2Pac Facts Essay Research Paper 1997ForeshadowIn April

2Pac Facts Essay, Research Paper

1997

Foreshadow

In April of 1969, Afeni (Alice Faye Walker), and 20 other members of the New York Black Panthers were arrested and charged with felonies, including conspiracy to bomb police stations and department stores in New York City and the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. While out on bail, Afeni dated Legs, a gangster and William Garland, a Panther. She was married to Lumumba Abdul Shakur, the main defendant in the Panther 21 case, who remained incarcerated. She had four or five miscarriages. In 1970, Geronimo Pratt, also Panther, was put in a California jail on homicide charges on Caroline Olsen on a Santa Monica tennis court in ‘68. His lawyer was Johnnie Cochran. When Lumumba found out Afeni was pregnant he divorced her. In 1971 Afeni’s bail was revoked and lived at the Women’s House of Detention in Greenwich Village. In May Afeni was acquitted of all charges. She defended herself with a cross-examination of a witness who turned out to be a undercover government agent. On June 16th, Lesane Parish Crooks was born in Brooklyn. Gloria Jean, Afeni’s sister and Joan Bird sat outside the delivery room. The doctor took Lesane to Gloria to bear witness to who he was. The Panthers renamed him Tupac Amaru Shakur. Tupac Amaru means wisdom and courage, and is after a Cuban insurrectionary active. Shakur is Arabic for thankful to God. His mom, Afeni, and Billy Garland, who had two other kids from previous relationships, had separated. Tupac’s Social Security number was 546-47-8539. Afeni took a job as a legal assistant to Richard Fischbein, a New York trial attorney. Afeni sang Roberta Flack’s “I Love You In the Morning” as a lullaby to him. Afeni never said who Tupac’s dad was, but she did say that it wasn’t Lumumba. Tupac said, “She just told me, “I don’t know who your daddy is. It wasn’t like she was a slut or nothing.” Geronimo became Tupac’s Godfather. Afeni and Tupac moved in with Lumumba’s adopted brother, Mutulu Shakur, who became Tupac’s step-dad. In 1972, Geronimo was sentenced to prison for 25 years to life. In 1973, Tupac’s uncle, Zayd Shakur was driving on the New Jersey Turnpike with Assata Shakur, born JoAnne Chesimard, when they were stopped by a trooper. In a shoot-out that followed, Trooper Werner Foerster killed Zayd and Assata, was later charged and convicted in the killing of Werner. In 1975, Tupac’s half-sister, Sekyiwa was born. In 1976, Tupac started school at Oakley. Billy invited Tupac over for sleepovers with his other kids and sent Afeni’s mother cash. In 1979 Assata escaped from prison and fled to Cuba, where she is now living under a grant of asylum from the government of Fidel Castro. In 1981, a minister asked Tupac what he wanted to be when he grew up. He said, “A revolutionary.” Afeni brought Tupac Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night from the library, it held his attention for hours. Van Gogh was a Dutch painter who shot himself. All of van Gogh’s work was produced in 10 years. Punishment for Tupac was reading The New York Times. Mutulu left the family and went underground. Legs came to live with the family, Tupac had always assumed that he was his real dad. Tupac said, “That is where the thug in me came from.” He introduced Afeni to crack. In 1983, Tupac estimated that he’d lived in “like eighteen different places” when he started junior high. F.B.I. agents would come to Tupac at school and ask him if he had seen Mutulu. He was on the Ten Most Wanted list. In 1984, Gerard saw Tupac for the first time he said that Tupac had shirt with MC NEW YORK written with iron-on letters, and he was rapping. All these people was around him. They were enemies at first, but then they made a crew, Born Busy, DJ Plain Terror, Ace Rocker, and D on the beat box. In 1985 Tupac started writing poetry in grammar school in New York. Afeni, Tupac, and Sekyiwa joined The House of the Lord Pentecostal Church in Brooklyn. In 1986, Legs was sent to prison for credit-card fraud. In September, Tupac joined a Harlem theater group called 127th Street Ensemble, where he did his first performance, as Travis, in A Raisin in the Sun, at the Apollo theater to raise money so Jesse Jackson could run for president. Tupac said, “Right now I can remember the bug biting me right there. I lay on a couch and played sleep for the first scene. Then I woke up and I was the only person onstage. I can remember thinking, “This is the best shit in the world!” That got me real high.” They moved to Baltimore, where Afeni would have a job. When she called Legs to let him know where she was, she found out he had died of a crack-induced heart attack. Tupac said, “I couldn’t even cry, man. I felt I needed a daddy to show me the ropes, and I didn’t have one.” Tupac said, “We didn’t have any lights. I used to sit outside by the streetlights and read the autobiography of Malcolm X. And it made it so real to me that I didn’t have any lights at home and I was sitting outside on the benches reading this book. And then of course my mother had books by people like Patrice Lumumba and Stokely Carmicheal, Seize the Time by Bobby Seale, and Soledad Brother by George Jackson. And she would tell me these stories of things that she did or she saw or she was involved with and it made me feel a part of something.” Tupac auditioned and was accepted to the Baltimore High School of the Performing Arts. Tupac said, “The white kids had things we never seen. That was the first time I saw there was white people who you could get along with. Before that, I just believed what everybody else said, “They was devils,” but I loved it. I loved going to school. It taught me a lot. I was starting to feel like I really wanted to be an artist. I was fucking white girls. I learned ballet, poetry, jazz, music, everything, Shakespear, acting, everything as well as academics.” He was the mouse king in The Nutcracker and Othello in Othello. He read The Prince by Nicolo Machiavelli. Machiavelli was an Italian war strategist who advocated faking his own death to fool his enemies. Lumumba was found dead in Louisiana, just days before Mutulu was arrested for the ‘81 Brinks robbery, in which two Nyack, New York policemen and a Brinks guard were killed. He became friends with Jada Pinkett. At school they made a video of themselves lip singing to to Will Smith’s “Parents Don’t Understand.” He started rapping, and became known as MC New York. He wrote his first song, “Breakin’ Through.” 2Pac started performing at benefits for Geronimo and other prisoneers. Tupac stayed at a rich classmate’s house and wore his clothes, but he went back. In 1987, Tupac and Jada taped a video of themselves at Paramount’s Kings Dominion amusement park in Richmond, Virginia. Tupac’s family could never pay the rent of their apartment. When he first learned how to drive he had a green Celica. He went out with some friends and Ricky Coleman came up to him and asked why he was claiming Oakland. Tupac wrote the poem, I Cry and a eulogy to Huey P Newton, Fallen Star which he recited. In 1988 a boy was killed in a gang shooting, so in June Afeni sent Tupac and Sekyiwa on a bus to spend the summer with Geronimo’s wife, Linda in Marin City, California. Tupac and Charles Fuller (Man Man) went to the rec and played basketball. He shot bricks and airballs. He met Brewster at the rec. Tupac bagged groceries and worked odd jobs. Then Linda called Afeni and told her she needed to come to California because she was going to alcohol rehab the next day. Tupac and Sewyika lived with Afeni in door 1 at an apartment called the 89 building, but got into a series of arguments, so he moved out. Tupac met Marku Reynolds who introduced him to his cousin Klark Gable and Darron Page. Dimitrius Striplin and Gable were like the two DJ’s in town and they all got together and became TC (The Crew). They spent time rapping and at the studio together. They did “Lifstyles of the Poor and Homie,” “Let’s Get It On,” and “Get Some For Girls.” Their theme song was “Thug Life.” He lived with Man Man because Sewyika was dating his brother. He went to school at Mt. Tamalpais