OO

FEDERAL OF
BUREAU INVESTIGATION

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
AND
PRIVACY ACTS

SUBJECT: TUPAC SHAKUR

 FEDERALOF
BUREAU
INVESTICQION
FOIPA

DELETED PAGE INFORMATION SHEET

Serial Description "COVER SHEET O1/03/1997

Total Deleted Page s! "28

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 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
AND
PRIVACY ACTS

SUBJECTT O Tupap _S11:;kyr___

ii I _

FILE NUMBER __ 266A-OLA-2Q1_8Q74 VI-IQ!

__ _ _ _ _

SECTION NUMBER: _,7 _1_ _ _ _

FEDERAL BUREAU
OF INVESTIGATION
2/3:/1995!

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE Date: 01/03/1997

4/{oz FBIHeadquarters Attn: NSD, CT

Branch, DTS,
DTOU
From! Los Angeles
NSD~6

ApprovedI By:
I
Drafted By:mpbh }I92'I'I'M'
Case ID #= 266A-LA-2o1so7,¬3

- ECEASED!;
I _
ERIC WRIGHT,AKA EAZY~E VICTIMDECEASED!; WC
AOT DT DEATH THREATS
00; LOS ANGELES

ARMED AND DANGEROUS

synopsis: Status of investigation and request for extension to

PI.

Previous Title: |_|

ET AL;
TUPAC SHAKUR VICTIM DECEASED!;
EAZY-E VICTIM DECEASED!;
ACT-DT-DEATH THREATS;
O02 LOS ANGELE$

Preliminary Inquiry Initiated: 10/1'7/1996, set to expire

01/17/1995.
Enclosures: One original and five copies of a Letterhead
Memorandum, dated 01/O3/1997.

Details: marked
Title changed to reflect the true name of
EAZY-E.

Enclosed for the Bureau are one original and five

copies of aLetterhead Memorandum, dated O1/03/1997, which
contains the current of
status captioned matter.

b2
b7D
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ALL llroammon
uonulm I
anus rs UNOLABSIFID

oATzJ§ Lm m @
at$353
E?
 ~
To: FBI Headquarters From: Los Angeles
Re: 266A LA~201807, 01/03/1997

b7D
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Several leads remain outstanding at Los Angeles

regarding captioned matter. Los Angeles anticipates several
interviews of witnesses and victims. Several LAFO files need to f
be reviewed
for background
information onE::::::kherein
he is blc7C
referenced, to include the following files:

12-61-0

26-66697
87-473
92-6836
179-914
183-1734
b3
b7C

b7C
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It is requested that this Preliminary Investigation be

extended thirty days as aresult of pending investigation.

ARMD AND'DANGEROUS

2
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0-93 Rev.01/25/91! DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
COMMUNICATION MESSAGE FORM

TRANSMIT VIA: PRECEDENCE: CLASSIFICATION:

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SUBJECT: I?ETAL;TUPAC
-
JSHAKUR
VICTIN
DECEASEDH ERIC 9292IRIGHT~|AKA EAZY-E VICTIN DECEASEDH AOT-DT-

DEATH THREATS? O0: LOS ANGELES-

REFERENCE LOS ANGELES EC DATED 11/3/ I7.

PRELININARY INQUIRY PI! INITIATED LU/L?/ I71 TO EXPIRE ON

1|/1|?/ T71 EXTENDED TO E/lb/ J7.

PI IS EXTENDED FOR A 30-DAY PERIOD TO ALLOU ADDITIONAL TIME

FOR T0DETERMINE
L08ANGELES wnhuza
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|:|AN» ownsARE
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0-93A Rev.ouzs/91! DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
COMWHHHCATKHTNH%SAGEFURh[

PAGE E UNCLAS

ANGELES SHOULD ATTEMPT To DETERMINE UHETHER THE EXTORTIONATE

me
ACTIVITY
BEING
CONDUCTED
BE mo OTHERS
IS ToPROVIDE
FINANCIAL BACKING FOR THEIR ORGANIZATION oa IS ONLY FOR PERSONAL

FINANCIAL GAIN.

IF LOS ANGELES DESIRES FURTHER EXTENSION OF THIS PI A

REQUEST
FORSUEH
EXTENSION
SHOULD
BESUBMITTED
T0 THEDOMESTIC
TERRORISM OPERATIONS UNIT1 FBIH01 PRIOR TO THE E /lb/ I? EXPIRATION

DATE.

BT

////
0»93B
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
FEDERAL BUREAU OF lNVES'l'IGA'I'lON
COMMUNICATION MESSAGE FORM

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L08 ANGELES ET=bA~LA-BULBS?!/PRIORITY/

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TUPAC
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DEATH 00:
THREATS% L08 ANGELES.

L08
REFERENCE ANGELES EC DATED E/LE/5?.

PRELIMINARY INQUIRY PI! INITIATED T0

LU/1?/R51 EXPIRE ON

E/LE/371 T0
EXTENDED 3/16/17-

PI IS EXTENDED FOR THIRTY T0

DAYS ALLOW TIME L08
FOR ANGELES

T0 RECEIVERESPONSES
T0 0UTSTANDING T0
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0-93A Rev.oms/91! DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
FEDERAL.BUREAIIOFINVEFUCMJTON
CONHHHUCATUMWNESSAGEFORMI

PAGE E UNCLAS

OF THE SOCIAL AND/OR POLITICAL GOALS

OF THE JEUISH DEFENSE

LEAGUE.

IF LOS ANGELES DESIRES A FURTHER EXTENSION

OF THIS PI1 A

REQUEST FOR SUCH EXTENSION MUST REACH THE DOMESTIC TERRORISM

OPERATIONS UNIT1 FBIHQ1 PRIOR TO THE 3/L8/R? EXPIRATION DATE.

BT

////
0-93B Rev.01/25/91! DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
COMMUNICATION MESSAGE FORM

3
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CITE: //341o=nsn»6// _

PASS: FBIHQ FOR NSD, CT BRANCH, DT SECTION, DTOU.

SUBJECT: I l ET
AL; TUPAC
saaxun
-vxcwzm
DECE..%ED!: ERIC WRIGHT, AKA EAZY-E VICTIM DECEASED!; AO I -

P" urn THREATS; oo= nos ANGELES.

REFERENCE BUREAU TT DATED 02/1a/91.

PRELIMINARY INQUIRY PI! INITIATED 10/&#39;17/95,TO

EXPIRE! 1 &#39;

"-.6/9&#39;7, EXTENDEDTO
3/18/97. &#39;

FOR INFORMATION THE

OF BUREAU, CAPTIONED {~¬A 1&#39;TEIR EXPIRED

O3/18/97.
ON LOS ANGELES CONDUCTED NO
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CONDUCTED AFTER THE; EXPIRATION DATE.

ALL IQWQTHI ll!

B$!I I SUNCLASSIFI-
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Approved:_O
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LOS ANGELES REQUESTS AN mcwmzsxon TO TI-IE PI mm TO RECENT

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SUBJECT:I J lav
AL% - VICTIM
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PAGE EUNCLAS

OF THE SOCIAL AND/OR POLITICAL THE

GOALS OF JEUISH DEFENSE

LEAGUE. _ -

ANGELES
LOS REHINDED
IS THAT THIS THE
IS THIRD AND FINAL

EXTENSION PI.
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LOS ANGELES MUST EITHER CONVERT MATTER

THIS A
TO FULL

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CLOSE INVESTIGATION.

BT

////
o_-933
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DEPARTMENT JUSTICE
FEDERALIHHHHJOFINVESHGATKHJ
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PAGE 3

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DECEASED!?ERIC HEIGHT; AKA ElZY E VICTIM lDECEl$EDli ADI-
DT DEATH THREATS? OD! LBS ANGELE$-
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2/16/971 EXTENDED TU 3/18/97-

FDR INFORMATION UF THE BUREAU; CIPTIUNED MATTER EXPIRED

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PAGE THO DE FBTLA 0006 QNCLAS

T LOSANGEL-ES
REQUESTS
AN EXTENSION
TD THE PI DUETD RECENT
INFORMATION
CJNCERNING
an Aanxnnu-A_
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:|ma ALLEGATIDN
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LAFU REQUESTS 9! EXTENSION TU DETERMINE WHETHER THE

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QCTIVITIES
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SEJCIAL ANOIOR GUQLS
POLITICAL OF THE JDL.

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#9006

NNNN
2/31/1995!
i -
I FEDERAL BUREAU OF
INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE Date: 09/22/1997

To: /FBI Headquarters Attn: NSD, CT

BRANCH.
DTOU
Birmingham
Boston
Cincinnati
Dallas
Indianapolis
Las Vegas
New York
San Diego &#39;
San Francisco Attn: Santa Rosa RA
Seattle

FrOm: Los Angeles

NSD-6
Contact: SA I
*===fs=*lilml-=>bh
BY= ** ?
Case ID #=
&#39;266A-LA-201807 ~--T" "

Title: |
_AOT-DT-DEATH THREATS;&#39;
_ OO: LOS ANGELES

Synopsis: Request for subscriber checks.

Previous Title:| I
I
TUPAC SHAKUR -VICTIM DECEASED!;
EAZY-E VICTIM DECEASED!; _bqp
AOT DT DEATH THREATS; "
.- O0: LOS ANGELES &#39;

Full Field Investigation Instituted: 04/15/1997.

Details: For information of receiving offices, October
on 17,
1996, apreliminary inquiry PI! was initiated at Los Angeles
Fi d i ocorroborate source information t
a
group of
known organized
unidentified individuals
crime figure,
-along
were utilizing
a
with death threats in
the furtherance extortion
of attempts targeted towards two former
prominent rap musicians from the Los Angeles area and other
victims yet unidentified. &#39;

92"
re orted that 92
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To: FBI Headquarters From: Los-Angeles
R92 266A&#39;LA 20l807, 09/22/1997

~.

