The "regular" life of Tupac

[masta247]

We know 2pac the gangsta rapper and the "bad guy in the movies" character that he tried to mimic as his public persona during his infamous years, but beneath that there's his real-life side that we could never really see as much about, especially as we've mostly seen the 2pac that was spamming gangsta rap records to get out of the Deathrow deal. When the people who were actually close to him say something about him or show their personal memorabilia, there is a very different person there than the one we see in most of the interviews. We consider his "label rapper mates" to be his best buddies, but in reality, 2pac would finish his work and go back to his real life that was not at all public. Whether it was his acting school friends, his wife Keisha, later his newer fiancee Kidada.

We know that 2pac was, first of all, an actor, and rapping was a very secondary thing that he saw as an opportunity. Sometimes it feels like 2pac actually acted through the whole gangsta persona, which was heavily inspired by his Juice and Above the Rim characters, while in reality he was surely influenced by his public life, but was a completely normal and very down-to-earth, emotional person in his true personal life, who didn't really want any of that, but got himself in a situation where he had to be that person. Whenever I see anything related to his real life, I'm really surprised, and feel like he didn't actually want to do what he did, and it surely scared him, but it made him and his close ones money. If it wasn't for Deathrow, where he had to present a certain image, he would be in jail, as the bail amount was impossible for him to cover. We know that recorded a lot, so he could meet his side of the deal as soon as possible and peace out. Which makes the whole thing all the sadder.

While Googling his private life, you will likely see a very different Tupac:

In 1994 Tupac was married to Keisha Shakur:





2pac engaged to Kidada during his Deathrow days:







2pac, Robbie Willams and Kidada:



2pac doing the Versace walk with Kidada:



2pac and his mom:

 

[masta247]

There's a limit of 10 photos, so I can't spam more, but there is also plenty on the internet at this point, from the personal stashes of his real friends and family.

Tupac lived in Woodland Hills in a house leased by Deathrow Record, that he tried to buy off from them to live with Kidada after his Deathrow stunt was over. They were engaged and about to get married at the time:

https://la.curbed.com/2017/7/7/15938224/tupac-shakur-last-home-for-sale-woodland-hills-calabasas

"Shakur lived in the house from 1995 up to the time of his 1996 murder in Las Vegas. Though the house was leased for him by his label at the time, Death Row Records, the Los Angeles Times reported in 2000 that Shakur was in escrow to buy the house at the time of his death.

The residence, in which Shakur lived with his fiancée Kidada Jones (daughter of music powerhouse Quincy Jones) was always filled with visiting members of Shakur’s extended family and “any friend who needed a bed."


We heard that Tupac really didn't want to leave the Baltimore school, we heard that he cried when he talked to the school's director saying he had to leave, and I feel like we would be reading about a completely different person if it wasn't for his Deathrow years, where he likely wouldn't be if he didn't go to jail due to the chick that we've lately seen interviews of, to everyone's annoyance, taking him to court over a most likely fabricated story. Most likely, he would still be alive. Likewise if he became big as an actor, which is what he wanted to be in the first place, before making it big as a rapper. Tupac before he became a rapper:

 

[k69atie]

Wow fab thanks for this.. really interesting

Seems so strange seeing him with Robbie Williams as well.

The graffiti in the concrete in the house too

Keep posting more pls xx

 

[masta247]

Thanks! I know this is Vanity Fair, but this is actually one of the best reads about 2pac (and made before a lot of information got distorted) - it's from 1997 and it presents how 2pac created his persona and how things changed with Juice, his early albums and then spiraled downhill at Deathrow - the interesting bits start about half-way in:
https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/1997/03/tupac-shakur-rap-death

The interesting bits extracted in order:

"The problem, as he saw it, was D.U.’s happy rap style. Gangsta was the fashion now, and L.A. was its paradise. By 1990, everyone was there: Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Eazy-E, the Ices’ Cube and T. Be real Niggaz, called the voices as the ominously slow, deep beat boomed from cruising car stereos. Fuck tha police. No matter that many of the music’s makers were well-educated products of good, two-parent homes. Gangsta sold—to the pinkest of Caucasians as well as blacks. Leila wanted no part of it, and, cautioning Pac to watch his back, turned over his management to Atron."

“Ten years from now,” said Moritz, “you’re going to be a big star.” “Ten years from now,” Tupac replied, “I’m not going to be alive."

"Suge, who ran into Tupac at a recording studio, tried money first, offering $200,000 for a single song. Pac took the cash, but, loyal to Atron and Whalley, declined the Death Row invite. A seed, however, was planted."

"His fans thought he was real, believed he truly was the Bishop who had so chillingly said on the screen, “I am crazy. But . . . I don’t give a fuck.” Tupac didn’t disappoint.”