High on Miller Ave. in Mill Valley, California. He worked at a pizza parlor. Tupac said, “I didn’t fit in. I was the outsider. I dressed like a hippie, they teased me all the time. I couldn’t play basketball. I didn’t know who basketball players were. I was the target for the street gangs. They used to jump me things like that. I thought I was weird because I was writing the poetry and I hated myself, I used to keep it a secret. I was really a nerd.” Tupac became friends with T.A.C. and Anthony. Dimitrius introduced Tupac to Ryan D. who was with Terry Agust at a bus stop. They had a rap battle and Tupac did, “Girls Be Tryin’ To Work a Nigga.” The bus came and they called it a tie. They were both going the same way and they became the One Nation Emcees. Dimitrius’ dad had just gone to jail so they all moved in to his house. Terry told Tupac to do the dishes by the time he got home. Tupac and drank and played nintendo all day, and he spilt a jug of something all over and didn’t clean it up. Terry came home with his girlfriend and they got in a fight. Tupac went to hit Terry with his right hand and he missed and hit the washing machine. Then Terry beat him up. He never went to a doctor and it didn’t heal right. They put a tour together and went to L.A. to do a show for the New Afrikan Panthers. They didn’t know how long it would take to get there, so they kept having to call them from pay phones telling them that they would be late. They finally got there six hours late, but they still did the show. The performed “Panther Power,” “One Nation Emcees,” and “Fantasy.” The Panthers had a whole agenda for them for that night and the next day and one of the thing they had was a Self Defense training class. Tupac learned a move where when you get knocked down you can lay on your back and kick the person and they can’t get to you. When the instructor called on Tupac to fight someone before the guy even hit him he got down on the ground. He made “I Thought U Knew” and “Leave Us Kids Alone,” his first professional recordings. In September, Mutulu was sentenced to 60 years in prison for conspiring to commit armed robbery and murder. Tupac wrote “Tha’ Lunatic.” One of his friends, Molly Monjouze said she’d go with him for a hamburger and coke and he’d start writing songs on a napkin. Tupac said he was “in the same things everyday, holes in my jeans the fucked up sneakers.” 2Pac performed at the Apollo Theater in New York. One night in Marin City, Tupac, Ryan D., Troy, Gable and some other guys were drinking in Troy’s cousin’s Jetta. They started talking about girls and Troy said he messed around with one of Tupac’s girls. Troy wanted Tupac to get out of the car so they could fight, but Tupac wouldn’t. They started fighting and Troy got him out of the car. Tupac bit him and he bit him back. Then Tupac did his move he learned. Jerry Aquak had Ice and Tupac watch his girlfriend while he went to take of some business. They both did his girl, put back on their clothes, and Jerry never knew. In 1989, Tupac started selling drugs, and dropped out school just before graduation. Tupac went to the Travelodge hotel in Mill Valley on Redwood Hwy. with Brewster, Marku, and some other guys. Some guy wanted to leave and Tupac started beating him up. The guy went to his car and Tupac hit his window. The police came and put Tupac in one car and Marku in another car to find out who they were, but since the guy left they let them go. They went back to Marin City and Tupac was still mad. He took a flowerpot and through it through the back window of his of his apartment. Tupac got his GED. Watani invited him to L.A. where he was organizing youth programs in the South Central ghetto. He joined one for several months, but Wantani reminded him too much of Afeni’s politicalness and moved back. At a park, Tupac overheard Leila Steinberg reading Winnie Mandela’s A Part of My Soul Went With Him. He said, “That’s a good one. It really moves well.” They talked for a while and Leila offered him a room in her Sonoma County house, and Tupac made her the manager of his group, Strictly Dope (2Pac, Ray Luv, and one of D.U.’s DJs). He joined The Poetry Circle in Santa Rosa, California, which was a writer’s circle that included Leila and Ray Luv. He wrote In the Event of My Demise, And 2Marrow, The Rose That Grew From Concrete, In Depth of Solitude, Ambition Over Adversary, Can You See the Pride In the Panther, and Something 2 Die 4. He also wrote a tribute to van Gogh, Starry Night and one to Marilyn Monroe. Tupac and Leila toured inner-city schools and Tupac rapped for eight months without a gig. One night when Leila and Tupac were eating his specialty, potato tacos, Tupac said, “Just tell people what I always tell you: that I’m gonna sell more records than any rapper ever.” The next day Leila called Atron Gregory, the manager of D.U. He introduced him to Shock G, who gave him a live audition and invited him on tour. He didn’t have any place to keep his clothes and stuff because Shock moved out of his apartment caus ehe wanted to get a new one. So Tupac kept his stuff at Gable’s apartment and said he said he would help pay rent. He went on tour with D.U. to Japan. Tupac went to Astroworld in Houston while he was on a tour with D.U. and New Kids on the Block. He performed with D.U. at the Astrodome that night. Tupac said, “On my spare time when we go on tour, I pick up all that shit I have to pick up drop that down and brush down the piano. Shock would be playing the piano. Search, or Latifah, or Kane would be rappin’ at the piano, and that’s when I would let people hear me. I always be runnin’ with a rhyme, and I kick a rhyme. And everybody start listenin’ to me, that’s how I started getting friends in the industry. And I knew people and that gave me the confidence, so I would you know get more risky you know, write shit. And Shock was like, “You want to do “Same Song” and I was like, “Hell yeah.” So I had like 15 minutes to write my part. I just scribble the shit out, did it and people really like him.” When he came back he said he would pay Gable for all the time he kept his stuff at his apartment, but he didn’t because he said that Shock fucked him out of some money. Shock G said that he heard Tupac explaining Terms of Endearment to a girl on a tour bus. Tupac knew a lot about The Gospel at Colonus, Les Miserables, Poe, Lao-tzu, Mozart. Tupac said, “Look how he busts it up with Macbeth,” congratulating the bard for “some serious ghetto shit.” His first time performing, something went wrong with the sound system and Atron had to restrain him from hitting one of the equipment men. Tupac performed with D.U. at a Martin Luther King Jr. festival. After it someone put a 12 guage in his face over a argument over a girl. He got his first tatoo, 2Pac, on the left side of his chest. Tupac got his own apartment with all the D.U. members in Oakland. In 1990, he turned his management over to Atron and had recorded more than enough songs for a album, he just had to get it released. Tupac met Treach on a Public Enemy tour where they were roadies. Sleuth, his road manager suggested that he go with Money B when he auditioned for the lead in Juice. They got there and Money B couldn’t do it. Tupac said, “I saw everyone else reading and they thought I was Treach from Naughty By Nature and they was like, “Yeah, yeah, Treach we want you to read.” I was like “My name’s Tupac.” They was just like, “Whatever just read.” Tupac said, “I auditioned like 20 times they kept flying me back” He said, “I can do this shit,” and producer Neil Moritz cast him for it. Tupac said, “I went in cold turkey, read, God was with me.” Jimmy Iovine and Theodore (Ted) Fields started the label Interscope Records as a joint venture with Time Warner. Tupac was on Arsenio Hall on FOX. He performed “Pain” and “I Get Around.” In On January 22nd, 1991 D.U.’s EP, This Is An EP Release came out, 2Pac is on it with, “Same Song.” The “Same Song” video premiered. Tupac went to a photo shoot with D.U. Afeni went to a rehab clinic, but Tupac still didn’t forgive her. He said that she had lied to him about drugs, and hadn’t been “real” about the hold they had on her. They