AEOP: Please tell us a little bit of yourself, how did you ended up to represent Tupac's legacy?
I met Afeni Shakur through my old law firm in August 1998 and we immediately hit off mentally, intellectually, spiritually, and emotionally. We have been together ever since.
AEOP: What’s the situation with One Nation album right now? In a recent interview Duck Down's Buckshot said that it probably never get released. And if so, why is that?
We don’t have the master reels for this album. If Duck Down has the master reels (1/4 analogue tape)- I wish they would tell him but, according to Drew from Duck Down a few years ago - they do not.
AEOP: Let’s talk a little about song rights. If somebody comes up with never before heard Tupac song has he must give it to Amaru? If in example Death Row has some songs that nobody knows and suddenly they decide to release those, are they able to do this or do they belong to Amaru automatically?
When an artist signs an Exclusive Recording Agreement with a record company the agreement specifically states that “any recordings made by them during the term of the recording agreement are owned and controlled by the record company.” Tupac signed an exclusive recording agreement with Interscope on August 15, 1991 and then to Death Row on September 15, 1995 BUT all rights to the Sept 15, 1995 Death Row Agreement were granted to Afeni Shakur by a Federal Court.
Accordingly, pursuant to the contracts, any songs recorded by Tupac from August 15, 1991 until September 14, 1995 belong to Interscope regardless of where he recorded them and all songs recorded by Tupac from September 15, 1995 up until his death regardless of where he recorded them belong Afeni Shakur.
AEOP: Does Death Row need a permission from Amaru before they can release anything related to Tupac? In example Nu-Mixx Classics album that they released?
Yes, anything having to do with Tupac whether its music, lyrics, movies, images, merchandising or otherwise needs the written permission of Afeni Shakur.
AEOP: Was the Better Dayz last project with Death Row as is being said.
Yes it was.
AEOP: Is Amaru satisfied with sales of Loyal To The Game?
Yes we are.
AEOP: Also a lot of fans disagreed with Eminem's style to alter tempo of Tupac's vocals. Do you feel this is justified way to handle unreleased material?
A lot of Tupac’s fans loved the record and, more importantly, the Loyal to the Game album created ‘new Tupac fans’ which is what we intended from the beginning. We wanted to reach those who were not Tupac’s fans – and now they are!
AEOP: How did you felt Tupac: Resurrection being Oscar nominated?
This was one of the best moments of my entire life. Mostly because the Resurrection documentary took so many years to make and Afeni was constantly being told that ‘it could not be done.’ Not only did she ignore everyone but the movie was nominated for any Oscar! As Tupac would say, “Fuck Em All!” (hahah)
AEOP: What you can tell us about the future Amaru projects? This years spoken word album with Koch Records? And in 2006 new double album? What we can expect from it? Is it pre-Death Row or Death Row era album? What else projects?
Amaru is currently working on a spoken word album through its joint venture with Koch Entertainment. We are also working on the made for tv movie with VH1 based on Tupac’s early years tentatively called, “In the Beginning.” The screenplay was written by Jamal Joseph. Jamal is also writing the Broadway play which is a joint venture between Amaru and the Mosiac Media Group. Tupac’s autobiography called, “All Eyez On Me” is almost done as well and that book is being written by Quinton Skinner with Staci Robinson. In addition, Amaru just signed a deal for a Tupac ‘interactive book.’ Both new books will be published by Simon & Schuster. Of course we will have an unreleased album for the 10 year anniversary next year and Afeni Shakur has been starting to discuss this with members of her Amaru team. Future projects also include a Tupac video game.
AEOP: What’s Amaru’s opinion about unofficial Tupac material like documents and books?
So long they all get approved by Afeni Shakur, we are okay with them. If they don’t seek Afeni’s permission, they will get sued.
AEOP: How much Interscope has the power to control Tupac releases the way they want?
None.
AEOP: It has been said that the reason for not to release Tupac songs in original form is that they are outdated, but don't you think that the truth reason is money that would be needed for sample clearences and also that original producers and artists should be paid. It's a lot of cheaper to reproduce them and replace old artists.
Largely its’s because we can't clear the samples. Under the US Copyright Act, you need written permission because using samples in any song because the new song is deemed a ‘derivative work’ and we can get sued! For example, try getting any sample cleared by Prince. It’s not going to happen. Therefore, we strip the sample off (which is usually the whole musical bed) and chose new producers to make new music.
AEOP: Is the music supervisors people who make the final decisions when considering guest artists for posthumous Tupac records? Do you think they consider Tupac’s possible relationships with these artist at the time he was alive at all?
Afeni Shakur makes all these decisions. Of course she considers original artists and producers but sometimes its just not practical for a myriad of reasons.
AEOP: Why so many times the artists who originally appeared on Tupac records are left out and replaced?
Some of them are very difficult to deal with and make unreasonable demands which only hurts them, not us. However, Afeni Shakur always allocates them a percentage of the copyright of the new song even though by law she does not have to do this. She does this out of respect and loyalty because they worked with and were friends with her son.
AEOP: Are there any unreleased music videos by Tupac?
Not that we are aware of.
AEOP: Thanks for you time, any last words?
Thank you for all that you do to maintain Tupac’s legacy! Your website is such a big part of what we do and we are always so grateful for all the time you spend on it and on us!
2005-06-11