JDL, and others yet unidentified have been extorting money from

1 other subjectstelephonic
rp sar.
making threats
&#39; rap music stars
death
the
Subjects then
to
via death threats. The

intercede by,
scheme involves

contacting the victim and

offering protection for afee". Source reported that ERIC b7C
WRIGHT, also as
known EAZY-E, who RUTHLESS
owned RECORDS, -
Woodland Hills, California was avictim of this extortion scheme
to
prior dying fromAIDS.Shad also reportedly targeted
TUPAC SHAKUR prior
to his recent murder in Las Vegas, Nevada.
b&#39;} C

|::::| *i§ P,
III
On March
27, 1995, fileda civillawsuit against
RONALD SWEENEY, Entertainmen ney for the WRIGHT estate.
This lawsuit, titled COMPTOWN RECORDS INC, et a1 V. LAW OFFICES
RONALD SWEENEY, et al", civil case number 124555
BC was filed in
Los Angeles Superior Court, Los Angeles, California and pertains

ffered as
e twoletters purportedly
signed
erty rights
ERIC
by of RUTI-ILESS RECORDS. During lawsuit,
the

letters deeme
wereorged
the results
expert
byan
WRIGHT, granting
witness. dvised
of this
part ownership

lawsuit were
of RUTHLESS

classified confi en ia
.The

and b&#39;7C
require asubpoena, which
is pending. It is believed that
received approximately
$1.5 million
in thecourt settlemen;
|:l
E brgc br/C
I hI

2b&#39;.7C
b7D
To: FBI Headquaxcers From: Los Angeles
Re: 266A LA-201807, 09/22/1997 b7Q
b7D

from the aforementioned court settlement.

Los Angeles appreciates the assistance of receiving q

offices in this matter. l b&#39;~
LEAD S! :

Set Lead 1:

b7C
:2/31/199:! "

|FI5I3lEFlI92l.IBIJFIEUKIJ IF:l|U92II55?T1CiIYT1 !ll

Precedence: ROUTINE Date: 10/20/1997

Los Angeles Attn: SAg?:iiff::f ?f::::]

T 0:
NSD Attn .&#39;
C
T

NS

From: Sacramento l&#39;

6/ b7C
Contact: IAI I
ApprovediN
By:
7" ;
Case ID
#= 266A-LA-2oieo7<Q Pending!
Title:
LE&#39;1&#39;1n..,- &#39;
TUPAC SHAKUR -VICTIM DECEASED!;
EAZY-E VICTIM DECEASED!;
AOT DT -DEATH THREATS &#39;
O0: LA

Synopsis: subscriber
No info
available for
ithout
issuance of subpoena or court to
order Pacific Bell.

Full Field Investigation Instituted: O4/15/1997

Reference: 266A-LA-201807 289
Serial
b7C
Details: A of
review current local and
directories Sacramento
indices wasnegative for telephone

Bell Telephone
Itis noted that is
Company, WhlC now requires asubpoena or court
handled
Pacific
by
order for any published or nonpublished subscriber information,
directed to Custodian of Records, Pacific Telephone
Bell Company,
2150 Webster Street, Room 735A, Oakland, California 94612.

,,b7C

ix.

ALLIINUBILTIOIOUITAIIQD I/92
oAwznn;$;sY %
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 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
AND
PRIVACY ACTS

SUBJECT__ _T_l_1pac
Shakur A
FILE NUMBER _266A-LA-ZOl?8O&#39;ZI I ___

SECTION NUMBER ,_ O L I I _

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

 FEDERAL OF
BUREAU INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE Date: 10/17/1996

To: FBIHQ Attn: NSD, Branch,

CT
DTS, DTOU

Los Angeles

Los
From: Angeles
NSD-6
contact:SA
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Drafted By: mpbh eV

C_ 12.7.-L "=&#39;
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.mmmmn @92°"
Title: | .
@~~~m
ET mzza
TUPAC SHAKUR-VICTIM
DECEASED!; °920k92kou~lp
QLU
GU
EAZY-E-VICTIM nscmsno!; uusow? 3
AOT"DT-DEATK THREATS;
oo= LOS ANGELES

ARMED AND
DANGEROUS

Synopsis: Request to open a 266A matter regarding death threats

and extortion involving rap music stars TUPAC SHAKUR deceased!,
EAZY-E deceased!, and other victims yet unidentified.

Details: _Oq_2!11/3§, wriggg &#39;

v

was contacte concerning matter captioned: UNSUB S!;

BOMBING OFTHE AMERICAN ARAB ANTI~DIsCRIMINATION COMMITTEE ADC!
OFFICE, 1905 17TH
E. STREET, SANTA ANA,
CALIFORNIA, 10/ll/85;
ALEXANDER MICHEL ODEH-VICTIM DECEASED!; EXPLOSIVE AND
INCENDIARY
DEVICE: O0: LOS ANGELES 74A-3595!.

ri1 &#39;
w advised writer hat WC
10711

|and ofhers yet unfHenfif1ed_ ave been

,;1 ,,<,,-L/,~ /10180

 .,
&#39;

extorting money. from various rap music stars

.I
via death threats -
0
The schemeinvoives[::::]and other subjects making telephonic
threats -0
death to the 1 rapstar &#39; 0 n
Subjects then - intercede by
contacting the victim and offering protection for afee c The
- .- -
victim and their family are taken to asafe haven", usually a
private estate, and are protected by gun-toting body guards
associated with
the JEWISH DEFENSE LEAGUE JDL! The subjects
C . . . .
onvince the victim they have worked adeal out with the
person
..
s! making the death . threats and the threats
.
cease The
.&#39;
*7-<
b./K,
victim then pays the subjects for the protection services 7
rendered and resume their
normal lifestyle with no fear of b&#39;
further threats
death

:identified deceased!
EAZY-E who reportedly was
targeted by subjects for extortion prior to dying from
complications associated with AIDS. EAZY-E resided in Van Nu s,
Californi

In addition to the aforementioned, on 10/8/96,

Det. LAPD! and writer interviewed a Los Angeles
source of proven reliability, concerning the ODEH bombing matter.
During that
interview source corroborated the above information.
According source,[:::::]reportedly
to enlists
the services
of one
not further
escri e as a capper
or
identified this
atto assist
ambulance chaser,
time!,whom source
with the 7
extortion scheme. Source stated that[::::]used this same scheme
when he rip
would off drug dealers. Source stated the monetary
amount being extorted is in the $50,000 range.

Writer is familiar with captioned subjects their

as
names have surfaced in the ODEH investigation and also acase
captioned JEWISH LEAGUE;
DEFENSE D5/T; OO: L05 ANGELES"
IOOA-LA 169742-Closed!.

Since two independent sources have reported captioned

matter, it is recommended that a266A matter be opened and

I ] LASD! as case
assi
ned
co agents.D :::::]
to writer with Det nd De

60
 ~ ~-92 92
._! ._!
CPNet.com
- TupacShakur Pagel of 2

Front
To -
Page Network
CollegePress

Shakur avictim of his message

Rapper cannot escapeworld he idealized

TupacShakur:Oneoftheleadinggures
ofgangsta
rap.
I993 le photo.

.B?_K§Mw TN_ 6_E.6I; é ET.,.

CPNet
Opinion
Editor
of
LastFriday,
dozensTupac
Shakur
fans
gathered
outsideUniversityMedicalCenterin Las Vegasto
mourn the death of their slain idol.

Mortallywounded
duringa drive-byshooting
nearthe
Vegasstrip,Shakur nally metthe endhe so .
vehemently many of hissongs.
invokedin
Butin thistimeof griefandmourning,
whatwastherealimpactof hismessage?
In a societywhereracialequalityhasyet to be reached,Shakursimplypolarized
the opposingsideswith hismessageof hateandintolerance.Insteadof usinghis
bring the racestogether,he did everythingimaginable,whether
talentsto
not, to makepeacefulco~existence
intentionalor impossible.

Living ina countrywherehomicideratesarethe highestin the world, Shakur

blindlypromotedthe indiscriminateuseof guns andviolenceto makeamends.
Shakurevenbecamea victim of hisown messagewhenhe was shot ve times
a
during 1994 robberyattempt.

AlthoughShakurtriedto conveya positiveimageof

women andfatherhood
in
someofhisearlysongs,
whatever
credibility
hepossessed
quicklydeteriorated
whenin1995 he wasarrestedand sentenced
tojail for sexuallyattackinga
21-year-oldwoman

Shal<ur&#39;s
detrimentalmessagefueledthe res of politicalconservatives
who called
for suchextremesascensorship of
andnation-wideimposition what they
own
consideredto be "true"family values.Even in pronouncinghis First
Amendmentrights,Shakurmaragedto attractnegativepublicityto thismost
to
intrinsicright guaranteed all Americans.

LastSunday,
theRev.Jesse
Jackson a LosAngelesnewspaper
wasquotedin as
1996
onl8 PNA§§§s§gmmm AM
0§;s1
maneWK D 4-1
p
" as er
&#39;
i
 .&#39;5
D_ ~ J

CPNet.com~Tupac Shakur -Page 2 of 2

saying: "Thisis so,so sad.Sometimes the

lure ofviolent cultureis somagnetic
that even
when one overcomes itwith material success, it continues to call."
What
I would like to know is what the Rev. Jacksonconsiders overcomingviolence. As I
recall, Shakurovercame violence
by explicitly endorsing it.Therefore, hecould
never haveovercome it. On the contrary, hejust becameanother victim in a
hopelessly tragic
way of life hehimself helpedadvance.
Of course, Shakur is
not alone. Hejoins the long list of "dead heroes" who in living
have donetheir partto propagate
aperilous way of life withoutregard tofuture
consequences. Just
as JerryGarcia in his promotion of drug use during the 60s and
70s, Shakur
will forever be remembered
for leadinga generation
down theroad of
neglect and
despair.
Unfortunately in our world, all
the wrong role models attractthe attention of the
masses. Whether they beathletes orpoliticians, these
individuals degrade
the most
basic values
of integrityand rectitude.
To makematters worse, in shamethey are
still heralded by their fellow peers.

Tragically, thosewho seekto makea positivedifference,simplygo

overlooked or
are suppressedby the powers thatbe. It is disappointing that 28 years afterhis
death, Dr. Martin Luther King&#39;s message
of non-violence and assimilationcan be
supersededbythe narrow, intolerant message professed byindividuals such as
white supremacists,anti-Semite andin this case,
Tupac Shakur.

New index of collegenewspapers online

Subscribe to
our free CPNews service
email
Free stuff

Posted: September
18, 1996.

