously cunning and violent
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: Suge Knight riding shotgun. We'll be right back after this word, word, word.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: The prosecuting attorney called Suge Knight a quote-unquote one-man crime wave.
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: Suge wasn't worried. He'd beat the rap. The Bulldog prosecutor
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: was going for a max sentence. Suge, it was alleged,
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: had pistol-whipped a couple of no-talent rappers who were getting
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: too big for their Jordans. But Suge only got probation.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: The prosecutor's daughter, an aspiring singer, got a $ 50, 000 record contract.
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: And the prosecutor got a new tenant to rent his
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: beach house for $ 19, 000 a month. Suge Knight. Death Row
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: headquarters reflected the man who ran it. It was intimidating,
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: painted blood red in homage of the L.A. street gang
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: Suge Knight trucked with, the Bloods. Death Row was not
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: an ordinary record label. There were the armed guards, mountainous men,
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: gangbangers who'd patted you down upon entry. There was the list,
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: the one at the front door that the guards checked
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: your name against. If your name wasn't on it, then
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: you couldn't enter with your gun. And there was the
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: beatdown room, a single room located inside the office space
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: that was specifically for beatdowns should you or anyone else
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: cross a death row employee or artist during the course
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: of doing business. And of course, there were the stories.
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: The Interscope employee who got choked out. The record promoter,
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: the friend of Puffy's who was tied to a chair,
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: beaten with champagne bottles and forced to drink urine. The
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: rival record company employee who was stripped and forced to
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: stroll naked through the office. The pool of blood that
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: left a stubborn stain on the floor. And of course,
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: there was intimidation. Through the constant threat of violence. Word
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: around the record industry was that Suge Knight's reputation was
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: so vicious, so intimidating, that vendors hired by the label
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: neglected to chase down the money owed to them. Which
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: isn't to suggest that Suge Knight or Death Row were cheap.
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: They were anything but. Suge Knight, the notorious Blood Street
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: Gang-affiliated record label boss, put up $ 1. 4 million in bail
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: to spring Tupac Shakur from jail while he waited his
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: appeal in exchange for for shifting Tupac's Interscope Records contract
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: over to Suge's Interscope imprint, Death Row Records. In addition
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: to the $ 1. 4 million, Suge pledged to manage Tupac and
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: to finance his lifestyle, his legal defense, and to even
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: buy his mother a house in exchange for Tupac Shakur's
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: next three records. But when it came time to pay
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: out the cash Tupac needed to settle the many legal
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: suits filed against him, Death Row's attorney, the same entertainment
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: attorney Tupac agreed to have represent him as part of
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: his death row contract, Suge Knight's attorney, David Kenner, was
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: notoriously slow in making payments. Regardless, after prison, Tupac Shakur's
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: entire life was financed by death row records. The label
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: estimated Tupac owed them $ 4. 9 million in returns. But Death
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: Row had generated $ 60 million in record sales off of
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: Tupac records since his prison release. That left a balance
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: of $ 55. 1 million. Where was the money? Sure, Death Row,
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: as financiers, producers, manufacturers, promoters, and distributors of those records,
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: was entitled to its cut of the revenue, as was
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: their parent company, Interscope Records. But where was the rest
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: of it? There was a rumor circulating that Suge Knight
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: was in debt to the mafia. For what, the rumor
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: didn't specify. And Suge's attorney publicly denied the rumor, along
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: with most every other allegation against this client. But one
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: thing was certain. According to Tupac's other attorney, his criminal attorney,
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: Charles Ogletree, Tupac was plotting his life after death row.
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: He made inquiries to Warner Brothers Records. Legally, Tupac was
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: now free to go his own way after delivering his
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: third album to death row. His final obligation per his contract,
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: but surviving after walking away from death row, was a
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: different story entirely. Tupac had another obligation to fulfill. He
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: promised he'd accompany Suge Knight to the Mike Tyson fight
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: in Las Vegas. At this time, the wounds are light-threatening.
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: The person, as you're already aware, who was... the passenger
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: in this vehicle.
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: Is a known rap performer by the name of Tupac Shakur.
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: Tupac Shakur.
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: Tupac Shakur. Tupac Shakur was riding in this black BMW.
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: Tupac Shakur was.
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: Riding in this black BMW when.
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: The gunfire broke through. This is a man in mourning.
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: His pain is visible as if it were written on
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: his face. Police say a white Cadillac pulled up next
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: to it, and the four men inside started shooting.
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: They were already taking what now I found out was
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: Tupac into the helicopter.
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: By the way, he had been shot. He had been shot.
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: Shakur shot several times to the chest. Detectives are not
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: sure what prompted this attack.
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: Some rappers agree.
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: That the only way to make things better is to
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: get hip-hop back to its original state before.
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: The advent of a series that glorifies death and violence.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: We need to learn to love with ourselves. We need
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: to learn to respect ourselves. We need to learn to
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: respect our women. Until we do that, we're never going
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: to learn to rise above anything else.
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: The steam from the shower was now infiltrating the rest
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: of the hotel suite Her husband had been in there
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: for a while.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: Taking his time. The playlist had ended. It was now
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: 90s hip-hop. Warren G's Regulate flowed out of the speakers.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: By now, she'd figured out the maddening Bluetooth situation. The
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: track sounded so good. Say what you will about Death
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: Row Records. They released some great music. And he brazenly
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: walked out on it all. His debt, his contract, his
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: master recordings. Told his record label boss they could have him.
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: Use them to recoup whatever he owed. Use them to
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: enrich themselves off of his art for the rest of
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: their lives for.
• 22:33
  Speaker 3: All he cared.