"‘Where do I go to stay out of trouble?” Tupac asked concerned friends. “There’s not a place called ‘Careful.’” His career wouldn’t have allowed a visit in any event. It wasn’t his musicianship that was making him, he admitted. His only uniqueness was a compulsion to test the limits. “Being crazy,” as he put it, “is what rescued me""

"Others saw the beginnings of a change, as well. One sign was the resumption of his school visits with Leila. “Why be a thug?” a teacher asked him in Los Angeles. Tupac answered, “Who else is going to love me?” At another stop, where grade-school children read their lessons for him, an aide was startled to see tears roll down his cheeks."

"On the night the jury went out, Tupac met up with a few friends on a cash hunt. He was low; most of his money was supporting an ever enlarging circle of relatives—nearly 40 of them now"

"‘Thug life to me is dead,” a chastened Tupac told Kevin Powell, while awaiting sentence. He’d been frightened by the “responsibilities” he’d been born to, hidden from them by “smoking too much, drinking, going to clubs, just being numb.” He hadn’t raped the young woman, he said, but he hadn’t stopped her from being raped, either. “I had a job,” as he put it, “and I never showed up.” All that, however, was over. “I’m going to show people . . . my true heart,” Tupac Shakur said. “I’m going to show them the man that my mother raised.”
The judge had other ideas. Condemning Tupac’s “arrogance,” he sentenced him to a term of up to four and a half years in the maximum-security facility at Dannemora, New York."

"The approach to Tupac was smooth, too. Death Row, Suge said on a jail visit, was “family,” and as “Daddy,” he looked after all its members. He would put up Pac’s bail. All Tupac had to do was join them. “I want a house for my moms,” the rapper replied. Done, said Suge. Knight’s lawyer, a white criminal attorney named David Kenner, scrawled out a three-page contract, naming himself Tupac’s legal representative and Suge the controller of his business affairs. Pac gave it a glance and signed.

They celebrated with Dom Pérignon and a private jet ride to Los Angeles. That Suge had put up only a $250,000 guarantee to bail out Tupac—Interscope and Time Warner had provided the rest—went unnoticed. “Suge,” Tupac promised, “I’m gonna make Death Row the biggest label in the whole world.”

"Soon, Tupac and Kidada were living together. Their house—a Death Row-leased estate in suburban Calabasas—was always crowded. Afeni and Sekyiwa visited for long stretches, bringing Sekyiwa’s two little girls with them. The Outlawz—Tupac’s teenage cousins—were also in residence, along with any friend who needed a bed. Tupac completed the dorm atmosphere by installing banks of video games and slot machines. The boys were free to use them as long as they turned up for Tupac’s fatherly talks delivered beneath his most prized possession, a print his mother gave him of The Starry Night. In truth, he didn’t own much else. Though Tupac had sold more than $60 million in records since his release, by the label’s reckoning, he owed Death Row $4.9 million. All those services Suge had been providing—including the bail money—had been charged to Tupac’s account. Word on the street was that millions more had gone to the Mob. Not the M.O.B.—“Members of Bloods”—on Suge’s diamond ring, but the New York family that went by the name Genovese. (Knight’s lawyer responds: “Suge wouldn’t know a member of the Genovese crime family if he tripped over him.”) All Pac knew was that he wanted out. “He was sick of the game,” says one of the intimates he confided in. “He was exhausted playing the gangster role.”
Three days later, after finishing the album that would close out his Death Row contract, Tupac put out feelers about moving to Warner’s. The soldier had begun shedding his uniform."

"Then, Pac said, maybe they’d get serious about having the baby they’d been talking about the last few months. Previously he had said he didn’t want to bring a child into “such a corrupt world.” Now, though, he was different. As they signed off, he whispered what he did every night: “I’d take a bullet for you.”"



P.S. you can actually tweet at the guy who shot 2pac at the Quad studios and is making money selling a book about it:
https://twitter.com/dexter_isaac?lang=en
http://theboombox.com/outlawz-noble-says-tupac-knew-dexter-isaac-was-gunman/

 

[yak pac fatal]

 

[k69atie]

Thanks will watch the videos when not at work.

Reading the article now

Wow never heard of the dude - why has he not been charged if he admitted it

 

[masta247]

Thanks will watch the videos when not at work.

Reading the article now

Wow never heard of the dude - why has he not been charged if he admitted it

He's in jail for life for other stuff. Wrote the book from jail. Sometimes tweets during transfers.

 

[k69atie]

He's in jail for life for other stuff. Wrote the book from jail. Sometimes tweets during transfers.

had a google, very interesting never knew any of that

anyone read his book?