Copyright © 1995, 1996,Colle ePress Network. All rights reserved.

http://www.cpnet. com

Oct 18 1996 08:51 AM

 Qe Q
l &#39; -92!
Zpac Pages
Newzletter Edition
2 VolumeI Page 1of 2

Inside The Mind Of

2pac Shakur
I ix
MK Kif I ! K7 I I A,LLI]II"¢"" F*92","
Y" f~
L -...4-L:-.. .&#39;~&#39;..
an 1,___,
.l :
Disclaimer: The
following is an excerpt
fromVibe
Magazine. HERE-W W-l°1~
13 15$Il&#39;
gme.n92n=pn__,a
- Qu°92&#39;?.
aouowa
q92O92u8 l;
~92$°*= i Qxszul
was
There neverabeef, onlyadifference of opinion. My homeboy Suge
gave me the best advice that I could ever get from anybody. When people
ask him if he&#39;sbee ng with Bad Boy and with Puffy, he&#39;s says it s like
me
going to the playground to pick on litle That&#39;s like me being mad at
kids.
my little brother cause
he&#39;s getting cash now. I&#39;m not mad at that, I&#39;m just
mad at my little brother when he don&#39;t me.
respect And when you don&#39;t
- respect
me, I&#39;mspank
a that ass.Idon&#39;t give afuck how rich you got tn the
I&#39;m your big brother. I&#39;m
block abreak your
big ass down.
That&#39;s myonly
point. I feel as though he wrong, he got out of hand. He got seducedby the
power-not because he&#39;s evilanperson, but because money is evil; ilit&#39;s not
handled right. If you lose your composure you could do anything.Fear got
stronger than love and uiggas did things that they weren&#39;t reallysupposed
to do. They know
in their hearts, that&#39;s theirwhy in hell now.They can&#39;t
sleep. That&#39;s
why they&#39;re
telling all the reporters and all the people "Why
they doing this?
They fucking up hip-hop, blah, blah, blah"cause they in
hell. They can&#39;t make money, they can&#39;t anywhere,
go theycan&#39;tlook at
themselves causethey know the prodigal son has retui-ned.I&#39;m alive; the
ghost is walking around. And I&#39;m around talking, in jail Ididn&#39;ttalk. Now,
everybody who thinks that Idisrespected, I love my eastcoast fans. I&#39;m
from there. I&#39;m eating New York Pizza, Idrive New Yorkjeeps but I&#39;m
saying let&#39;s
keep it real for asecond. If you&#39;re halfthe lover of music that
are,
you go back and study. Study how Party And Bullshitwas me before I
met Biggie. You don&#39;t hear my stylein his raps. Studyhow after I met
Biggie, Ready To Die comes out and his whole stylechanges study. Study
why I would be mad when half of the major NewYork rappers or their
managers, or their agents or their somebody wasthere when Igot shot-and
nobody
couldn&#39;t give me no information. Juststudy that. Study how when
Wu-Tang got their chain snatched atsix-six-duece, I not only found who
did it but gave them the message thatif they wanted to see the niggas that

Oct18 1996 08:51 AM

 yo g 10
ZpacPages 2
Newzletter
Edition I
Volume 2
Page 2
of
did it, they could seethem. Man to Man, just you and them-no guns, no
nothing if you feel like that. That&#39;s
all I ask for. If you&#39;re
goingto act like a
or
gangster or
a "G" a king of New York, I&#39;m
a expectthat. And when you
don&#39;t
comethrough, then Pmgoing to want to crush your empire. And
that&#39;s
what it&#39;s
time for. for thelatest on

Qnline
Visit Y_ibeMagazine and checkout the rest of this interview.
Its pretty interesting,and de nitely checkout the video clipsof the
interview alsoavailable on Vibe Magazine Online.

by
This Pageis Webmastered Gurjeet Litt yu108654@orku.ca

1996
Oct 18 ~08:51 AM
"92 11
4

Shakur Hurtin Drive-By Shooting Page 1 of 3

Shakur Hurt in Drive-By Shooting

Controversial Rapper Critically Injured After Tyson
Fi IIV&#39;I&#39;.
A-LL CQNTILINED
?8R.l
By Sharon
Waxmcm &#39;
B
c 929292°92&#39;1l W-1:92&#39;9292a92l
SpecialThe
to Washington
Post qU92¥92P92-#10 0 AL,5°;
Monday, September
9 1996;
Page D01 &#39; l"""~$92392-vii q92$7__q92
The WashingtonPost

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 8--"Gangsta" rap

star Tupac Shakurwas incritical condition in a Las
Vegas hospital
today afteran assailant
pumped four
bullets intohis headand chest
during a
drive-by shootingSaturday night.
The 25-year-oldrap starwas shotas heand Marion"Suge" Knight,chairman ofDeath Row
Records, Shakur&#39;s
label, wereon their way to anightclub about 11:15p.tn. afterwatching the
Mike Tyson-BruceSeldon heavyweighttitleght at theMGM Grand Hotel, policesaid.

Shakur underwent
emergency surgery
for multiple gunshot woundsand remainedunder
heavy police
and private
guard inthe trauma-intensive
care unit,according to
aspokesman
for University Medical Center.Knight, 31, was hitin the head-by shrapnel
and wasreleased
from thehospital today.

The shootingwas themost seriousin astring of violent incidents involvingthe rapstar, who
appeared Wednesday
at theMTV VideoMusic Awards,
where he
and members
of his .
entourage gotinto an argument withseveral menin the lobby of New York s Radio City
Music Hall. Police werecalled tobreak
it up.

In November1994, Shakurwas shot ve times in the lobby

of a New York recording studio
when muggers
stealing his
jewelryopened
re. He hasspentmuch
of the past2 1/2years in
court or in custodyon variouscharges.

A handsome,
swaggering man
with longeyelashes and
apenchantfor showy
jewelry, Shakur
hasbeenaprominent symbol for gangsta rapmusic, enthusiasticallyfollowed by teenage fans
and longcriticized by adults for its explicitly violent andsexual images.Saturday&#39;s incident
underscored the link betweensome rapstars~despite their celebritystatus --and the
dangerous milieuthat gave
rise to their music. .

Oct 18 1996 08:47 AM

 __ -..
, .. !

ShakurHurt in Drive-By Shooting 2

Page 3
of

weekend
In the shooting, Knightwas
driving with Shakurin aconvoy of IO carsabout
a
from
quarter-mile glittering casinostripwhena whiteCadillac
the inside
withfourpeople
their
pulledupalongside blackBMW anda passengeropenedre. Localmediareports
said
dozens of witnesses looked on in horror.

Policesaidtheyhadbegunan investigation no
intotheshootingbuthad suspects
yet.
"Drive-byshootings
arenotmilmownhere,buttheyusuallyoccurbetweenrival gang
memberswhosereasonsarefor retaliationfor othershootings,"
saidLasVegasPoliceLt.
MarcMaston."I can&#39;t
tellyouthemotivation
behind
this."
But he saidpolicewereoptimistictheywould nd theassailants.
"Thisparticularincident
apparently If
hadseveral
witnesses. with
theyarecredible, goodinformation, be
thisshould
solvable."

Spokesman
for DeathRow Records
couldnotbe reachedfor commentasto possiblemotives
fortheshooting.
Shakur
saidearlierthisyearthathebelieved1994 robbery-shooting
the was
a setup,fuelingspeculation
in thehip-hopindustrythatrivalrybetweenEastCoastandWest
Coastraplabelsmayhavetakena violentturn.

Shakurhimselfhashadmanyrun-inswith the law in recentyears.In June,thesingerfaceda

l20 daysentencefor probationviolationsstemmingfromoffensesincludingassaultand
batteryanda 1994sexualabuseconvictionin New York. He hadbeenallowedto remainfree
--
on$1.4 million bail -- paidby DeathRowRecords pendinghisappeal.

Shakurservedll monthsin prisonfor his involvement

in theattackon a 21-year-oldwoman
He
in a New York hotelroom. hadbeenconvictedin LosAngelesof assaultandbatteryon a
a
musicvideoproducerandfor carrying loaded,concealed weapon,andwasscheduled for
sentencing on
thisweek theweaponscharge.

Butin theworld of rap,Shakur&#39;s

convictions
seemed
onlyto enhance
hisstatus.
Hisfourth
soloalbum,"All Eyezon Me," a two-volume,27-trackrecordingfeaturingguestturnsby
fellowrappers_$_r3 oopAIQoggy
Dogg,
l§appin&#39;
4;&#39;l_"ay
and__Method
Man,debuted
earlier
thisyear
andhassoldmorethan
5 millioncopies.Hisprevious
album, Me AgainsttheWorld, had
thedubious
distinction 1
of beingthe rstalbumtoreachNo. whileitssingerwasin prison.
ShakuralsostarredoppositeJanetJackson
in the 1993movie"PoeticJustice"andhasbeen
workingon another lm, "Gridlock."

In interviews
earlierthisyear,Shakur
hadsaidhewastiredof livinguptohisoutlawimage,
onehe hadchronicledin a tattooonhischestthatpronounced
"ThugLife."

.
"l livedThugLife," he said."It wasstupid . . it&#39;s
suicidal."

But therapperalsosaidthathe expectedhe woulddie violently.In July,Shakurtoldthe

Britishnewspaper
theObserver:
"It&#39;s
goingto happen.
All the[blackpeople]
whochange
the
worlddie in violence.Theydon&#39;t
getto die like regularways.{Expletives]
cometaketheir
lives."

Oct 18 1996 AM
0g;47
 QQt 1

Shakur Hurt
in Drive-ByShooting Page 3of 3
@CAPTION: Tupac
Shakur inNew Yorkat
the MTV VideoMusic Awards,
three days
before the attack.

@CAPTION: Rapper
Tupac Shakur,
shown here
last week,
took fourbullets inthe headand
chest ina drive-byshooting Saturdaynight
in Las Vegas.