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: Do whatever they want with them. He was out. All
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: he wanted was his freedom. No more looking over his shoulder.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: No more shootings. She convinced him to bet on himself
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: and focus solely on a world she herself never quite
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: conquered like she did the world of music. First, he'd
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: have to drop the thug life persona, work some supporting
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: roles in a few big-budget studio flicks, prove he could
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: show up, put in work, be a professional. At the
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: same time, bang out a couple of indie flicks, turn
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: in stellar performances showcasing his deep acting chops, and prove
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: to both up-and-coming and established directors alike that he still
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: did indeed have the goods. His megawatt big-screen charisma would
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: take care of the rest. And it did. Soon, the
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: choice roles started rolling in. Columbia Pictures came calling in
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: the early 2000s when Will Smith backed out of Men
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: in Black 2. Her husband stepped into the role of
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: Agent J and injected a level of emotional resonance that
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: took the entire franchise from being a rote popcorn blockbuster
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: to a critically acclaimed special effects comedic drama that to
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: this day, as far as movies go, is rivaled only
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: by the Star Wars franchise and its modern-day cultural influence.
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: After starring opposite Tommy Lee Jones, who they both still
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: counted as a dear friend, her husband took the lead
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: role in Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds. It was
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: another critically acclaimed blockbuster. Her husband was now one of
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: the few stars in the history of Hollywood whose studios
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: could bank on for the highest-grossing films that were as
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: successful commercially as they were critically. As an acting talent,
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: his reputation was approaching the likes of Marlon Brando, Julia Roberts,
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: and Christian Bale. Rare Air. In 2012, he starred in
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: the title role of Django in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained.
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: He took home the Best Actor Oscar for that one,
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: and the collaboration between the two men was such a
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: success that they were both currently obsessed and hard at
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: work on their next collaboration, a superhero film adaptation of
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: the Marvel comic Black Panther, a film Quentin would direct
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: and her husband would star in, and bring his life's
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: work full circle back to his first love, his mom.
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: So strong was her husband's Hollywood career turnaround that it
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: became the model for another young talent who'd fallen from grace,
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: Robert Downey Jr., who himself had climbed back to the
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: top in similar fashion and was comfortably positioned at the
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: top of his own superhero franchise. Her husband's success never
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: jaded him. He gave back every step of the way,
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: establishing art centers in Black neighborhoods, funding charter schools, mentoring
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: young Black talent, and contributing to political and social causes
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: he believed in, putting his money where his famous big
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: mouth was. He established a Black talent union, pooled the
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: collective power of his peers in Hollywood, and negotiated not
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: only better pay but better opportunities. As a result, The
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: Academy Awards, once known for its bias toward white nominees,
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: was now truly integrated on merit and is the envy
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: of other award shows as well as the international film industry.
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: Her husband was out of the shower now, half drying off,
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: half listening to his longtime friend Jada Pinkett Smith on
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: the other end of the telephone. She'd called under the
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: auspices of congratulating But no doubt, by now, the conversation
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: had likely turned to Jada griping about her husband Will's career.
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: Could he help get him sorted out with a comeback role?
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: That sort of thing. She knew her husband was a
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: sucker for Jada. He'd do anything for her. He'd figure
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: it out. And if not, she would help him figure
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: it out. Just like she did when he was in prison.
• 26:14
  Speaker 3: Except that never happened.
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: She never made it up to Panama to Clinton Correctional Facility.
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: It was all a fantasy. A fantasy she indulged in often.
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: What if? What if she did make the trip? What
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: if she did lay down an alternate path? What if
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: he did listen to her? What if he didn't sign
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: on with Death Row? Or what if he walked away
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: from Death Row before going to Vegas on that night?
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: Would it be any different? Would he still be alive? Rumors,
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: more rumors, that he faked his death, that he was
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: still alive, living off some island with Rihanna or whoever.
• 26:56
  Speaker 3: Unreal.
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: Tacky. Fan fiction. Truth was, he still was among the living.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: Truth was, Tupac Shakur was, and still is, very much alive.
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: He survived. Turn on your televisions. Open up your web browser,
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: thumb through any history of hip-hop, pop open Spotify, tune
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: into your local Hot 100 radio station. Tupac Shakur can
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: be heard and seen everywhere. Such is the power of
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: his music, his acting, his legacy. He will live forever,
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: just not in the way that she wanted. And that
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: is a disgrace. I'm Jake Brennan, and this is Disgraceland.
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: Disgraceland was created by yours truly and is produced in
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: found on the show notes page at disgracelandpod.com. If you're
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank you for
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: supporting the show. We really appreciate it. And if not,
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: you can become a member right now by going to
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: disgracelandpod.com slash membership.
• 28:12
  Speaker 3: Members can listen to every episode of Disgraceland ad-free.
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: Plus, you'll get one brand.
• 28:17
  Speaker 3: New exclusive episode every month. Weekly unscripted bonus episodes, special
• 28:22
  Speaker 3: audio collections, and early access to merchandise and events. Visit
• 28:26
  Speaker 3: DisgracelandPod.com slash membership for details. Rate and review the show
• 28:31
  Speaker 3: and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook at DisgracelandPod.
• 28:35
  Speaker 3: And on YouTube at YouTube.com slash at DisgracelandPod.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: Rock and roll up. He's a bad, bad man. All right, guys.
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: Thanks for checking out our Tupac Shakur saga parts one
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: and two. What do you think? You think this case
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: is dead? You think the conviction of Dwayne Keefy D.
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: Davis puts a nail in the coffin of the murder
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: mystery that is Tupac? I want to know. 617-906-6638. Leave
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: me a voicemail. Send me a text. Hit me up
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: at DisgracelandPod on Instagram and elsewhere. DisgracelandPod at gmail.com. Talk
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: to you soon.