filmed Juice in Harlem and he was paid $15,000 for it. He met Ed Lover on the set, and they became friends. A kid stole something from his trailer. Tupac said, “I was like, ok, I’ll take justice into my own hands. And I got some of my niggas, and we went and found the little nigger who stole from me and beat his ass. Because I’m a true nigga, not a fake film nigga. And you cannot rob from me.” Nothing but Trouble, directed by Dan Aykroyd, with Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, and Demi Moore premiered. Tupac plays a rapper in D.U. They play “Same Song.” On March 15th, Tupac entered into a written recording agreement with TNT Records which had Tupac record a number of albums in exchange for specified advances and royalties. In July 2Pac performed at Hot97’s Summer Jam at Giants Stadium in E. Rutherford, New Jersey. Atron was making a deal with Interscope Records. Tom Whalley, president of Interscope brought in one of 2Pac’s demo tapes to Ted, and he gave it to his daughter, she told her dad how much she liked it. That tape sealed the deal, and on August 15th, Tom signed 2Pac to Interscope. They signed a contract with TNT, which had TNT furnish Interscope with a certain number of 2Pac albums in exchange for certain specified advances and royalties from Interscope. Tupac wrote a song called “Brenda’s Got A Baby” after reading a newspaper article about a 12 year old girl who became pregnant by her cousin and threw her baby down an incinerator. The “Brenda’s Got A Baby” video premiered on MTV. He watched it with Mike Cooley and another guy in his apartment. They smoked weed and Tupac called New York and other places. Someone knocked on the door and he got all these guns out because he said he got robbed before. Ryan D. and Brewster came and visited. Tupac had a brand new AK, Glock 9, and video camera. They taped Tupac saying, “Ryan D. congatulations on your baby, Gable congratulations. Let me check my messages.” On October 1st, D.U.’s album, Sons Of The P. came out, 2Pac is on it with “The D.F.L.O. Shuttle,” “Family of the Underground,” and “Good Thing We’re Rappin.” On October 17th, Tupac was walking down the street in Oakland. Tupac said, “The police department saw fit for me to be trained or snapped back into my place. So they asked for my ID and sweated me about my name because my name is Tupac. My final words to them was, “Fuck ya’ll.” The officers put a choke hold on him, roughed him up, and knocked him unconscious before charging him with resisting arrest and taking him to jail, where he waited for seven hours without medical treatment. 2Pac’s album 2Pacalypse Now came out November 11th. Tupac filed a $10 million claim against two police officers who assaulted him after citing him for jaywalking. Tupac’s attorney was John Burris. Tupac said, “If I win and get the money then the Oakland Police department is going to buy a boys home, me a house, my family a house and a Stop Police Brutality Center.” The “Trapped” video premiered MTV. On the day they finished filming Juice, Neal Moritz congratulated Tupac for his performance and teased him about spending so much of his money on gold jewelry. Tupac quoted a Robert Frost poem, “So dawn goes down the day Nothing gold can stay.” Neal said that he was going to be a big star in ten years. Tupac said, “I’m not going to be alive.” Shock G came and visited him at his apartment. Tupac would always forget his keys so he would punch in the windows. Shock G asked him if he worried about security. He picked up an automatic weapon and said, “Nah, I got this. Like rappin.’ You gotta practice.” Tupac did an interview with Davey D at his apartment. Tupac said, “Nothing Gold is coming. NG is a group coming out that I produce. All the stuff I say in my rhymes I say because of how I grew up. So to handle that, instead of going to a pyschiatrist, I got a kids group that deals with the problems a younger generation is going through. I have a group and a program called the Underground Railroad. The concept behind this is the same concept behind Harriet Tubman, to get my brothers who might be into drug dealing or whatever it is thats illegal or who are disenfranchised by today’s society, I want to get them back into by turning them onto music. Right now we’re twenty strong. The people that are in the UR are coming from all over, Baltimore, Marin City, Oakland, New York, Richmond, all over.” Tupac is signing new acts to his production company including his older brother Moecedes. Naughty By Nature’s video “Uptown Anthem” premiered. Tupac is in it. On January 16, 1992 Tupac did an interview with MTV. On the 17th Juice, directed by Ernest R. Dickerson, with Samuel L. Jackson, Omar Epps, and Treach premiered. Tupac plays Roland Bishop, a guy who wants to get out of Harlem, until he gets a gun and changes to a killer. Tupac went to see it at Mann’s Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Blvd. in L.A. with some guys and a girl. He had a pajama party in San Fransisco. He invited Troy, Kendrick, and some other old friends. They rented a limo and went to an afterparty in Oakland. They were following Tupac’s limo and somebody shot at them. Tupac said, “I want to do that even more and do other parts. I want to do better parts. I want a Terminator 2 role, something different so people can really see the diversity. ‘Cause even now I think some people are going, “Well wait a minute, that’s just him being him. How hard is it to be crazy?” Now I want to do something sane, or I want to be in love or something so people can see the diversity of what I can do.” Suge and Dre started Death Row Records, with Interscope as the exclusive distributor. Tupac moved to L.A. with Man Man, who became his road manager. Tupac said he “didn’t have a slingshot, I didn’t have a knife, I didn’t even have sharp nails.” Tupac bought a gun nd practiced shooting it on firing ranges. He started weight training and getting tatoos. Tupac got a THUG LIFE tattoo on his stomach in a L.A. tatoo parlor. MC Breed was with him. They got the idea to do a song together. He first revealed his new tattoo at the Black Nation Day celebration. Tupac and MC Breed made “Gotta Get Mine” in L.A with D.O.C. Tupac came in with some girls, and then they went out. In March Tupac went to Tower Records in California and bought some albums and vinyls. Tupac did an interview with Right On! In a picture for Juice they originally had a gun in it, but later took it out. Tupac said, “It hurts me that they let a white dude, Christian Slater, stand right next to me and look in the paper, Cuffs, the movie, advertising for Cuffs, right next to Juice. He can have a gun, but the niggas can’t. I don’t like that in The Last Boy Scout, Bruce Willis get a gun and Damon Wayans gets a football. I don’t like that in Terminator 2 he gets a big, extra large, super supreme gun and he’s an American hero.” The Governor’s single Taxin came out. 2pac is in it. In April, Tupac went to Freaknic in Atlanta. On the 10th, Tupac went to a club in West Hollywood and was one of the five people arrested and jailed on the 11th after a fight broke out on the dance floor. In Hempstead, Texas, Ronald Ray Howard shot a Texas state trooper with a 9mm. His attorney claimed that he was influenced by 2Pacalypse Now, which was in his tapedeck. The Texas state judge said that the tape shouldn’t be blamed for the shooting, but there was content in the album relating to killing cops. The State was goingg to try to ban 2Pac’s music in Texas. In exchange of keeping his music in stores, Tupac agreed to never perform in Texas again. The trooper’s widow filed a multimillion dollar civil suit against Tupac, Interscope, and Time Warner. Tupac said, “I’m working with this female, a Sister Named Mister. She’s gonna be very strong for women. She’s gonna speaking up for women, but she’s not gonna be putting her bosy in the camera to do it. She’s not gonna be little Sister Souljah either. She’s gonna be a real black women with a mic. She’s 18, her first song is “Don’t Forget Where You Came From.” In May Tupac went to a club called Florentine Gardens on Hollywood blvd. Suge met Tupac at a recording studio. Tupac said, “I used to always