©Copyright 1996The WashingtonPost Company

Back to the
tog

Oct 18 1996 08:47 AM

 1
_3 ~J
TupacandtheFallontheRoadtoCalvary 4
PageI of

Tupacand theFall on the

Road to Calvary
By JordanPelaez
F 7 77777 T77" 7
&#39;
The rsttimel entered Prado where
thegalleryin The
Raphael&#39;s
TheFallontheRoadtoCalvaryca.15l 7! hangs,
I
simplystared
atthismonstrous eight
tenfoothigh, footwide
canvas,
and
letthe
tears
owfortenIf friendI l
minutes.
the Al.-...
I

waswithhadn&#39;t
snapped
meoutofit, I might
stillbein in WW ,,,.
Madrid. I 1 n§
parenting
mg.
Raphael
painted
amob
scene,
teeming
-
withRoman
soldiers,
3=tu°92§LZ.*&
qgtttgt,
<te|_;u¢,
1,, Q
executionspectators,
thedistance
horses,carts,
mourners,and,wayoff
Calvary,morea
at the endof theprocession,
in N
we¢92
moundthana hill, wheretwo crosses havealreadybeen
erected.But at thepainting&#39;s
centerarejust two gures.Jesus,I ,
a rockandhisrightstill tryingto
. fallenwith his left handon f
support
themassive
weightof thecross, 1
looksbackoverhis
le shoulder.Therestandsa groupof ve women-- rstand 7&#39;
foremostamongthem,Mary, hismother.Mary holdsherhandoutstretched,
willing evennow
todoanything
shecanto saveherchild.Herlookpersoni es
despair
andalienation.
Thelook
in Jesus&#39;s
eyesbespeak compassion
for thetrialof hismother;evenin thiscrisis,he seems
like he&#39;s
tryingto consoleher.

I knewthoselookswell. They werethelooks,I thoughtthat rst time,thatpassedbetween

as
my wife andmy daughter thelatterlay dyingof cancer.But furtherviewingsbroughtme to
a differentunderstanding.
My ownfaceonceboreoneof thoselooks,andso doesthe faceof
everymother,andeverychild,whofacesan untimelydeath.

SowhenI gotthenewsthatTupacShakurhaddiedof his drive-bywounds,I thought

instantlyof hismother.Giventhelife of distressTupac
that many
andhismotherlived,how
them
timeshadtheysharedsuchglances,heldthem,broken off only because
thepainof
sustainingsuchmomentsof intensityis nally too muchfor anyheartto bear?

The otherdayon theAOL discussion groupTheVelvetRope,somefool mockedtheidea

thatTupaccouldbe compared in anyway to JohnLennon.But TupacandLennonandElvis
at leasthadthis in common:The rst, perhapsgreatest, loveof theirlife wastheirmother.
And thisis no smallthing,because all of themmadesomeof theirmostimportantmusic
becauseof it: Lennon&#39;s
"Julia,"theearlyElvisballadsthatareclearlydirectedat hismom
catchtheendof hissecond lm, LovingYou!, andTupads"DearMama."

18
Oct 1996 08:48 AM
 OO
s Cl
and
Tupac the Fallon theRoad toCalvary Page 2 of 4
Of course,thafs not the
only comparison, oreven necessarily
the mostimportant onethat
could bemadebetween
Tupac and thegreat rockrebels.Fools
are reluctant toadmit Tupac
to
full equality in this matter, because
that would mean admittingother things.For instance,that
Tupac equaled the greatsin theemotional intensityand rhythmic power ofhis records.
Or
that themajority ofTupac s songs were uplifting,positive, respectful
of women,and
concerned with encouraging black
young men notto commitcrime,whichhe generally
portrayed as
afoolish and uglything evenwhen it&#39;s
seductive or unavoidable. would
It
require admittingthat Tupac was sent
to prisonfor acrimethatwhite rock starshave
committed, andcontinueto
commit, with absoluteimpunity. It would
require acknowledging
that although once shoot twomen, itwas inself-defense; they
Tupacdid were off-duty
Georgia copswho haddrawn down
on himin theafter-midnight streets
of Atlanta.It would
require recognizingthat Tupacis not the onlyrock starwith unsavoryassociates.

But refusingto allow Tupac

to enter thelists of rock&#39;s greats
fallen isthe leastof the sins
fools makewhen talkingabout them.These fools,who includejust aboutevery writer I&#39;ve
read onthe subject,spend alltheir time avoiding asimple truth:Tupac wasnot amurderer;
he gotmurdered. Hewasnot the criminal thistime; hewas thevictim of a shooting.But of
course, ifyou tell the storythat way,you can tcome outand say,as themedia from
Newsweek to
The VillageVoice have
done, that
this thuggish
young nigger
got what&#39;s
comingto
him. _

On thatbasis, sodid Jesus,who preferredthe companyof whores,thieves, taxcheats from

the governmentend!, andother miscreants. Not that Tupac wasanything like Jesus. Butthose
Bible storiesexist to
try to teachus notabout Jesus
so muchas aboutforgiveness and
compassion. What
cases like
Tupac&#39;sover
prove,
andover again,
is thatwe livein atime and
aplace where theconcept offorgiveness does not exist.Our societyisn&#39;t
forgiveness,
about
it&#39;s about
vengeance--which, it&#39;s
tempting tosay, isone reasonit turns out somuch artlike
Tupac&#39;s,soand
little like Raphael&#39;s.
iZ in i ii But that wouldn&#39;ta terribly
be accurate thingto say,
either. Inthe rst place, Raphael&#39;s
society isour
society--the hideous
American cultural
landscape of
today grew straight
up out
of theculture that
l produced the Renaissance,and the colonialism that
i brought Tupac&#39;s ancestors
and myown to America.
And while it may be truethat Raphael&#39;s
world
valued harmonyand orderfar morethan ours,that&#39;s
mostly trueof its artistic productions--formost
people, who hadno accessto art at all, the
Renaissance world was amiserably impoverished
l and dangerous place dwell.
to

Itmay be true,as JohnBerger putsit in his newbook, Titian:Nymph andShepherd Prestel,

$24.50!, that
"our century[is]...always searching
for rageand wisdom,
rather than
harmony."
But it is not the declineof belief in God or theholy RomanCatholic churchor the clinical
application of
the artisticvalues ofthe Renaissance
that hasmade itso.Itis rather the
way
we haveallowed theother side-~the
colonizing, predatory,"nature redin tooth
and claw"

Oct l8 1996 08:48 AM

 00
wT!
Tupac and
the Fallon theRoad toCalvary Page 3 qf4
side--to dominate.In the society thatworships notGod orJesus butthe freemarket,
competition and"the sanctityof the contract," compassionand forgivenesshave beenerased.
When was
the lasttime youoffered acold cupof waterto thesick orvisited theimprisoned?
But no artist is
bound entirely by the prejudicesof his time. Greatartists transcendour
everyday pettiness.There isno excusefor the Tupac lyricsthat demeanotherpeople, and in
portraying violencewith so much explicitnessthat it became forsome sadsouls allegedly
attractive, heplayed
a dangerous game. Great art,we havebeen reassured, escapes the
small-minded bigotryof its time. Maybenot always.If we looked atThe Fall on the Road to
Calvary theway theart of Tupac andother rapperformers isusually seen,Jesus andMary
would not be thecentral gures. For standingjust aboveJesus inthe picture,closer toits
center andwith a more directlyactive rolein theproceedings, isalarge muscular man.His
head isturned tothe right,whereamountedRoman of cerwavespapers
at him; thisis
surely Simonthe Cyrene,the manwho accordingto the gospels wasordered tohelp Jesus
carry thecross afterhe stumbled.Simon isrepresented here, however, inanother
umnistakable way:Raphael drewthis LibyanJew, aloneamong thecompany, withahuge
hooked nose,which in his time wasaway of saying "Hymietown." Judgedthe wayour
society judgesrap--by caricature,not context -TheFall on the Roadto Calvary is antisernitic.

According to Luke 3:28-31!, the womenlooking

on weptwhenJesus
stumbled, and hefound the I
energy tospeak tothem. "Daughters
of Jerusalem,"1
Luke hashim say, "weep notfor me,but weepfor l
yourselves, andfor your children. Forbehold the
days arecoming in the which they shallsay,
Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never .
bare, andthe papswhich nevergave suck.Then
shall theybegin to say tothe mountains,Fall onus ;
and tothe hills, Cover us."&#39; ,
If I do not
quite believe
that we
have reached
thosei
days,Tupac
is one ofthe reasons.
With allmy heart,I wishthat hehad hadthe timeto grow
in wisdom and maturity;that hecould
have avoided thelethal situationsinto which he
continued to fall. But I have seen his video for l Ain&#39;t
Mad At Cha" and I know that he had
come muchfurther alongthe paththan thosewho treathim asif he were themurderer.

That videohas mostlybeen described in termsof its sensational opening moments, inwhich
T upacis shot in the chest anddies, "justlike in reality"; and inevitably, in terms of the dead
musical celebrities
that
Tupac then encounters
in heaven.
But thosedetails have
nothing todo
with what the videois about,nor is itsurprising that folks would rathertalk aboutanything
including
else, trivia. Becausethe truetopic
of "I Ain&#39;t
Mad At Cha" isprecisely compassion
and forgiveness.

In thevideo, Tupac forgives everyone-~the

brothers knownand unknown who couldnot stay
the course,his partners
in ThugLife, themother about
whom hismusic oftenexpressed such
deep
but con icted emotionbut whostayed besidehim thatlook undoubtedly upon herface!
that longweek inthe hospital,
those who condemned himfrom thestart andalong
the way.

Oct 18
i996 08:48 AM
 92
.. , !
f

Tupac and
the Fallon theRoad toCalvary Page 4 of4
He alsoprays forother ghetto
youth tohaveabetter chance--and
ahappier result. Thevideo&#39;s
nal images tell the true story.The friendwho waswith Tupacwhen hewas shotdresses up,
visits hisfriend&#39;sthen
grave,
goes
home, where
hugs mother, wifeand babygirl. Fadeto a
he
black screen,on which iswritten: Dedicated toMutula Shakurand GeronimoPratt. Tupac&#39;s
fathers. Inthe end,the sonforgives hisfathers, whichis ascloseas Icould imagine anyone
coming in this life to reachingakind of emotionalmaturity.

