2Pac is Back with an Album and Movie
Looks like 2Pac Amuru Shakur is back and with a vengeance. His new song 'Thug Nature' which was released by Death Row is currently causing quite a stir around the country especially in LA. The song for those who haven't heard it, borrows from the song 'Human Nature' made popular by Michael Jackson. While folks are warming up to that, there's another 2Pac song called 'Crazy' that features K-Ci & JoJo that's currently blowing up the spot..That particular track will be featured on K-Ci & JoJo's upcoming album. However the real 2Pac treats are yet to come.
In the past we mentioned the special tribute album which was in the works. Numerous artists, actors and poets had gotten together to render their interpretations of Pac's poems which were highlighted in his posthumous book 'The Rose That Grew From Concrete'. The album is absolutely incredible as more then 30 songs were recorded. 25 will be featured on the album. There are stellar performances from all sorts of people ranging from Mos Def to actor Danny Glover. The track featuring Mos Def has an interesting story behind it. He chose the poem 'Panther Power'. Initially Mos brought to the table a militaristic type vibe which was well received. After he recorded the track he got a chance to spend time with 2Pac's mom -Afeni Shakur. She gave him a lot of insight about the Black Panther Party when she was an active member. Mos was so inspired that he went back into the studio and recorded an other version of the song. It has a softer feel, but much more intense and focused. Both versions are featured on the album. One is entitled the 'masculine' version while the other is referred to as the 'feminine' version.
Another hot track is 'Starry Night;' which features incredible performances from Bay Area rapper -Mac Mall, Quincy Jones, QDIII who is Quincy's son and Rasheeda who is Quincy's daughter. Afeni hooked up with Danny Glover and the cast from the musical Lion King to record a piece entitled 'When Your Hero Falls'. Poetess Nikki Giovani, actress Samaria and Nefertiti who was featured in the movie Panther come to the table with that title song 'Rose That Grew From Concrete'. One of Pac's most well known poems entitled 'In The Event of My Demise' features his Godfather Geronimo JiJaga Pratt and The Outlaws. Tre from the Pharcyde hits us in the dome with a song called 'What of a Love Unspoken'. Dead Prez also delivers a nice song to the table, but I can't recall the name of it at this time. Many of the performances were recorded so we can expect to see some sort of video and documentary detailing the making of the album. There were also enough songs recorded that there is likely to be a volume 2. But the biggest surprise is yet to come.
Apparently MTV is in the process of filming a movie about Pac's life. Long time writer Cheo Choker has been asked to write the screen play which will focus on Pac's early years leading up to the time he got signed to a record label. Hence we can expect to se a lot of Pac's early political influences which should undoubtedly lend a lot of critical insight. For example, many people do not know that when Pac was a High School student in Baltimore he formed an organization to address certain social issues like teen homicide and teen pregnancy. He also had aspiration to form a Black Panther Party chapter in Marin City California, after he and some high school classmates experienced some drama with local skinheads. There's no telling as to whether or not these things will be shown in the MTV movie, but cats who know Pac will note that he was definitely headed in the direction of reflecting the community building and self help philosophies of the Panthers. The movie is due out in spring of 2001.
....and:
Record Wars 2Pac vs Biggie: The Movie
Looks like there's gonna be some more folks making loot off the murders of 2Pac Shakur and the Notorious BIG. Producers Jon Sheinberg and Beaux Carson will be putting together a feature film called 'Record Wars'. It will be based upon the books 'The Killing of Tupac Shakur' and the 'Murder of Biggie Smalls' by Cathy Scott who was an investigative reporter for the Las Vegas Sun. In the 2Pac book Ms Scott gathered up the original '18 Reasons Why 2Pac is Alive' from my site and refutes them. These were penned two days after Pac's death when many including Chuck D raised some serious questions that everyone was thinking with regards to 2Pac's death. It was from that conversation with Chuck that the 18 Reasons initially got posted. Ms Scott refers to the 18 Reasons verbatim as they were written on the site in her book. Unfortunately she never offered up any props or acknowledgements in her book as to where she got them.. I had to get that off the chest. Anyway look out for the movie. Lets just hope it doesn't re-open any old wounds that are now just starting to heal..
....Why does MTV have to be involved? They are just going to distort Pac like they always have....Here is some Death Row news from the EUR newsletter:
DEATH ROW VIDEO ONLINE
Record label beats you over the head with some gangsta issh.
Death Row Records recently announced that its latest release, the "Too Gangsta for Radio" compilation, is a platform for giving folks a free subscription to label-owned video content to be distributed exclusively over the Internet. The CD, available in a variety of retail channels beginning today, contains the first in a series of videos entitled "Celebrity Beat Down." The remainder of the videos in the series will be delivered to CD consumers via a weekly Internet delivery.