see Suge. When they did the soundtrack for Murder Was The Case and I was going through all those legal problems he was like, “Yo give me a song dog.” I gave him a song and I got the most I ever got for a song. It was damn near an album budget. I got something like $200,000 for one song and they didn’t even use it, but I still got paid for everything I did for the soundtrack. He had asked me to come to Death Row and I told him I wasn’t ready. Instead of taking it personal he did that for me and I appreciated that.” Tupac spent the money on a Mercedes 300, which he totaled in less than a day. The next day he bought another one and later gave it to a friend. Murder Was The Case came out on video. At the end they show the “Natural Born Killaz” video. Tupac made “Troublesome.” Ice Cube and Dre’s video “Natural Born Killaz” premiered on MTV, Tupac is in it and kills Dre. In July they started filming Poetic Justice, in South Central L.A., but filming was paused for the L.A. riots. Tupac said, “I don’t know if it was Janet that it came from, but I know that they suddenly out of the blue, they wanted me to take an AIDS test for this love scene and I did not agree, I did not disagree if we were going to make love. I said, “If I could make love to Janet Jackson I’d take four AIDS tests, but, if I’m going to do a love scene with her just like somebody else did, and they didn’t take a test, I’m not taking a test.” In August Tupac performed at the Richmond Auditorium. He talked to Byron Tymes and Charles Jr. and another guy and told him to come to the festival that was coming up. On the 22nd, at a festival celebrating the 50th anniversary of Marin City, Tupac arrived in his new Jeep to perform. While he was signing autographs a fight broke out between Tupac’s crew and Dimitrus. He said he shouldn’t be there because of what he had said about Marin City and hit him. Tupac had a .380 Colt automatic that was registered to him in his backpack that got passed around. He yelled to his half-brother through Mutulu, Maurice Harding (Mopreme) to “Get the gun.” Several shots were fired, and one killed Qu’id Walker Teal. Micheal Gibson was after him and was punching him. Tupac jumped over a fence and got in his car. He drove down the street and got out. There were like 200 mad people behind him. They totally wrecked the car with bats, bottles, and bricks. They were hitting Tupac with rocks so he went and hid under a police car until police calmed the crowd down. Then he was taken to the sub station in Sausalito. Tupac and Maurice were arrested, but no one was charged. They held Tupac for 12 hours then he was released because of lack of evidence. Detectives later found a spent .380 caliber shell casing, a gun in the bushes and .380 caliber ammunition in the Jeep. Tupac called Wantani to tell him about the incident and he cried. In September Dan Quayle targeted 2Pacalypse Now in his battle with Hollywood over traditional values, and said that 2Pac’s music, has no place in our society. In December Tupac went to a Wu Wear store in Staten Island, New York he bought a sweatshirt, a watch, and a Sprite. On January 12, 1993, Above the Law’s album, Black Mafia Life came out, 2Pac is on it with, “Call It Want U Want.” Watching MTV, Tupac found out that Allen and Albert Hughes dropped him from Menace II Society as Sharif, the Muslim. Tupac said, “They was doin’ all my videos. After I did Juice, they said, “Can we use your name to get this movie deal?” I said, “Hell yeah.” When I got with John Singleton, he told me he wanted to be Scorsese to your De Niro. For starring roles I just want you to work with me. So I told the Hughes brothers I only wanted a little role, but I didn’t tell them I wanted a sucker role. We was arguing about that in rehearsal. They said to me, “Ever since you got with John Singleton’s shit you changed.” They was trippin’ cause they got this thing with John Singleton. They feel like they competing with him.” Tupac was supposed to be in Cool Runnings. He went to Chicago to perform. Tupac talked about Quincy Jones and his insistence on marrying and “sticking his dick” in white women. He said, “The reason my house is broken up is because of his punk ass. This year I’m charging Quincy Jones and all those other mixed family ass motherfuckers. We need one generation of niggas with niggas. How we gonna have mix families and we don’t even have black families.” Naughty By Nature’s video “Hip Hop Hooray” premiered on MTV. Tupac is in it. Tupac said he has flashbacks of the video showing Latasha Harlins being shot in the back of her head over a carton of orange juice. Tupac said, “Everytime I think about peace or can’t get we all get along that comes into my mind over and over again.” Tupac kept playing B.I.G.’s song “Party and Bullshit” at the Poetic Justice set. Flattered, Biggie met Tupac at his house in L.A., and they became friends. Biggie was there when Tupac bought his first Rolex. Tupac went to the Black Radio Exclusive convention at a hotel. Mac Mall’s video “Ghetto Theme” premiered with Tupac and Stretch on MTV. In February Tupac hosted Yo! MTV Raps. Tupac said, “My mind is dangerous. If I didn’t smoke weed all the time, there would be nothing to stop me from running to San Quentin to try to free niggas. I got the gumption and artillery to do that.” They filmed the “Gotta Get Mine” video at Andre Rison’s house. During filming, a local video show did an interview with Tupac. On March 13th, during a break in filming a guest appearance on In Living Color, in a FOX TV studios parking lot in Hollywood, Tupac and Charles returned to their limo. His limo driver David Deleon said that he confronted Tupac about using drugs in the limo. Tupac said that David went into the trunk for what appeared to be a weapon. Then Tupac and Charles attacked him. Cops found weed and a gun on Tupac, and he was arrested, but wasn’t charged and released on $15,000 bail. Tupac said, “I feel sorry for those gang bangers, they laid down their weapons and nobody gave a shit. They spent more time on if Clarence touched Anita’s ass or if Mike ate that bitch’s pussy, than on trying to find out what happened in L.A.” In April, M.C. Breed’s album, The New Breed came out, 2Pac is on it with, “Gotta Get Mine” and “Comin’ Real Again.” The “Gotta Get Mine” video, with Andre Rison premiered. Tupac got seven months for the limo driver incident. Tupac went to MSU in Lansing, to do a concert. During it, he threw a mic that belonged to a local rapper on the stage, and set off a fight. He swung at him with a baseball bat. During his instigation Tupac got a 50 NIGGAZ with AK-47 tatoo on his stomach, Man Man, and another friend got one too. Tupac said that NIGGA stood for: Never Ignorant Getting Goals Accomplished. 2Pac performed “I Get Around” on MTV Jams Live 1993. They later made a video of it directed by Beth McCarthy. Tupac went to Freaknic in Atlanta. In June Tupac went to a Hoop-It-Up Tournament at Lake Merritt, Oakland with Chris Gatling and Tim Hardaway in his Mercedes Benz. He did an interview with Rudi M. for Right On! On the 29th, the Poetic Justice soundtrack came out, 2Pac is on it with, “Definition of a Thug Nigga.” Tupac said, “I thought, I really thought I made a friend, I thought, ‘I know Janet Jackson for life.’ So when the movie was over it was like, ‘Boo, this number has been changed.’ It was like a movie, I mean it was like the day after the movie wrapped.” Tupac met Snoop at a party in L.A. 2Pac did a concert at PJ’s Private Disco in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. While performing Tupac taunted gang members and got the crowd into a riot. Manuel Cal got out a pistol and fired at the stage, hitting Jacquelyn R. McNealey. The bullet damaged her spinal cord, and left her paralyzed below the chest. Tupac said, “I got to be with this 31 year old married woman. That was just too much for me. That was just weird.” On May 25th Tupac went to the premiere of Menace II Society. Police were called after Tupac beat his Mercedes Benz with a object in the street in front of his house. Tupac said, “I paid 50 Gs for it, and it keeps giving me problems.” On June 17th, Tupac appeared on the last episode of A Different World. He played Picolo, Lena’s old boyfriend. On July 21st, Poetic Justice, directed and written by John Singleton, with Janet Jackson, and Regina King premiered. Tupac plays Lucky, a single dad and postal worker trying to get a career in music while finding love. In August Tupac went to the black music convention Jack The Rapper in Atlanta. Kevin Powell introduced himself to Tupac and Tupac gave him a pound and said, “Whats up, nigga? You my man from that MTV show. I had your back, dog.” Tupac went to a meeting attended by Suge, Jimmy, and Wantani Tyehimba, his manager, at which Jimmy said that Tupac should work with Dre and should sign with Death Row. In the last weekend of August, 2Pac went to Chicago with 16 “L.A. gang leaders” to perform. In October Tupac moved into a split-level house in Atlanta that his manager bought him so he would have a calmer life. It has a 45-inch color TV in the living room, a basement where he planed to build a recording studio, a pool table, and a big backyard with a pool. He furnished it. They featured it in the Source. He wrote music in the bathroom. He couldn’t wash clothes so he would wear everything once and then throw it away. 2Pac went to Lake Charles, Louisiana to do a concert. There were some guys there that started stuff with him, and took him off stage and beat him up. He got up and knocked out some guys before the bodyguards came to help. Tupac is not allowed to do a concert in Lake Charles. On the12th, TNT, Interscope, Tupac, and Out Da Gutta Records entered a contract, which provided for the assignment by TNT of it’s rights in the TNT/Interscope Agreement to Gutta, the assumption by Gutta of TNT’s obligations to Interscope under the TNT/Interscope Agreement, and the consent of Interscope to the foregoing. Tupac was a principal of Gutta, as well as being the sole performer whose services were being offered by Gutta. In the TNT/ Interscope/Tupac/Gutta Agreement, Tupac guaranteed that Gutta would fulfill all of the obligations which it was obligated to fulfill under that agreement. D.U.’s album, The Body Hat Syndrome came out, 2Pac is on it with “Wussup Wit the Luv.” The “Wussup Wit the Love” video premiered. They filmed Above the Rim in New York City. Marlon Wayans said that they joked around alot in the trailer, and say he should cross out the T change his image to HUG LIFE. Tupac had a $750 a night 38th floor suite at the Parker Meridien in Manhattan, Michelle Fuentes came and visited him there. Tupac met Jacques Agnant (Nigel) on the set. He studied him for his part in the movie and hung out with him. Tupac met some people in New York called the Black Mafia, who finance Bad Boy, including Trevor. The Black Mafia demanded that Tupac sign on to Bad Boy, but Tupac refused. Tupac said, “I used to dress in baggies and sneakers. They took me shopping, that’s when I bought my Rolex and all my jewels. They made me mature. They introduced me to all these gangsters in Brooklyn. I met Nigel’s family, went to his kid’s birthday party. I trusted him. I even tried to get Nigel in the movie, but he didn’t want to be on film. That bothered me. I don’t know any nigga that didn’t want to be in the movies.” Jacques introduced Tupac to William “King Tut” Johnson (Trevor), a New York felon. Tupac said that on the 14th, “Nigel and Trevor took me to Nell’s. I was meeting Ronnie Lott from the New York Jets and Derrick Coleman from the Nets.” Someone introduced Tupac to Ayanna Jackson who is friends with Jaques Agnant. “Money came to me and said, ‘This girl wants to do more than meet you.’ I already knew what that meant. She wanted to fuck. I just left them and went to the dance floor by myself. Then this girl came out and started dancing. So I’m dancing to this reggae music, she’s touching my dick, she’s touching my balls, she opened my zipper, she put her hands on me. There’s a little dark part in Nell’s, and I see people over there making out already, so she starts pushing me this way. We go over in the corner. She pulled my dick out; she started sucking my dick on the dance floor. Soon as she finished that-just enough to get me solid, rock-hard-we got off the dance floor. I told Nigel, ‘I’ve got to get out of here. I’m about to take her to the hotel.’ Nigel was, like, ‘No, no, no. I’m going to take you back.’ We drive to the hotel. We go upstairs and have sex, real quick. As soon as I came, that was it. She left me her number, and everything was cool. Nigel was spending the night in my room all these nights. When he found out she sucked my dick on the floor and we had sex, he and Trevor were livid!” Tupac said that on the 18th, “We had a show to do in New Jersey at Club 88. We went shopping, we got dressed up, we were all ready. Nigel was saying, ‘Why don’t you give her a call?’ So we were all sitting in the hotel, drinking. I’m waiting for the show, and Nigel’s, like, ‘I called her. I mean, she called me, and she’s on her way.’ We were watching TV when the phone rings, and she’s downstairs. She came upstairs looking all nice, dressed all provocative and shit. So we’re all sitting there talking, and she’s making me uncomfortable, because instead of sitting with Nigel and them, she’s sitting on the arm of my chair. So we get in the room, I’m laying on my stomach, she’s massaging my back. I turn around. She starts massaging my front. This lasted for about a half an hour. I’m thinking she’s about to give me another blow job, but before she could do that, some niggas came in, and I froze up more than she froze up. So they came and they started touching her ass. I just got up and walked out the room. When I went to the other suite, Man Man told me that Talibah, my publicist at the time, had been there for a while and was waiting in the bedroom of that suite. I went to see Talibah and we talked about what she had been doing during the day, then I went and laid down on the couch and went to sleep. When I woke up, Nigel was standing over me going, ‘Pac, Pac,’ and all the lights was on in both rooms. I didn’t know how much time had passed. So when I woke up, it was, like, ‘You’re going to the police, you’re going to the police.’ Nigel walks out the room, comes back with the girl. She’s not making sense. ‘I came to see you. You let them do this to me.’ I’m, like, ‘I don’t got time for this shit right here.’ She said, ‘This not the last time you’re going to hear from me,’ and slammed the door. And Nigel goes, ‘Don’t worry about it, Pac, don’t worry.’ I asked him what happened, and he was, like, ‘Too many niggas.’ Niggas start going downstairs, but nobody was coming back upstairs.” Tupac was sitting upstairs smoking weed wondering where everyone was at. Then he got a call from Talibah from the lobby saying that the police were down there.” On the 19th, he was arrested. Police found a 20 minute videotape that shows Tupac and a woman engaged in a sex act and two guns in the hotel room. On the 20th, Tupac was freed on bond after posting $50,000 bail. Jacques Agnant’s lawyer Paul Brenner said that Jacques case be severed from Tupac and Man Man’s because they had been charged with the weapons charges. The prosecutor didn’t oppose it, which is very unusual, and the judge granted it. Indictments were handed down on sexual abuse and sodomy to Tupac, Charles, and Ricardo Brown. Tupac also got a weapons charge. Salt ‘N’ Pepa’s video “Whatta Man” premiered on MTV, Tupac is in it. On 30st, Tupac went to Clark Atlanta University’s Epps gymnasium on Fair St. to do a concert. The promoters, students at the school, told Tupac about their rules about drug use. Tupac said, “What I want to know is, if I light this will you let them take me to jail. If they arrest me I’m a jump in this sea of niggas and they gonna have to arrest each and every one of us.” Then, on the 31st, Tupac, in his Mercedes Benz, and his crew leave and head to Midtown, Georgia where they had a hotel room for the night. At the Peidmont and Springs intersection Mark and Scott Whitwell, two off-duty police officers who had been drinking, were in a traffic-related argument. Tupac saw them harrassing a guy. Tupac got out of his car and asked what was going on. The guy drove off, and Mark