Wewill
not be permitted to knowwhat kindof grownman ormature artist Tupac Shakur
might havebecome. Those who donot thinkthis isatragedy,or believethat whathe had
done tohim isonly whathe haddone toothers, miss the pointfar, farmore than
those ofus
who, all along, forgavehim
his sins because
of his talent

© CopyrightI996.
The Unofficial Death
Row HQ.All RightsReserved

Oct 18 1996 08:48 AM

 0 Q 4
, t&#39;3
2pac Pages
Newzletter Edition
2 Volume1Page 1 of2

2p acNewz ~Hs~..a&#39;".s
wEmmQL_B "°9292m.L queues-
* ""* -""" "r"" *" ******** u$q
Meow °9292Sa=-it
Tupac Shakur has lined
up his next acting gig.
The rapper will co-star
opposite Tim Roth in the dark comedy "Gridlock." ActorVondie Curtis
Hall wrote the script and will direct. The movie isabout two druggies who
want to go straight, but can&#39;t
get into any rehab centers. They are framed
for the murder of adrug dealer andthen thepolice comeafter them aswell
as the real murderers. Tupac has also completed the script for an up
coming movie called "Live to Tell", he will also be staring in this one.

Back in April Zpac was sentencedto 120 days for violating his parole, he
was to start serving this
sentence on June 7/96
but the judge granted him
extention until Tupac has nished production on an upcoming movie.
an
Tupac isappealing this sentence, and the word right now is that
he should
win. Zpac will you please stayout of jail!!!

Last Month
2pac appeared in court to face Illegal weapon charges and
instead of the Judge giving Tupac jail
time, he ordered Zpac to put on a
benefit concert
in Californiafor underprivillaged youths.

AsI had stated last in

month Q Zpac
I
Pages Newzletteglpac
has nished
making two videos, "2 of Americaz ost an e , and How Do UWant
It". Well, 2pac is also making avideo for his new track called "Hit Em
Up", which is not avaliable on
his new album So, y&#39;all
be on
the lookout for
that.

NEW ALBUM, Zpac will be releasing anew album. The material on this
newalbum
will be similarto "Me Against theWorld". A release date
has
not been set yet.

Within the month, there

will be anOf cial 2pac Homepage comingup on
the net,I will post theaddress assoon
as Irecieve it.On theOf cial 2pac
Homepage youwill be able topurchase thosehard tond singles andother
merchandise, aswell askept upto datewith 2pac&#39;s future projects.

Oct 18 1996 08:48 AM

 .-&#39;-92
.
! _i I

Zpac Pages
Newzle er Edition2 Volume1*_ &#39; Page 2of 2
___,.. ....,_
.92_ &#39;~

ThisPage
is Webmastered b&#39;{Gurjeet
Litt yu108654@gorku.ca
"--~.._ _ ,-

Oct 181996
08:48 AM
v
 I I
i &#39; 5!
Zpac Pages
Newzletter Edition
2 Volmne1 Page 1of 2

The New 2pac Track

c

was
There someconcern
from some ofyou that I was being
hypocritical
because I praised the 2Pac record that
attacks bad boy while at the same
I&#39;ve been advocating peace...I wanted to clarify acouple of points...
time
First and foremost..I&#39;m de nitely
forpeace.. If there is anyway Ican help
facilitate that.. Iwould and will do that.. One of the things Iwould most
likely not do is play the song on my radio show without abriefcommentary
before and after.... What I rst thought about hit u up wasits ferocity.. It
was astraight up dis song... and in the context of throwingdown and being
com petetive on wax..I likeed it on that
level.. Up untilnow people have been
beating around the bush.by using fancy metaphorsand similes and saying
something but not saying nothing..ie LALA.. The 2Pac song reminded me
0LTim.. .. and my rst thoughts werewillTim Dog come back I
with aresp0nse...after Iprinted the message..Iremembered that he did..but
it was weak... So really I guess
I just liked thedirectness of the song and
considering whatwas said
some of the remarkswerein
line... ie Mobb Deep _
aweek after 2Pachad beenshot weredown inwashingtonn<: 6ii&#39;si&#39;ga" ""&#39
making jokes about it.. They kept saying theyknew who shot Pac...So they
got stepped too...Because ifit&#39;s
Biggie/Zpac
a thing..why is
Mobb Deep
enetring the arena..? Chino..who Ilike alot, alsospoke.. In one of hisrhymes
he spoke about getting bent over in jail like2Pac.. There was arumor going
around that said he got pumped in jail..Again why jump in?..So Pac called
them outon record..Now atthis juncturein
the game one two things will
of
happen..either this
dissing onwax will continue..orfools willsit downand
talk and work itall out..orthey ll do like Luke and Dre did make dis
records so
they all make money.. Iwill admit..Pac went abit too far by
talking about Biggie&#39;s wife..But
as astraight up dis record which we have
always had in hip hop..I found the song funny... Ithink at this point in
time.. the wars will cease..... and
soon these records will retire and be
viewed the way we look at
Me Shan and KRS-One...old battle records.. And
if folks recall there was an awful lot of tension between BDP and the Juice
Crew back then..

Davey D M1,, n~n3&#39;onMA&#39;r10192I

UONTAINED
http://www.daveyd.com
15
DATE92
WB HEREIN
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on
18 1996 Qusou, <3 °92 92s&#39;2_1.92
os;49 AM
l
s
 &#39;, Q
ZpacPagesEdition
Newzletter 2 Volume1 Page2of 2
is
What are your comments,do you think Zpac in
justi ed making this
of y&#39;all
track? And for all have
that this
heard track Hit Em Up", What
do you think? Is
it on point?

This Page
is Webmastered
by GurjeetLitt yu108654@,yorku.ca

I8
QC! 1996 08:49 AM
.~v to
Eazy-E "The
Hip-Hop Thugster" Page 1of 2

SunriseZ963 &#39;
Sunset1995
____
I IIII II
This page
* I~
is dedicated
II
thememoYy&#39;<¬Ei&#39;ie
inII II
Wright R.I.P!
I II
! "Eazy-E"
I II II I<;I&#39; __i 1" II_I_I_*: i II I

Eric "Eazy-E"Wright gotthe wholeU.S.A plusthe restof theworld towake upwhen it

came
the
to blacks in
situration
the
Americanin comunity
the
middle
theof
Under
80&#39;s.
T
his alias,Eazy-E, hestartedarecord comapny, -RuthlessRecords-, withhelp of moneythat
he hadcollected asa smallthief anddrug-dealer, andcreated thegangsta-rap,apart of hip
hop thathad millionsof headlines worldwide. 31years old,he died,only 2months after that
he fund out that he
had AIDS.

He wasborn in Comptonin
a middle-class familyin 1963,he losthis
grip in the teenages and
becameacriminal, the lifeasasmall gangsta didn&#39;t
have theplans forthe futurethat Eazy-E
were dreaming
i-of,-_~so-after "cemtéatea
the schoo-l,~
he
started in themusic buisnes.
Together wiih__I_&#39;c"e-Cube,
Dr.Dre,
Ren and D_J
MC Yella, 1986
he puttcd
togetherof
the
one
most controversial rap~group
ever, N.W.ANiggaz With
Attitudes!. When
their "Boyz
n the
Hood" startedto conquerthe lists in USA, they puttedCompton andLos Angeleson
the
rap-map. Withfat basesand heavyfunk, Boyz n&#39; Hood
the soonbecame thenational-song of
hip hop.Everybody that
were livingin theso calledprojects" suddenly
had something
that
was their,a songwith lyrics that showedthe hardreallity that got -the"white America" to
tripp.
That wasjust the begining. WithN.W.A, RuhtlessRecords gotadream start and1989 the
album Straight outta Compton, that wasareal classic wereout. Thefans selebrated.
With
soungs like
Fuck thePolice andGangsta, Gangsta
made the
FBI andthe LAPDto shake
teeth andthe politicansstarted toshow interestsin hip hop butnot in apositive way. The
gangsta rapalso splittedinto two camps betwenthose whothought N.W.Ajust descrined
things asthey wereand thosewho thoughtthat hip-hophad aresponsibilty totake andno
encurige andglorify that violence thatwas aboutto stranglethe Latin Americans andthe
black people.

In the middle of that

Eazy saw howhis life work wasfailing apart.
Ice-Cube left first, then to
be followedby Dr.Dre
that started Deth_ I§g!y _Records
together with
Suge Knight,
with
artists like
Snoop
DoggyDoggp
Tha Dogg
Poundtatttong others.was
It hard
for Eazy-E
when Dr. Dre left Ruthless Recdrdsr--Dr:"Dr e were the inventor of the West Coast sound and
Eazy, that
actually didn&#39;t
do
so muchon
the records suddenly
becameasecond-part- gureon
the rap-stage.
Plus that
the oldmembers sue
each other,
and ifthat wasn&#39;t
enough, they
came
out with solo albumswere theydidn&#39;tfor
back
anythingjust to diss eachother,Eazy-E eaven
publicat pictures
of Dr. Dre ineye-liner and
lipstickon
his second solo
album, It&#39;s
on
Dr.Dre! 187 um Killa 1993. Eavendogh it wasn&#39;tEazy-E
easy, continiudeon his way,
hard-headed hestuck tohis visionsand hisgangsta mentality.
His recordswasn&#39;t sellin&#39;
as

Au. nt&#39;t~ c:-it/mrtoit

CO N&#39;1 AJ1l&#39;ED
Oct 18
1996 HEREIN 1&#39;3 UKCLASSIF
gag - Qt! 03349 AM
mTE 3
°929292ot&#39;2.
°"1L
<>.92~.> ianew.§ £§?? .
&#39;
.2 er iv
Eazy-E "The
Hip-Hop Thugster" Page2of 2
good anymore,
but 1994,he gotinto contact
with thegroup BoneThugs n&#39;
Harmony" from
Cleveland. Eazy-E
had nosefor talents,and Ruhthless
onceagain
had a groupthat
could sell
millions of records.

Just then,fate strokewith all it&#39;s power.

Eazy-E&#39;s
buring
self lifestyledemanded it&#39;s
tribute. A
cold showed
up tobe ain amation ofthe lungs,may seems
like apiece of cake,but notin
this case.AIDS the doctors con rmedand twomonths laterhe wasdead. A er ll523 days
on theearth, EricWright died the 26thMars 1995,in ahospital bed, withonly his family at
his side.The gangsta
pionee Eazy-Edidn&#39;t became
no victimof abullet, it wasAIDS,amuch
bigger threat
to thehumanity than
the gangstas.

R.I.Pi PERSONS
HAS SHOWED
THAT ARN&#39;T
YOU FOROG
This pagemight be good, butit ain&#39;t
the official, so checkOut TheReal OneOut!