 

[yak pac fatal]

keefe d already admitted that orlando anderson murdered 2pac.

him and his crew most likely murdered biggie too because puffy ain't pay them.

watch murder rap

 

[k69atie]

I have never seen murder rap thanks

 

[yak pac fatal]

 

[masta247]

keefe d already admitted that orlando anderson murdered 2pac.

him and his crew most likely murdered biggie too because puffy ain't pay them.

watch murder rap

The Dexter Isaac guy I linked to was the shooter at the Quad Studios, the first shooting. Orlando was the Vegas shooter, and Keefe D seems to be the only person alive who was in that car.

 

[yak pac fatal]

The Dexter Isaac guy I linked to was the shooter at the Quad Studios, the first shooting. Orlando was the Vegas shooter, and Keefe D seems to be the only person alive who was in that car.

yea i remember dexter issace letter.

dre died from health issues i believe. orlando got murdered by a crip over a money dispute. i don't remember how t brown died. and puffs man, zip died of cancer years ago.

 

[Ristol]

So, our views of Tupac have evolved. I know mine have. I know he wasn't a great person. Good heart, no question. Kind of an asshole though. I still feel weirdly protective of him. The other day I started listening to a podcast episode about him and the host started off with "Tupac was, like, a really bad person. Like a REALLY bad person" and I turned it off right away. I was like, it's more complicated than that. But is it? Most of the time I think it is.

I believe the sexual assault shit was a setup, but I absolutely hate seeing people trashing Ayanna Jackson. Something happened to her in that hotel room. In that case, both she and Pac were victims. We all know Haitian Jack and the other dicks Tupac was hanging with were bad news, and it's mostly on them. But even Pac said he should have done more. He didn't rape anybody, but I believe he felt very guilty about that night. I think it haunted him. In fact I hope it did.

When people ask why he's important, the answer is always the music. The music is what matters. And fuck, man, the music is excellent. I still listen almost every day.

 

[masta247]

So, our views of Tupac have evolved. I know mine have. I know he wasn't a great person. Good heart, no question. Kind of an asshole though. I still feel weirdly protective of him. The other day I started listening to a podcast episode about him and the host started off with "Tupac was, like, a really bad person. Like a REALLY bad person" and I turned it off right away. I was like, it's more complicated than that. But is it? Most of the time I think it is.

I believe the sexual assault shit was a setup, but I absolutely hate seeing people trashing Ayanna Jackson. Something happened to her in that hotel room. In that case, both she and Pac were victims. We all know Haitian Jack and the other dicks Tupac was hanging with were bad news, and it's mostly on them. But even Pac said he should have done more. He didn't rape anybody, but I believe he felt very guilty about that night. I think it haunted him. In fact I hope it did.

When people ask why he's important, the answer is always the music. The music is what matters. And fuck, man, the music is excellent. I still listen almost every day.

Was he a straight-up bad guy? I grew to think that he wasn't that at all, but grew this persona, sort of like when you're a teenager and trying to be tough, and sometimes do stupid shit in the process, but really would rather not have to be in such situations, but that's the only time people care about you. Except he was an excellent actor, and for him it was a life or death sort of situation when he had to be at the top of his game to succeed. Some people are assholes and enjoy it, I don't think he did for a second, but he enjoyed the love that it got him.

When I see Tupac I see a good, relatable and extremely charismatic guy who's trying to do great things, but had to hang out with the bad crowd and had to let it get the best of him for the sake of his career and providing for his close ones, and taking a shot at doing what he always wanted - being heard. He had to be a little bit of an asshole and talk like one to be a successful gangsta rapper, which is where he saw his chance for his spotlight and potentially a path to something better further down the line. We know he wanted out of Deathrow, and he wanted that to happen ASAP. He was like "Imma write albums 24/7 and peace the fuck out or I'm dead". He had to play tougher than he wanted to while being there for sure. Surely the career path made him make some questionable choices, but so would anyone hanging out with murderers and big-time gangsters on a daily basis.

I think if he became big as an actor first, and wasn't loved for his bad characters, he would be a very different kind of public person. He wasn't the guy who you know is a straight up asshole and proud of it. I think quite the opposite.

 

[Preach]

So, our views of Tupac have evolved. I know mine have. I know he wasn't a great person. Good heart, no question. Kind of an asshole though. I still feel weirdly protective of him. The other day I started listening to a podcast episode about him and the host started off with "Tupac was, like, a really bad person. Like a REALLY bad person" and I turned it off right away. I was like, it's more complicated than that. But is it? Most of the time I think it is.

I believe the sexual assault shit was a setup, but I absolutely hate seeing people trashing Ayanna Jackson. Something happened to her in that hotel room. In that case, both she and Pac were victims. We all know Haitian Jack and the other dicks Tupac was hanging with were bad news, and it's mostly on them. But even Pac said he should have done more. He didn't rape anybody, but I believe he felt very guilty about that night. I think it haunted him. In fact I hope it did.

When people ask why he's important, the answer is always the music. The music is what matters. And fuck, man, the music is excellent. I still listen almost every day.