pulled out a gun and fired at him. Tupac said, “I started having flashbacks of Rodney King and Kunte Kente.” Tupac leaned over the roof of his car and shot three shots, which hit Mark in the abdomen and Scott in the butt. Tupac was arrested he held without bond on two counts of aggravated assault. He also was held on an outstanding charge of simple battery for slapping a woman last summer when she asked for his autograph. Tupac is on the cover of the November issue of Vibe. Witnesses testified that Tupac had shot in self-defense after the officers fired at his car. Because of lack of evidence, the case never made it to a grand jury, but Tupac was charged with two counts of aggravated assault and released on $55, 000 bail. The policemen had been drinking, and the prosecution’s witness testified that the gun Mark used to threaten Tupac with had been seized in a drug bust and then stolen from an evidence locker. Mark was charged with aggravated assault. In December, John Singleton was going to cast Tupac as Malik in Higher Learning, but was forced by Columbia Pictures to drop him because of his arrests. Tupac worked with Trapp for Gunfight. He performed at the House of Blues on Sunset Strip with Snoop and L.A. Reid. Tupac started the group Thug Life (Mopreme, The Rated R, and Macadoshis), which grew from Underground Railroad. Thug Life is what Tupac called his mission for the black community; a support group, rap act, and philosophy. Tupac said that THUG LIFE stood for: The Hate U Gave Lil Infants Fuck Everybody. They made an album, but it got held up because the record company thought it was too hard. Tupac was arrested for assault and battery and for carrying a loaded, concealed gun after he ran into the Hughes at the filming of a Spice 1 video. Tupac hit Allen, and Albert ran off. Allen said that Tupac had a crew of people. Tupac said, “The niggas knew them just like they knew me, from around the way. I got them niggas started making videos anyway. Plus, I came ready to kick both they asses myself. Those other niggas didn’t get with Thug Life until after that shit happened.” There is a woman who has been active in nationalist struggle. She is torn with ambivalence, because of the New York incident. She’s has met with other women, her comrades in struggle, and they have decided that his behavior is neither revolutionary nor New Afrikan. They are planning to share their position with Tupac through Wantani. Tupac said, “Fuck those bitches. I don’t need that shit. I’m on the front lines of this shit, not 30 years ago. Now! Where were they when we didn’t have no food or electricity? When we were eating hardboiled eggs and they pulling off million dollar heists and shit. Fuck them. I need support not critisism.” On the 16th, Tupac went to a New York courthouse and pleading innocent to sexual assault. He said, “You’re just like the rest of the bitches trying to drag me down. A woman can say anything about a man. I’m guilty until proven innocent.” The National Political Congress of Black Women asked the NAACP to take away Tupac’s 1994 NAACP Image Award nomination. On January 5th, Tupac went to the NAACP Image Awards. Dionne Warwick objected his attendance. Tupac said, “Those niggas ain’t want me there and they gave motherfucking Micheal Jackson a standing ovation. Goddamn those child molesting fake ass mothefuckers, damn them all to hell. And Dionne Warwick, fucking dream reading, physic bitch. Don’t get me started, I’ll tell the real on the whole family.” On the 18th, 1994 Straight From Da Streets Vol. 1 came out, 2Pac is on it with “I Get Around.” On the 31st, Tupac went to Blue Palms Recording Studio in Burbank. Tupac got out some weed. He said, “I’ve been sitting on this all day.” Mopeme rolled up some blunts then he said to Stetch, “Nigga pass that. This nigga got blue carnations on his drawers. I got on some masculine ass plaid motherfucking drawers. We go shopping together Stretch, niggas could see you bend over and think I wear flowers on my ass.” An assistant fom the studio is fixing to go to the ib shack for food. Tupac said, “Y’all better get your order in, cause when my ribs come I don’t want you righteous vegetarian smegetarians up in my shit.” He finished some songs. On February 1st, Tupac went to Los Angeles County Municipal Court for case filed against him by Allen Hughes. They told them that there was a change of venue, and they had to move to Division 75 which is in a different building. Tupac and the Hughes started arguing. La’chelle Wooderd, his attorney tried to calm him down. Tupac said to their security, “You gonna need motherfucking Farrakhan to calm me down. You bean pie slinging, bowtie wearing bitches. I’ll have niggas fon Crenshaw with AK’s and rags up here.” Then the sheriff’s department came and held Tupac against the wall so the Hughes could go by. Tupac said, “Officers, I’m so glad you have arrived these men were trying to attack me. Can you believe that? They tried to attack me with the Nation of Islam. I have full confidence in the law’s ability to handle the situation.” On the 10th, Tupac went to court. For lunch he went to Louisa’s Pasta on Melrose Blvd. On the 16th, 2Pac’s album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. came out. It went platinum, and 2Pac was nominated for an American Music Award as Best New Rap Hip Hop Artist. In “Something 2 Die 4,” he memorialized Qa’id. The Holla If Ya Hear Me single came out, on it is “Flex.” The I Get Around single came out, on it is “Nothing But Love.” The Keep Ya Head Up single came out on it is, “I Wonda If Heaven’s Got a Ghetto.” The “Keep Ya Head Up” video premiered on MTV. The “I Get Around” video, directed by Dave Dobkin premiered. The “Holla If Ya Hear Me” video premiered on MTV. The “Papa’z Song” video with Vivica Fox premiered. Tupac stayed at the Le Montrose Suite Hotel on Hammond St. when he went to L.A. He rented a Lexus LS 300 coupe. On March 9th, he went to Shell gas station on Sunset Blvd. Some Crips asked Tupac where he was from. He said, “All over.” One of them said that he was from Baltimore because his friend took care of him, but he never claimed it. Tupac said, “Well your homeboy lied cause ain’t nobody take care of me while I was in Baltimore.” The guy said that he was going to rob him. Tupac said, “Well come nigga let’s do this,” and grabbed a pair of scissors. They ran out of the store and Tupac chased them but they got away. On the 10th, Tupac went to court. Chokwe Lumumba, an ex-Panther who is Tupac’s legal advisor testifies for Tupac. George H. Wu sentenced Tupac to a sentence in L.A. County for when he beat up Allen. Tupac said, “Think about it. A fist fight becomes battery in the courts. Two and a half minutes just cost me 15 days.” Shock G flew to L.A. where 2Pac was filmimg a video. During a break, Shock G gave Tupac a key to his apartment so he could stay there if he needee. Tupac renewed his relationship with Afeni. Tupac and Leila started visiting schools again. Kids read their lessons to him, and tears rolled down his cheeks. The parents of a dying boy wrote to Tupac telling him their kid’s last wish was to meet him. Tupac flew to his side in Maryland, and after the boy died, he renamed his publishing company Joshua’s Dream. He did an interview with MTV. Madonna asked if she could sit in on the interview, watching it from off-camera, and Tupac said yes. Tupac got with Madonna and made “Your Lova.” On the 22nd, Above the Rim, directed and written by Jeff Pollack, with Martin Duane, Marlon Wayons, and Bernie Mac premiered. Tupac plays Birdie, a Harlem basketball hustler. Tupac said, “To me, it’s really troubling because I look over at what’s successful, Marky Mark, Hammer, Vanilla Ice, New Kids on the Block selling 22 million copies, and I want that so badly, but I can’t do that. I would be wrong to do that, knowing what I know and having the brain that I have, for me to even go and write some simple shit would be wrong even though I would get paid and I would get more people’s money. I would rather leave something so that when people pick up 2Pacalypse Now or any of my other albums in 1999, they’ll go, “Damn! Brothers had it hard back in the day, but