....and:
SUGE KNIGHT CREATES APPEAL FUND
Death Row CEO to help those wrongly imprisoned.
So-called hip-hop thugsta Suge Knight, is showing the socially conscious side of himself these days. DaveyD.com reports that the currently incarcerated CEO of Death Row Records has set up the Death Row Prisoner Appeal Fund and plans to set aside proceeds from the label's upcoming album, 'Too Gangsta For The Radio,' to help those who have been wrongly imprisoned. The company release regarding the fund said, "Death Row Records knows that real and serious problems exist in the US prison system. Through this annual funding, in some small but positive way, the fund will help change this." The release also mentioned, "Child molesters and snitches need not apply."
....and:
DEATH ROW IS PREPARED TO GO WITH "NEW" RELEASES
Snoop's forgotten joints to drop on Halloween.
Due to Death Row Records' new distribution deal with Distribution North America, the label will release two long anticipated works. First up on Oct. 3, is the compilation "Too Gangsta For Radio," which includes two unreleased Tupac Shakur tracks alongside material from Scarface, Ja Rule, Treach of Naughty By Nature, and others. On Oct. 31, arrives "Dead Man Walking," a 12-track set of unreleased Snoop Dogg tracks. The first single, "Head Doctor," featuring Swoop G, is available to sample on the official Death Row website (http://www.deathrowrecords2000.com).
....and:
KNIGHT'S PALACE IS SOLD
Death Row's top man gets paid behind bars.
The former Encino home of Marion "Suge" Knight has been sold for close to its $4.5 million asking price in an all-cash deal signed within 48 hours of being on the market. The Mediterranean-style house has seven bedrooms in slightly more than 17,700 square feet. The gated home, on approximately 1.5 acres, also has a pool with a swim-up bar, a tennis court, a movie theater with concession stand, a full gym, an elevator, a master suite occupying the entire second floor, three guest houses and a hidden safe room that is bulletproof. The house was being built when Knight was sent to prison.
....Finally, I have learned from an official source that a new spoken word album will be coming out and two new albums are currently in the works at Interscope.
9.13.2000 - Another year has passed making it 4 years since Pac died. I was in Las Vegas last weekend and it was especially strange being there this time of year. I was driving on the freeway and a white Cadillac with Cali plates passed me which made me think of Pac. I was hoping to see some sort of tribute in the works but the only thing I found was on the magazine rack. In the most recent issue of The Source, they remember Pac by interviewing Keisha Morris, Richie Rich, and the Outlawz. I bought the magazine and will try to get a copy of the articles posted online but the stories were pretty short so I would recommend just reading it at the store. The best article was on the Outlawz which had some new information including them talking about what really happened to Kadafi.
"I think Jay-Z benefited from the fact that 'Pac and Biggie are dead. When they were around, he wasn't on that level. I like Lil' Kim because she's grimy and a ghetto bitch." - Suge Knight (June 2000)
....There is a new Pac song out called "Thug Nature." I have been getting scattered reports of it getting radio play around the country including WCDX (Power 92) in Richmond, VA and I heard it tonight here in Phoenix on 92.3 but I'm not sure if it has been released as an official single yet. There is a tracklisting up at www.deathrowrecords2000.com for the Too Gangsta 4 Radio album which includes this song...Here is an interesting article from Sonicnet.com concerning Eazy E and Pac being extorted:
FBI Probed Possible Extortion Of Eazy-E, Bureau Memos Say
The FBI mounted a two-and-a-half-year investigation to determine whether associates of the Jewish Defense League tried to extort money from deceased N.W.A rapper Eazy-E and slain rapper Tupac Shakur by making telephone death threats, according to documents recently released by the government agency.
The probe, which extended from Oct. 17, 1996, until May 18, 1999, was closed after investigators failed to substantiate the allegations, according to document excerpts, which are posted on www.thesmokinggun.com's "Archive" section.
Two unnamed informants told the FBI that "Eric Wright, also known as Eazy-E, who owns Ruthless Records ... was a victim of this extortion scheme prior to dying from AIDS." Also targeted was Shakur, "prior to his recent murder in Las Vegas," according to a heavily blacked out Jan. 3, 1997, FBI memo.
Groundbreaking gangsta rap group N.W.A, which included Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and M.C. Ren, along with Eazy-E, released Straight Outta Compton in 1988. The album's title track (RealAudio excerpt) became a signature song for the group. Eazy-E, who founded Ruthless Records, died in 1995.
Shakur, another West Coast rapper who garnered national acclaim with his 1992 debut, 2pacalypse Now, was SUPOSIDLY gunned down in a 1996 Las Vegas shooting.