Some Lyrics ,
Just TahLet Ya know Str8 off tha streetz ofmuthaphul-akin Compton!Wut would U do
off
Str8 tha streetz
of muthaphukkin&#39; Compton!
Exxtra specialthankz Itson Dr.Dre!
l87um killa! 4 tha E video verision! Yella -One moe nigga
to go!
Phat Link l.

Egy-E Homepage
Ea_zy-E Memorial Page
Ruthless Records Official Site
Of cial Eazy-E Homepage
Bone
Thugs n&#39; Harmony
Celebrities
Dead _
Dead CelebritiesEazy-E pagg
Another Eazy-Epage
Kxayzids Homepage
your
Send comments tonils.hagmark@mailbox.swipnet.se

[ OtherUsers|E]
This serviceis providedby Concept Systemdesign AB
The materialon thispage are
the responsibility
of its author, notConcept Systemdesign
AB.

Oct 18 1996 ;49 AM

 Q!
DEAD CELEBRITIES:
EAZY-E ERICWRIGHT! Page 1 of 1

We-E _
Eric Wright!
1963-1995 .

Eric Wrightwas bomin Compton,California toamiddle-classfamily in

1963. As ateenager,

much
for hope
the
Ericschool
nis::i
in became
Ice-Cube, Dre,.MC
Dr. J
1986
andasteamed
Remand
he
Eazy-E
w
Eric hadtrouble with the law, but hefound thatlife as a small-timegangsta didn&#39;t

Yel orming one of

the most
controversialgroups
rap
give him

in history,
N. WA.
ND?!/.:»t;&#39;put
on the
gang
map with
their hit
album Boyz
n the
Hood,
and gaveLos Angeles/Comptonrap credibility in therap scene.

Eazy-E&#39;s Ruthless
Records, startedwith moneyhe collectedas asmall-time thiefand drug
dealer, foundits rst hit with Boyz n the Hood,but thatwas justthe beginning.Straight
Outta Comptonwas RuthlessRecords nextrelease, andit provedas biga hit as Boyzand just
as controversial.Songs likeFuck thePolice andGangsta, Gangsta rubbed policeand
politicians the
wrong wayand gave
rap abad namenon-rap circles. Thisonly proveda
in
challenge toEazy, whothought thathip-hop hada responsibilityto shedlight
on the violence
that Latin and African Americans wereliving with every day.

At this time, N.
W./1. started tofall apart.Ice-Cube wasthe
rst to leave,planning a
solo-career, and
Dr. Dre wasn&#39;t
far behind. Dre went
on to start Death Row Records, and the
animosity between Eazy s RuthlessRecords and D_re&#39;s Row
Deathhad begun. Lawsuits
between N.
W.A.&#39;s members
and publicbattles between
the nowestranged rappers
made more
headlines thenthe artiststhemselves. Eazy-E&#39;s
second soloalbum It&#39;s
on Dr. Dre! ]87um
Killa, releasedin 1993, was adirect attack onDr. Dre and thepublic lost interest asthe
original vision of Eazy swork waslost.

Eazy gotback ontrack when,in 1994,Ruthless Records

signed Cleveland
rapyartists Bone
Thugs n Harmony. AsEazy wasclimbing backonto hisfeet,
he was diagnosedwith the
AIDS virus. Two monthslater, onMarch 26, 1995, EricWright, betterknown asEazy-E, was
dead.

Eazy-E biography
edited from
the Eazy-E:
The Hip-Hop
Thugster page.
With specialthanks toNils Hagmark

Dead Celebritieslogo, designand layout© 1996,Christopher M.Bowley.

**~ &#39;1»
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Oct 18 1996 08:49 AM

 0, ..o
2pac
Pages 2
Newzletter
Edition 1
Volume 1
Pageof 3

Fresh Out Of Jail

StreetHeatrepresentatives with TupacShakurin LasVegasduringNovember
metup
Dogg Poundperformed
1995.Pacandtha ght eld-Bowe at Club
aftertheHoly 662.
Everybodywasthere...incIuding
,Rappin&#39; Pepa,
4-Tay,ThaAlkaholiks, andthepossedown
Pac andthaDoggPound.
with show we caught
Onthedayof the upwithPacandkickedit
&#39;
for awhile.

of
Wewerein theback club in ownerSugeKnight&#39;s
the know, is the
of ce.Suge,youmay
owner ofDeathRowRecords. Pac&#39;scareer
SugeandDeathRownowhandle andPacspent
themonth
of of
Novemberin thestudiorunninthroughthe nal touches hisdoublealbum.

of
So,Pac, a lot since
peoplewant to know, your
Death Row Recordsput up bail money,
you
isthatwhy &#39;
leftInterscope?
"It didn&#39;t do with themoney,"saidPac."It hadnothingto do withthebail.
havenothingto I
I
wasalready,
um, hollered when
at Sugebeforethebailsituation Iwas stillanimnatein the
correctional I
facilityand I
waslookingat like servingthreeyears, calledSugeandsaid, Iyo,
with theRow.
wantto be I you
want to manageme because I&#39;m is
in jail--andno one
while
handlingmy bizniz I&#39;m puttingit downlike I wantto putit down. I
injail, nobody&#39;s
a
knewhe&#39;s would
manthat I
putthingsdown. trusthim, hisword,youknow, I
um. really
couldn&#39;t
trustnobody
in bizniznomore,soI c osehim youknow?" ALLINFORMATION
CONTAINED
°929292°921§-
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it during the time that Interscopewasrumored to be leavingWarners and all
Wasn&#39;t
that?

"Yeah,thatwasanotherfactor,"repliedTupac."Because &#39;Dang,
I waslike, theydon&#39;t
care
aboutus. I mean,
it&#39;s not Interscope&#39;s
fault,buttheyreallydon&#39;t
oweus anythingandat any
could be you
minutewe know, alonewithouta contracta er youputall yourhearton the
gave
line,yourmusicontheline,youwentoutthereand up
all yourtalent of
andall a
sudden,it&#39;s kick off.
not goodenoughanymoreandthey&#39;ll
you I waslike,
So by goingto
two superpowers
DeathRow,it&#39;s
like to
joiningup.Youknow,it wouldbesimilar theUS
I felt it waslikejoining
andEnglandteaminup againstanybody,youknowwhatI mean?So
if
twosuperpowers.
And rapmusicwasgoingtohaveto ghtforitsrighttobeuncensored,
thenthiswastheteamfor meto geton,to wagethatbattle."

Did jail changeyour perspectiveon the world?

of
"Yeah...Doingelevenmonths maximumsecuritypenitentiary
time for a crimeyoudidn&#39;t

08:49
Oct l8 I996 AM
2pac Pages
Newzletter Edition
2 Volume1Page 2 of
3
commit would definitely makeyou a little bitter," said Tupac."But I&#39;m
trying not to be bitter.
I&#39;m to
trying
letthat bemy ambition.Now I mvery ambitious.
This yearwill markanew
ground forTupae where I&#39;m relentless.
There&#39;s
boundaries.
no I&#39;m
not lookingat no
stop
signs. I&#39;m
going fullspeed ahead.
I&#39;m planning
on touchingeverything withmy nameon it,
and there&#39;s
a lot of stuff
with my nameon it, so I&#39;m
out there.S0 I got with the Row,
that&#39;s
move numberone, I wrote a movie, that&#39;s
move numbertwo. Did the doublealbum -- 1at&#39;s
been
never done before -- that&#39;s
number
move three. Got the divorce,
that&#39;s move number
And
four. now it&#39;s
just aboutstanding by
my grind,
stay up onmy music,stay outof
trouble."

Tupac has often said that

the media have misrepresented him.What is the real Tupac
Shakur like?

"I-Ie&#39;s
humana being
with all sides," replied
Pac. "Multi~faceted,
ups anddowns. Goods
and
bads. Mistakes.Everything, youknow. All they wantto show is side,
one which is distorted.
That&#39;s
distorted
a view.
S0 what Isaid was true.Ifthey would showthe good things and the
bad things,I would have nocomplaints, andit would even makethem look better. Whenyou
&#39;show
just medoing
all this badstuff,
then people gonnajust startthinking like wait aminute,
dude can&#39;t
this doing
be all this badstuff. I mean,
come They don&#39;t nothing
on. show else.
S0
it&#39;s really
helpin&#39; cause
me, it&#39;s
making it look one-sidedand untrue.But the thing that bothers
me isthat it&#39;s
just notacross the
board. They
do thisto rappers black
oryotmg males --inner
city people.You know, they dothat to us butthey don&#39;t
do thatfor everybodyelse. Butthat
bothers me,but
I&#39;m
not gonna
harp on everythingthat&#39;s unfair,
causelife
is unfair. Nobody
said it&#39;s
be
gonna easyor
fair. I&#39;m even
notgonna
trip I&#39;m
off it. just gonnapush forward.
WhenIstop, I stop. When thewheels fall off,
the wheelsfall off.
But until then I&#39;m
put
gonna
the foot
to the metal."
t
<
t

Tupac has already starred in a number ofmovies including "Above the Rim" and
"Poetic Justice." So weasked what his future acting projects are.

"I just wrote amovie called"Live To Tell." We talking aboutdoingamovie now,

me and
Snoop, thatPooh isworking on, and everythingelse isbefore me.I haven&#39;t
even started I
looking into that, butit&#39;s going
down."
P

Tupac talked about his upcoming double album, the rst by ahip-hop star.
J
"The lastalbum wasone sideof Tupac," he said."And it&#39;s
the otherside, youknow what I
mean?Idid what Ihad to do with "Me Against the World" as faras lettin&#39;people knowthat
rappers thinkand wefeel andwe care.I did that. Now it&#39;s
time for
me to just get into the
music. Thisalbum ismore like about unrestricted.I&#39;m rying
not to
tell amessage. I&#39;m just
getting alot of
frustrations out from being injail for elevenmonths. Andjust speaking my
mind, talking about thingsthat I seeand
just groovin&#39;, having
fun. They like
more upbeat
tracks thanthis. My last albumwas kinda
sad and down.This oneis like way high. There&#39;s

Oct 18 1996 08:49 AM

_P sq P P 1
Zpac Pages
Newzletter Edition
2 VolumeIPage 3 of 3
only two slow songson there."

Heat
Street gives props
George Pryce
and Greg
Howard ofDeath Row
Records for
getting us
with Tupac.