brothers were working it out.” On April 2nd, Tupac went to NBC studios in New York to watch Snoop perform on Saturday Night Live. In Snoop’s dressing room he smoked weed with him and Madonna. On the 4th, Biggie came and visited Tupac in his room at the Royalton. Dream Hampton video taped the meeting with Tupac’s newest video camera. On the 5th Tupac was sentenced to 10 days in a Michigan jail and 35 hours of community service for assault. Tupac went to the premiere of A Low Down Dirty Shame with Jada. On the 29th, Tupac and Maurice were pulled over for for speeding on Hollywood Blvd. A loaded 9mm was found under Tupac’s seat. Tupac was arrested for investigation of carrying a concealed gun. They were charged with two felonies for having guns and weed. On May 10th, Tupac went to jail for the Hughes incident. On the 11th, he pleaded innocent. On June 6th, The Governor & The House Reps’ album, Floss Mode came out, 2Pac is on it with, “Po’ Nigga Bluez.” On the 13th, MTV Party to Go 5 came out, 2Pac is on it with the “I Get Around” remix. Tupac met Keisha Morris at the old Chippendale’s club now called the Capitolin New York. It was a Father’s Day dance. Keisha came over and grabbed him, and they danced to Wu Tang’s song, “C.R.E.A.M.” Tupac was singing the words to it. Another girl came over and Keisha walked off. Later that night she talked to him. On the 27th, the Above the Rim soundtrack came out, 2Pac is on it with, “Pour Out a Little Liquor.” The Pain single came out, on it is “Loyal To the Game.” Bust It 2 came out, 2Pac is on it with “If My Homie Calls.” On the 28th, 2Pac was supposed to have done a concert in Philadelphia at the Robin Hood Dell East, but it was cancelled after Mayor Rendell and chief of staff David L. Cohen decided it would have been inappropriate at a city-owned stage. On July 5th, Tupac went to the Supreme Court in New York. Tupac went to the Tunnel club. Keisha was there and he said to her, “Weren’t you that girl that had on the black dress and you spoke to me for like five minutes? I’ve been looking for you for a month. I’ve been thinking about you every single day.” They danced and stayed together the whole night. He kept touching her, and she kept telling him to stop. He invited her to his hotelroom at the Paramount Hotel on West 46th St., in New York City, but she said she wasn’t like that. So he gave her his number and pager number, and said, “I’m supposed to fly back to Atlanta tomorrow, but I’m going to stay a day later just to take you out.” At the time was a camp counselor and she said she would get home from work by 6 p.m, and gave him her number. The next day, he called her exactly at 6 and said, “Okay, I’m ready to take you out. Where do you want to go?” She said it didn’t matter and he said, “I’m not coming to Harlem.” She said she wouldn’t go to his hotel so she didn’t know what they were going to do. They debated about it for an hour, then she finally said she’d meet him in the lobby. They went to dinner at a little Italian restaurant. Then they went to Chelsea Cinemas in Manhattan to to see Forest Gump. Tupac said, “It’s the number one movie in the nation.” She said she didn’t want to see it, and he kept saying, “You’re a weirdo.” He said he was supposed to read for one of the parts in there. During the movie a guy yelled at a woman to shut her kid up. Tupac said, “You know, that’s a child. The baby can’t help it.” After the movie Tupac wanted Keisha to come back to his hotel room. She said she wouldn’t so they stood there for twenty minutes. Then she said she was going home. He said, “No you’re coming back to the hotel with me.” So she said okay. They went back and talked. They watched TV and on E they showed a clip of Tupac spitting at a camera. She was looking at a magazine, and he said, “Ooh look! You didn’t come here to look at a magazine.” She said she did and that she was going home. He said, “No you’re not. You can’t go home.” She said that since there was two beds, that she’d sleep on one and he’d sleep on one. He said, “No this is my room. I’m sleeping where you’re sleeping.” She okay, but slept with all her clothes on. Tupac said that least she could do is take her shoes. He went right to sleep and didn’t try anything. The next morning, Friday, she woke up early, left him a note, and kissed him on the cheek. He flew back to Atlanta and left eight messages on her answering machine. She went on a camping trip to Pennsylvania for a week so she couldn’t call him. She tried to find a phone to see if there was any message from him. When she came home she found his message. She decided to fly to Atlanta and paid for it herself. He was impressed and said, “I never had a girl pay for anything on her own.” She went down there and they had a great time. He performed at a club called the Vixen in Atlanta. He wanted to wear shorts with a Hilfiger and Keisha told him to wear some Calvin’s with a tank top and a vest and a pair of motorcycle boots. He said, “Oh, you’re trying to make me look sexy.” The only thing Keisha really wanted to do was go to Six Flags. Tupac said, “Oh, it’s going to be difficult.” She met Afeni and his family. They had cookouts, and he cooked barbeque chicken. He loved it, macaroni and cheese, orange soda, and Chinese apples (pomegranates). He would have Keisha searching to buy a hundred of them. She would start dinner and he would say, “Come on, Keisha. Move! Get out of the way. You did enough.” She was going to stay for the weekend and go back on Sunday. On the way to the airport, they went in his low rider. He didn’t know ho much gas he had, and they ran out. She missed her flight. She stayed a day later, and they went to Six Flags. They would run through the park trying to get to rides. Tupac loved to ride roller coasters. They had a good time, but it started to rain so they had to leave. Then she flew home. He said that he was going to New York to see her next. He went on tour. In August he did a show in Hawaii. When he came back he called Keisha everyday, five times. He sent her a dozen roses one day while she was at work. When she got home she paged him. He called back and she told him she got the roses. He called her and told her he bought her something. He said he wrote her a poem and to guess what the present was. It was about time. She didn’t get it and said for him not to tell her what it was. He said, “I can’t help it. It’s a watch.” When he came back he gave her the poem. He bought her a card and gave her the watch. They had matching ones from Gucci. On September 3rd, 2Pac went to the MECCA Arena on West Kilbourn Ave. in Milwaukee to do a concert with Boss, Big Mike, Xscape, Spice 1, and MC Eight. During his first song, “Bury Me a G,” his mic started fading in and out. While Thug Life was doing their part, 2Pac was trying to get his mic to work. Half way through his second song he stopped for a moment of silence” for a girl killed in Chicago by a boy who later killed himself. Tupac said, “You better stop killing those babies, or I’ll murder you myself.” The audience started throwing coins at him. He said, “I don’t know who the fuck you think I am. You motherfuckers better quit throwing shit at me.” Then he offered a $200 reward for anyone who bring an offender on stage, and said, “He will get you paid, but he will die tonight. You all can flash them gang signs, if you want, but I’ll kill all you motherfuckers.” Tupac grabbed the mic stand like a sword. He said that he would continue his show for the “real Gs.” A member of Thug Life pulled a gun and shots were fired. Later police had to kick in 2Pac’s dressing room door. They made everyone kneel with thier hands behind their head as they searched the rooms. They found two semi-automatic weapons that no one admitted to knowing about. Tupac went to California to the studio to do work on Me Against the World. He made “I Thought You Knew,” which was supposed to be on Me Against the World. It was released on on a limited basis to DJs on an Interscope sampler with “Straight Ballin,” “Out On Bail,” and “Are You Still Down.” The “Whatta Man” video won Best Dance Video, Best R&B Video, and Best Choreography in a Video at the MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall. On