The FBI files outraged a spokesperson for the Jewish Defense League, as well as a former Ruthless Records executive. They said the JDL offered Eazy-E protection in the early 1990s, after Death Row Records co-founder Suge Knight allegedly threatened the rapper. A spokesperson for Interscope, Shakur's label, who refused to be identified, declined to comment. Neither David Kenner, Knight's attorney, nor representatives for Ruthless Records could be reached for comment.
The FBI letters blacked out the names of the suspects and many other details of the investigation. However, the memos provide a sketchy picture of a probe to uncover a group that allegedly worked for the JDL and possibly targeted several unnamed rappers. For example, the Jan. 3 memo said Eazy-E paid a security consultant $1,000 per week as a result of death threats. The initial FBI inquiry was upgraded to a "Full Field Investigation" in 1997, but the case was closed in May 1999.
The case was "extensively investigated," according to a May 18, 1999, memo, but the extortion allegation against the unnamed suspects was "not substantiated," the memo stated.
JDL spokesperson Irv Rubin, who had not read the documents, and who was unaware of the investigation, expressed amazement at the allegations.
"There was nothing but a close, tight relationship" between Eazy-E and the League, Rubin said.
The Defense League offered to provide bodyguards to Eazy-E when Knight allegedly threatened him in the early 1990s, said Mike Klein, former director of business affairs at Ruthless Records. At the time, Knight and Eazy-E were involved in a legal dispute over the work Dr. Dre had done at Ruthless, Klein said. Knight is in prison for violating probation in connection with a 1992 attack on two aspiring rappers; he is scheduled to be released in May.
FBI spokesperson Linda Colton confirmed that the agency released the 170-page file to thesmokinggun.com in response to the site's written Freedom of Information Act request but declined to comment on the investigation.
The 1975 Freedom of Information Act legislation gave the public broader access to certain government documents and FBI investigation files. Eazy-E/Tupac Shakur documents are available to the public via written requests because the two rappers are deceased, Colton said.
9.13.2000 - The Outlawz will be appearing on "5 Footaz" new album together with Warren G and Xzibit. They are also appearing on Tha Gamblas new album on a track called "Another Episode" together with JT/C-BO/Yukmouth. EDI of the Outlawz will also be appearing on Killa Tay's new album "Snake Eyez". Fatal is on Do Or Die's new album "Victory" on the track "Thuggin' It Out"....In the song "Focus" by Def Squad, Pac is mentioned in the line:
"I bring the wreck to a nigga bringin' drama, make em' feel it like 2pac's dear mama."
.... There are a couple of documentary VHS movies that have been out for awhile but I haven't heard anything about them. One is called Tupac Shakur: A New Look by Afeni Shakur and the other is called Gangstresses which supposedly features Tupac. If anyone has seen them, let me know....I heard there was a Pac reference in the movie Shaft. At one part a white guy is insulting a black guy at a predominately wealthy white bar and saying things like "They dont serve any malt liquor here, homie, aight?" and then he says "Don't ignore me, holla back at me, Tupac! Speaking of Shaft, I haven't confirmed it but John Singleton supposedly said that he wanted Tupac to play Shaft on the director's commentary on the Poetic Justice DVD...Here is an older excerpt from an interview Vibe did with Warren G about Pac giving him his break as a producer when he worked on "Definition of a Thug Nigga" from the Poetic justice soundtrack and other Tupac tracks like Thug Life's "How Long Will They Mourn Me" and "Gotta Get Mine" with MC Breed.
"When I did that song (Definition of a Thug Nigga), I was starving," Warren said. "I was hungry. I don't mean that as far as being broke. I'm saying that as an artist and a producer. And he was the only person that gave me a chance to exploit my talents outside of me doing my other thang over there with The Chronic. The nigga called me at about 10 o'clock at night. I was in the bed and he said he wanted me to do the song. I jumped in my Cutlass and smashed all the way up to Echo Sounds studio. I went in there (and) we was blazing bomb ass weed with fine ass bitches in the motherfucker. I'm pumped now cause I'm working with this nigga. I go in there and put it down. And he loved it."
....South Africa's only 24 hour music station is currently running a 5 day Tupac special every night until Sunday....That's all I have for now but I want to thank everyone for their support as the site enters it's 5th year. I might not be able to respond to all of my email but I want to sincerely thank everyone who has ever sent me an update because the site wouldn't be here if it weren't for all of you. Another thing I wanted to mention was that last year I saved all of the 9/13 Memorial messages because there was such a great turnout. This year, please post all of your 9/13 Memorial messages here so they can be saved indefinitely.