Street Heat
Homepage

Page
This is Webmastered
Gurjeet
by yul08654@yorku.ca
Litt

Oct 18 1996
08;49 AM
- >.-

t! ~92

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ap star TupacShakuris gunneddownagain thistime in LasVegas

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shot vetimesoutsidea Manhattan The31-year-old recordexecutive -- ~". .0. 1.7-
._ &#39;,_
,_~¢ar;.&#39;-. . " &#39;..?I§=_».":
recording studio.Shaker.now25. sur- suffered
only minorinjuries.but ;, $"?&#39;l"
.&#39; - -_.-.
-w_-:7
. ...-.-,.
1",." I"..,;,1
3-.. £1., 1;=7,,,,_:_ ;_t&#
vivedtheattack andevenbragged Shakurwasseverelywounded in his -.-&#39;--, kn , »--
.0-I ms
-. , _&#39;.~,
..e;-"$11,435;
-:?»i;- &#39;3-iii-.92*¢i
-it"&#39;1
.P&#39; _./,_
aboutit on hislatestalbum.thisyear&#39;s
chest.pelvisandhands.He wastaken
All Eye:anMe " ve shotsandthey to LasVegassUniversityMedical At midweekhe remainedin critical
kill
stillcouldn&#39;t me"!.Lastweekin where
Center, doctorsperformed condition. andhisprognosis was
LasVegas.after heattended a Mike threeemergency surgeries to repair guarded.Buttherewasno doubtabout
Tyson ght.dangercamecallingagain. internalinjuriesandto removehis the supportthe singer,whoseAll Eye:
At 11:15pm. on Sept.7. Shakurand days
rightlung.Four later.Shakurwas hassoldmorethan5 millioncopies,
Marion Suge"pronounced Shoog! still bleedinginternallyasdoctors wasreceivingfromotherblack
Knight,theheadof Shakur&#39;sDeath searched franticallyfor thesource. celebrities. and
hisfamily friends.In
ma/asPEOPLE
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 >llSU!lIl
an
L >ra
image he has to YThislrllldylull hmbmr
heart,
keep up to sell up nlnle inducer Brad
llrevoyol Shaltur
records." H78 a Ion Satvrday lgblliuln
Fdruaryl.
friend lhouf
Shaina": gangsta
pose. But at the
Sept.4MTV
Awards, Shaltur
Milli, Iilb $0000
DOES! Doggl MIT !
came tohlmn with
fellow reaper Nos.

YHis not the

bad personevery-
one thllh he la,"
says ex-wile
Keisha Mania, who
stood byShaltur as
he recoveredtron:
a 1994
shooting
lbolmv.
NewIn
Clul.
l rm tive isreputed to
Bloods street
have ties
gang.
to the
For Shakur,
who once
studied the-
ater atthe BaltimoreSchool forthe
artist manager
Joan Hyler,
stresses and drew praise
Arts for his
sensitivity
the singer was
that not toblame for
the and social
consciousness,
shooting
the
shooting. Just
because he&#39;s
had prob- comes at
atime when he
is free
on $1.4
lems inthe past,
is it fair to condemn
million bailposted Knight!, while
by
him?" Hyler asks. "He&#39;s
extremytal- appealing his rape conviction
and mak-
ented and bright.Ijust ho ndis- ingaconcerted effort totwo ca-
keep
tance himself his
from ." Shakur&#39;s
reers ontrack. Shakur,who starredin
ex-wife Keisha Mor &#39;
,with whom he
l992&#39;s]uicewithand
JanetJackson in
remainsongrms, says, He&#39;s
an I993 s Hxticjuslirc,recently returned
entertainer ta gangster. As aper- to making movies. Hislatest, Gridlock,
son. Tu is verymisunderstood." adark comedy costarring Pulp Fic!|&#39;on&#39;s
in fa tthe shooting itselfseems Tim Roth, is dueoutinFebruary. And
equally dif cult
to fathom.
LasVegas just theweek before
he was
shot.
police. who
say they
haveno
leads. Shakur wrapped
Gang Related.
in which
complained theythat were
receiving he plays
acorruptcop.
He wasagreat
little cooperation
from anyone
in spirit on
the set,
positive uplifting,"
and
Shakur&#39;s
even though there says Gang
camp, producer Brad
Krevoy.
were about10 cars
full ofbodyguards Considering what you heard about
and friends
with Knight.&#39;l"hey&#39;re
him, that
was allin hispast."
telling us
they didn&#39;t
see anything
and What effect
the shooting
might
know anything," Las
don&#39;t saysVegashave on
Shakur&#39;sasaper-
future
Metropolitan Police
Sgt. Kevin
Man- former remains
to be
seen. The
ques-
He
ning. adds that
police have
conclud- tion last
week was.Would he survive?
ed theshootings are
not relatedto a While he continues battle
to forhis
additionhisto mother.Afeni Shakur,
a shouting match Shakur gotinto with life, those
founding member of theBlack Pan- an unidenti man close to
therapper
remain
ed duringthe Tyson hopeful they
as keep up theirvigil.
thers, the
unconscious Shakur
was vis- ght. Theashy-dressing, 315-lb.
itedby
the Rev. Jesse Jackson, rapperKnight. who reportedly boasted
that
My prayers are with
him," saysex-
Hammer and actress Jasmine
Guy. whorivals had contracts out
on hislife,
was
wife Morris."He s survivor,
a and
l
would sayonly thatTupac&#39;s is family knowhewill
pull through."
still dodging
police days
after theinci- 1c.92|.92&#39;|X
Btlitilt
grateful for
the public&#39;s
support." No dent. Althoughhis companyhas
one elseclose toShakur wouldcom- - |t.92m;r
s|t.92||.sronu
LasinVegas.
amassedafortune estimated atover rm! ;l&#39;.92.92
Los Angeles
in r.Fl-&#39;
and
ment on
the shooting,
but one
friend, $100 million,
the Compton.
Calif., na- llllll0l92&#39;lI
in sr92l:||i&#39;n92
MawYork Cily
76 5123195
People
 » C. o
T upac sdeath: Agangsta omen?
By BniceHaring lClan. $885 the rap
USA TODAY ; waochword ddistrib-
utori. most
ly traded.
Arecord from slainrapper Illpac They will censor ttle more
Shaltur, The
Don Kilitmtimti The from album artwork to whatever
7-Day Theory,Bout today, butre- they saylyrically justto avoid
pres-
cord executlves.managers andart- sure fromthe outside,he says.
ism,say theganpta rap style be But ultimately.the ue is no-
helped popularueIS no longer the likely evertovanish completely.
force thatit oncewas I honatty wish that
it would
The majorplayersin the teud that
has dividedthe gngsta rap world $0!- or tn?been-. is."
vy says
that
mhoping maybe
formostotthapm year Ma|-ion will
people think twice
about the
"Suge" Knight.headoi Shakurs re types oflyric: that they&#39;re choosing
cord company.Death Row.and Bad to usenow. Butto anyit&#39;sto
going
Boy Entertainment head Sean change, especially overnight. l
Combs -- were
already ex-
pandingtheir
artsilc scope belore
Sbakur diedoi gunshotwounds Sepi-
wouldbhalttzltlo
no." I LL
Ch ty. say mnmger or
CoolJand head otviolatorRecords.
seeking new horizons beyond
I3. admits corporate doors
may be elm-
gritty talesor urban
mayhem lng, ll only tonewcomers.
But an industry thathas already "lthinkltwillmakeltharderlt
made millionsfrom page rap isn t you&#39;re new-up-and-coming
the gang-
exactly racingaway from the style. sta rap label and you&#39;re "Vim to
with hugesale still expected from break inthe door rightnow, you&#39;re
the 2Paealbum and an upcoming going tomeet resistance."
one fromSnoop Doggy Dog Rusell Simmons. whose DelJam
l think
the record companythat Reconb is one of rap s leadingla-
2Pac&#39;s isprobably
on eatingitup be- bels. says no one should expect
cause now he&#39;s probably
even selling much change because ofShakur.
more recorth. says rocker lairrle Jlml Hendrixdied oian 0.D.Did
B. of Manhole,aformer rapper lor the rock n rollworld forgetits pre
Eazy-E&#39;s Rutnles Recortht "lt&#39;s
a occupation withdnig? Simmora
sad thingto say.But its like when 1 asks. Reallite inspire art. it re-
Kurt Cobaindied." ny. his
death wilhave onthe tunua oi tfartgsntrati lleets the reality thatpeople! live.
Knight hassaid littleabout Death
Row&#39;s futurein
the wake of tlte Shakur mw or
that they
lnternallze ;siTlie
Knight. whowas withSbakur whenhe spitittnckoutthroughtheirrn cor
slaying. ADeath Rowspokesman declinedwas shot.is currentlyunder arrst tor pa- painting orplays orpoetry."
requests tor interviews. as did Death role violations The 3i-year-oldhas been Chuck D oi Public Enemy saysllany
Row&#39;s distributors,
MCA MusicEntertain- accused ina tederal racketeeringsuit oi change comes post-Shakur. recordcompa-
ment andlnterscope Records. visiting Ruthiem Records with baseball nies particularly black musicdivisions
Heavy D,the rappertumed headof Up- bats tosettleabusln dispute. - needtotakegreaterinterstindireco
town Entertainmentalso says But Death
there won&#39;t Row {huge
its lltst
beawbolaale nah awayfrom thegenre. yond gangstarap summer
tong with
ing young
artists, much as the National
Basketball Amociationotters its rookie
"At the end oi the day, lrom amains artist DannyBoy. whoquickly droppedall counseling
standpoint, it&#39;s
all aboutmoney." the charts.and soonplans torelease anal- You could say whateveryou want to
Sales oigangta rap albulm have de- bum by pop rapperHammer. Suchsate sayinnsongbutwhenitcoma downto
clined trom their early &#39;90s peak a material may become more common- whetherornotyougetthrown outotaho
trend mirroredby theoverall llatsal in
the musicindustry. Still.2Pac&#39;sAll
Me. whichtopped theBillboard 200
this year.was stillNo. 20alter 36
sllacethe
in future,
some executives
onEye:&#39;¢t. .
earlier
weeks.
pre- tel, tightbackstage, get arrmed in other
or
states, thatneeds tobe checked."he
Steve Rlfklnd. prsident of-Loud Re became whatit doesis itsheds a
says.
bad light
l
cords,alabel whose actsinclude Wu~&#39;l ang
and ashadow onthe an iorm."