the 7th two people from Milwaukee murdered Officer William Robertson and said that “Souljah’s Story” was their inspiration. Tupac went to Marcus Garvey School in South Central L.A. to explain thug life to teachers and administrators. Tupac went shopping on Sunset Blvd. Tupac went to the the West Coast benefit premiere of Jason’s Lyric at the Mann National in Westwood. Then he went to a party at the House of Blues for it. Tupac came back and got Keisha a blonde Cockerspaniel named Player. He called Keisha and said, “I bought you a dog.” She said that she didn’t like dogs and he said, “No, you’re going to like this one. He’s the cutest thing. He went to her house in New York. One time Keisha was at work and she wasn’t expecting him. She came home and he was signing autographs in front of her building. He said, “People went home to get their CD’s and tapes. That’s how long I’ve been here.” So they went upstairs and he said, “I have to have the keys.” He came and visited her a lot. One day Tupac said, “Keish, do you see anything new on my finger?” She asked if he got a manicure. He said, “No, I have new jewelry. Do you see my ring?” He gave what he bought for her to the dog. It was a velvet pouch with a box in it. She got it from Player and it was a big 42 diamond, platinum ring. He said, “I’m giving it to you now. Maybe we’ll get married around your birthday.” On the 15th Tupac pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge for a lesser sentence in Ingham County Circuit Court in Lansing. Tupac had saved up and bought a new BMW 850. In October Tupac went to Wherehouse a music store in L.A. On the 7th, in Atlanta, Fulton County DA Louis Slaton dropped the aggravated assault charges filed against Tupac from the Whitwells incident. Tupac went to The Comedy Store on Sunset Blvd., in West Hollywood. There was a fight between Treach and some members of the Rolling Sixties. Tupac put on his vest and his guns and went to their place. He said, “Y’all looking for me? Here I am.” On the 18th, Eddie F. And The Untouchables: Let’s Get It On The Album came out, 2Pac is on it with, “Let’s Get It On.” On the 20th, Thug Life’s album Volume I, came out. The idea was that the album would let gang members become musicians. There were to be several volumes of it, with a new group of gang member rappers each time. Tupac said, “I’m not talking about givin’ mutherfuckers summer jobs. I’m talking about doing something real, life careers. I got these groups I took right off the streets. These niggas handlin’ they buisness, now they got a deal. That’s a life career. If I die, these niggas got a contract that’s real. I’m helpin’ mutherfuckers that help themselves.” In “Bury Me,” 2Pac says, “Bury me a G.” In “How Long Will They Mourn Me?,” he says, “This for my nigga Kato.” Tyruss Himes (Syke) said that Kato was like his big brother and he was killed for his car that had $2,500 Dayton rims. 2Pac also says, “How long will they mourn me?/Bury me a muthafuckin’ G. In “Under Pressure,” 2Pac says right before I die I’ll be cursing tha law/reincarnated bitch even worse than before/My four-four’s givin’ payback/My underhanded plan to get them niggas while they laid back.” The “Pour Out a Little Liquor” video premiered. The “Cradle To the Grave” video premiered. Volume II My Life was supposed to come out but it was rejected by Interscope. Tupac got the script for Bullet. He read it in two hours. He went to the place for the audition and he got the part. He loved to read. He like Marvin Gaye’s autobiography. He and Keisha went to see Les Miserables. Tupac loved it. He explained it to Keisha, but they had to go because they were hungry. Tupac did an ad with Thug Life for Karl Kani. Tupac was doing Bullet, and Keisha was going to be off a couple days of work from school and work. Tupac wanted his BMW 850 so Keisha said she would fly down and get it. One day she got home from work and she was walking Player. Somehow he ran out in the street and got hit by a car. Tupac said that she tried to kill her dog. He said, “I can get you another dog. Go get my car.” She said no. He said, “Take the dog to the hospital, get him checked out. I’ll be here. And remember, you have to go get the car tonight.” She took Player to the hospital and they said it was going to cost like $1,000. Tupac said, “Oh, hell no. I’ll buy you another one. He’s not going to be the same anyways.” Player was fine, and Keisha rushed home to pack and catch a flight out. She gots to Atlanta and the plates weren’t on the car yet. They were trying to get the paperwork and everything together. She left at about 1 to drive i back up to New York. She was real tired so she pulled over to sleep. Then she started driving again. She was still tired and she drove into the grass dividing the highway in Anderson, South Carolina. The airbag came out and messed up her face. She got back on the highway and she got help. The cops told her she’d totaled it. She called Tupac and told him she had crashed the car. He said, “Stop crying. Stop being a punk. I should be crying not you. Calm down. I’m gonna call a travel agent and get you a flight home.” She said that she could have been killed. He said, “You were in a $90,000 car. You weren’t gonna be killed.” She said he didn’t care about her. He said, “No, I know you’re fine. The car is gone.” She said that insurance would pay for it. He said, “You don’t know that yet.” When she got to New York, and Tupac saw her he said, “You’re lucky to have something physically wrong with you. Give me a kiss.” He kissed he and said, “You’re ugly. You look like Jimmy Walker.” He told everyone, “You have to see her face.” Two juror’s for for Tupac’s sex assault trial said that they didn’t like him during jury selection. On the 31st Tupac was sentenced by Circuit Judge Lawrence Glazer to 30 days in the Ingham County Jail and 35 hours of community service. On November 6th, Tupac went to Club Expo in New York City with Mickey Rourke and AJ Benza. Carre Otis bought him a beer. He talked to a reporter and he said that Jacques Agnant set him up in the rape case. On the 7th, the trial was supposed to start, but the two jurors that didn’t like Tupac were dismissed. The remarks were brought to the lawyers’ attention by a prospective juror who overheard them. The need to select two new jurors delayed opening arguments and testimony. Jacques Agnant read about what Tupac had said about the rape case in the Daily News. Keisha would wake him up every morning which was hard because he wanted to sleep. The trial started at courtroom 120 on Centre St. in Manhattan. On the 8th, Spice 1’s album, AmeriKKKa’s Nightmare came out, 2Pac is on it with, “Jealous Got Me Strapped.” Don Jagwarr’s album, Faded also came out, 2Pac is on it with, “Skank Wit’ U.” Keisha would wake him up every morning which was hard because he wanted to sleep. She would get him dressed and make breakfast. Once he got up he would go right into the bathroom and write music or poetry. They would argue about the bathroom because he didn’t want her to come in there. He would complain that he never saw her use the bathroom. Sometimes Tupac would have his driver pull up at a store and get some pens and spiral notebooks for him and he would write a song in like 15 minutes. Michael Warren, Tupac’s attorney, charged law enforcement officials with erasing sexually explicit messages from a voice mailbox to Tupac left by Ayanna Jackson, while searching the hotel room. On the 10th was Keisha’s birthday. Tupac bought her a BMW 735. He had a good system in it. Tupac met Keisha’s mom. They didn’t hit it off at the beginning, but later he bought he a present. They filmed Bullet in New York. On the set Tupac would call Keisha and have her bring him dinner because he was tired of catered food. He would always tell her to bring it to the wrong place. He said, “Wait, let me have someone tell you exactly where I am.” One day while he sat in court there were these little kids climbing on him. During a recess he told Iris Crews, one of his lawyers, that, “If I don’t work these kids don’t eat.” On the 21st, Ralibah Mbonisi (Talibah) testified that Ayanna was jealous of he