This pretty much sums up the way I've come to think about it aswell.

I used to be similarly protective of him, but that has slowly turned into me just letting go whenever I encounter someone who doesn't know about Pac. There's always someone who doesn't know everything about all that happened, and therefore doesn't see all the complication, just how I'm that way about everythin except the few things I know anything about. They're like that with Pac, I'm like that with Biggie and Pac was like that with someone. We all like to entertain this idea that if you just give someone all the information about something, they'll come to the "natural conclusion", but the natural conclusion is different for everyone.

And also, the need for him to be great in every aspect is some kind of weird artifact of the idolization process that takes a guy from a boy to a man. In the end, what you said is what matters, the music, or the art even. I think of everything that revolved around him as part of the "package you buy". The "lore" of the bay area, if you will, was interesting. I learned a lot about people and relations from just "studying" the art he made and that's why I treasure him.

 

[Ristol]

This pretty much sums up the way I've come to think about it aswell.

I used to be similarly protective of him, but that has slowly turned into me just letting go whenever I encounter someone who doesn't know about Pac. There's always someone who doesn't know everything about all that happened, and therefore doesn't see all the complication, just how I'm that way about everythin except the few things I know anything about. They're like that with Pac, I'm like that with Biggie and Pac was like that with someone. We all like to entertain this idea that if you just give someone all the information about something, they'll come to the "natural conclusion", but the natural conclusion is different for everyone.

And also, the need for him to be great in every aspect is some kind of weird artifact of the idolization process that takes a guy from a boy to a man. In the end, what you said is what matters, the music, or the art even. I think of everything that revolved around him as part of the "package you buy". The "lore" of the bay area, if you will, was interesting. I learned a lot about people and relations from just "studying" the art he made and that's why I treasure him.

Yes. He was a capable actor with a couple of decent performances. Laurence Olivier he was not.

 

[k69atie]

What you three said completely agree

I am still defensive of him even though I am aware he could be an dick

But people who only know that about him as that is all they've seen you sort of get why they do if that makes sense?

 

[masta247]

Yes. He was a capable actor with a couple of decent performances. Laurence Olivier he was not.

I wonder how much further he would have taken it though. He died at 25. At 25 Johnny Depp was being consistently rejected during castings. In 1996 he was extremely active in terms of music AND acting, while doing both at the same time. Ice Cube said he would surely be the first of them with an Oscar. His teachers at the school of arts said he "had an extraordinary talent". I think the movies he played in didn't quite do him justice, and the roles were too similar to what he portrayed in his public life. I know there are many "what ifs", and I'm not saying he was spectacular at the time, but I truly wonder what if he was still alive. He had limited education in acting and still did well.

What you three said completely agree

I am still defensive of him even though I am aware he could be an dick

But people who only know that about him as that is all they've seen you sort of get why they do if that makes sense?

I think Preach is on point, that people, in general, tend to form opinions based on limited information. If you hear the same thing from two sources that becomes a fact in your head, and nobody really takes the time to educate themselves about every single thing they talk about. It's more convenient, and most people will actually find it more relatable as they also likely didn't research the topic. While personally I would never support Trump and it's an extreme example, but it's way easier to say "Trump is a stupid moron" than to point to something that he did right as well. That discourages people from looking further into things or accepting someone else's counter-arguments, in fear that they will pick up the less popular (in their circles) stance on a given topic as well, and another factor is that people don't like their opinions challenged.

Heck, I'm not into global politics so I "knew" that Trump was an asshole before I even knew who Trump was, and I'm sure that just further repeating that he is, in fact, an asshole would give me more praises than discussing him after actually reading about him. People seem to be avoiding unpopular beliefs like it's some sort of contagious plague - you might pick them up and nobody will like you, so it's best to avoid any form of contact with them altogether. I had that as well when I read about "why do people like mumble rap", and started understanding the kids who listen to it. It felt uncomfortable.

People spread a lot of false opinions around, and they form strong opinions based on very little information, and I think it's in the society's nature. I'm not even upset, I just take it for what it is and if I care and see that their opinions might be changed, or that he might learn something new and actually is interested, I discuss. Otherwise, I just let them be, knowing that "attacking their belief systems" will accomplish nothing great. These days I mostly like discussing things with people who are genuinely interested, or if I'm interested in what thought process led to them developing certain beliefs. Frequently, people will want to discuss purely to convince you that they are right, even if their information on a given topic is limited, so it's just pointless.

But personally, I don't think I hear people being critical of 2pac these days. The last time I did was ages ago, when his music was more popular and actually criticized for glorifying criminal lifestyle and such. I don't think that's as much of an issue these days, and people have much more annoying rappers to complain about these days.

 

[k69atie]

It only came up as they were watching untouchable and now think they know everything about pac ha ha