Bad B0y s Combs denies feuding

with Death
Row 92
Sean "hilly" Combs wants lem withTupac ora problem a lucrativejoint
venture with orlglnal stylists IS posing
,to clear the air betweenhis with SugeKnight 0| problem Arista Records;he s opening from thescene.
Bad Boy Entertainment. with Death Row,aproblem his ownrstaurant in
Manhat- "I think there aredlderent
loaders oi the East Coast with anybodyin theindustry. tan, Justin&#39;s,
devoted tosoul types of hard-core rap or
school oi rap. and the Wat lormatter.
that and Caribbeanfood; andhis ganpm rap."he says. There
Coast&#39;sRow Dmth Records The only thing I&#39;ve
heard debut album as an artist is are the thing that are real.
I think
people haveamis- s the records that you&#39;ve
due outin January.with con- attectlng people&#39;sand
livs.
conception thatrst ol all we heard. I&#39;ve
never been ap- tributiom from most of his then peoplethat areinst say-
were in a teud," hesays "l proached onany other level Bad Boyroster. ing anything that sounds
don&#39;tyou
think can be in a besides that.So it was more Re ecting onhis tortuous, hard-core orsounds dark and
teud withsomebody ifthere&#39;s
hype thananythins" Combs agrees that some disnml l think some oi
not two people arguing l Combs isbranching outin gangta rap - particularly those thing may beon their
mean, I&#39;ve
never hada prob- abig way. I-lehas justsigned that madeby initiatorsot the way out."

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E110 ~EVENT NAME SEARCH " EVENT#

JDS ~_ w

NAME! SHAKUR /TUPAC /_m_______ /__ SEX RACE

M M DOB~YR _m

CRIME CODE __@_ RANGE

DATE _ _- - ___"__ REPT DIST m_ REPT DEPT __

REQUEST FOR EXACT MATCH Y

ORR# -____

NOTE= ENTER Y FUR EXACT MATCH ~LAST NAME /FIRST NAME /SEX REQUIRED

EI10~PARTIAL EVENT NAME INQUIRY JDS

LAST
CRITERIAI SHAKUR TUPAC
FIRST MIDDLE SUF
SEXM RACE
DUB YR STAT CODE DEPT/RD
FROM:
DATES

BEAT!
RD
20239
EVENT#
20882
030213756
20989
030809429
20643

PDT
030928694
6 17:05
0406185i9
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100
 Q" -Q

-
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CRIME CODE __-_ DATE RANGE _I___" w_m_ _ REPT DIST

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SHQKUR
SHAKUR
SHHKUR TUPAC mwwt 121695
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072093
030206

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PAGE 02 OF 031
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92
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SUBJECT W
Tgpac Shakur, R,

FILE NUMBER 2§6A-LA-201807 ,

SECTION NUMBER ,2

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

" ./1
1

U.S. Department of
Justice

Q! Federal Bureau
lnvesngauon
of

1 R=P&#39;¥~
P&#39;=a§=
[1 1 Rf; 1O
0 0Wil shire Blvd .
File No.AAED LosAnge
le s, CA
9 0 24
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°929292°92&#39;L&#39;Z.
q _ 9 [5nuary
1997
DA; "°"
3, - *2!

<=92<>92-9292.92-I4
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AL
we
TUPAC SHAKUR -VICTIM DECEASED!;
WRIGHT,
ERIC EAZY-E
AKA - VICTIM DECEASED!;
ACT OF TERRORISM
DOMESTIC -
TERRORISM DEATH THREATS
OFFICE OF ORIGIN: LOS ANGELES

All informants mentioned herein have provided reliable I

information in the past. _

Date Investigative Summary Prepared: January 3, 1997.

October
On 17, 1996, apreliminary inquiry PI! was b7C
initiated at
Los Angeles Field Office to corroborate source "
information
figure, along wit
that|_h
agroup unfaenti
of
FFJ known
a
ied individuals
organized
are
crime I
utilizing death threats inthe furtherance extortion
of attempts
targeted towards two former prominent rap musicians from the Los
area
Angeles and other victims yet unidentified_

b2

b7D

and oEhersyet un1dent1t1ed&#39;ha D73

arious rap music stars via death threats. The scheme involves
G and other subjects making telephonic death threats to the
rap star. Subjects then intercede b contacting the victim and
offering protection
for a"fee1:::::£ireported
that ERIC
WRIGHT,
also known as EAZY E, who owned
RUTHLESS RECORDS, Woodland Hills,
California was avictim this
of extortion scheme prior to dying
from AIDS.t:::::]hadalso reportedlytargeted TUPAC
SHAKUR
prior
to his recent murder in Las Veqas, Nevada.

II ~

~ -"44 /"&#39; ¢1<:>/rz»7-

-.4/- ~ 3? ;
 Following ERIC WRIGHTs death ued for 50% ownershi oq @

be able
to provide
RUTHLESS RECORDS.

was not available for

gurther
interview until
details
regarding
mid-January, 1997.
tutthat she Z would

On March
27, 1995,G filed acivil lawsuit against
RONALD SWEENEY, Entertainment Attorney for the WRIGHT estate.
This lawsuit is titled.&#39;COMPTOWN RECORDS INC, et al V. LAW
OFFICES RONALD SWEENEY, et
al", case
civil number BC 124555 was
filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Los Angeles, California b7C
pertains to roperty rights of RUTHLESS RECORDS. During the
lawsuiméoffered as evidence two
letters purportedly
signed
Efffiiif. letterswerepartdeemed
The
by ERIC WRIGHT, granting:
advised
forged expert
an by witness.
ownership of RUTHLESS
results
the of this lawsuit were classified
con 1 ential" and require asubpoena, which is pending.

earl 199Y9 a ein 9a

filed alawsuit against
ade tele
Qin death
P honic trea sto
b-~»
&#39;l

her and her family after ERIC WRIGHT died. These records have
not yet been reviewed Los
at Angeles.
b7C

Los Angeles Field Office is currently compiling the

court transcripts and related documents mentioned in the above
r. .. .

I 5Investigatorsare awaitinthe results

of several 9
records checks and anticipate several interviews of witnesses
and
victims in this matter. In addition investigators continue to
review FBI
files as they relateto: including the copyright
matter.

Investigation continuing Los

at Angeles. b7c
T ~.! ..K
HosAugelcs
diimes

My COMPAY
TOWN
THEB|Z_
/ CHUCK
PHILIPS
andALAN
ABRAHAMSON

RapperLeaves
Tangled tr
Legal
Financial,
Slain rap star TupacShakursoldmore
Legacy
The disputeillustrateshow recording
year
than$60millionworthof albumsthis artists contracts are skewed in favor of
alone, making him one of the top-selling record companies.Even if Shakur had
domestic artists. Yet, at the time of his recordedadditionalhe
albums, wouldlikely
death,the rapperowedhisrecordcompany have remained in debt for years to come,
$4.9million,
Shakurattorney
s says. sourcessaid.
Shakuz- smother-who last week won a Tupacwasone of the mostsuccessful
court battle forcing Death Row Records artists in the music business and yet
and two other companiesto stopselling he
somehow, on the day di . he had
unauthorized Tupac merchandise be- absolutely or
nothingto show it," said
lievesDeathRowshortchanged hersonout New York attorney Ri &#39;
&#39;
of loyalty payments and has hired an who along with Atem is co-admin-
auditor to conductan independentac- of
istrator the ps s te."We believe
countingof the rap label&#39;s
books. that Death Row wi eld royalty pay-
from
The allegationsstem unusual
an ments from Tupac d tailed to deliver
handwrittenthree-pagecontractdrafted many of the adv promised under his I
and signedwhile Shakurwasin prisonin contract." I
1995. _ - l leuesee&#39;1 HEB1Z,IW
I

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&#39;DEC2 A I996

_Z |_;_Ll_i_$,ANGELES,
Z
_ iii: -,_L
 OO
THEBIZ:
Rapper ShakurTangled
Continued
s Legacy
fromht _ , . _ _ _~ chargebeforeKnightshowed "P
A reprcscnmlive forDeathBow witha promise tobsilhimout ,
denied thatthe<loU&#39;lP3&#39;W
hasmis- Topaz was: one of the most successful artists in the "Thiscontractis not like any
handled Shakm-&#39;s
account.blaming ~music liusiness-andyetsomehow, onthedayhe otheragreement I&#39;ve
everseenin
the.rapper&#39;a
debtson his own mylite,"Flschbein said."it&#39;s
noth-
extravagant spendinghabits.
dlod, he had absolutely nothing to show for it. .&#39;
. . ingbuttoiletpaper.
in theyearpreceding hisslay- We bollovo that Death Row withheld royalty payments The agreement, which grants
ing. Death Row had advanced fromTupacand failedto delivermanyof the advances
Shakur largesinusoi cashtobuy Deathitowtherlgbttorelease
severalcars,tor hlmseliand a - _ promisedunderhiscontract.
house {or hismother- funds that
RNHARD FISQHBEIN
many
as
tour
albums.
spells
outii
the rapperwasrequired to pay series ofadvance payments prom- ,-.
back.DeathRow sources said. Attorneyandco-administrator
oftherapstar&#39;s
estate isedto Shakur-many<1!which
also
Shakur charged to theoom- Plschbeiri alleges therapper never Kr
pany lease-payments ior three received
residences as well as a slewof Fischbein alsocomplains that
lavishbills,including a $300,000 tate,Fischbein said Shakur didnothaveproper repre-
tab at the Peninsula Hoteland WW- sentation when he signed the
Thepapers weredrawnupat s lt wasJimmylovinewhotool: agreementAccording to Fisch-
hundreds ofthousands ofdollarsin Nov.1 meet&#39;mgbetween Shakur&#39;stheleadin gettingtheballrolling bein,
invoices forjewelry,furniture.
se- the rappet_ l>P¢i!&#39;$
to have
curityand limoservice,sources mother, Fischbein, lnterscope co- tostraighten thismess out."Fisch- beenrepresented by Kenner. W110
said. J
founder lmmy Iovine and a group bein said. Nothing would have alsowasthe attorney for Knight
In addition,Shakur of attorneys.
up more MarionSuge"
ran Death Row owner happened if it wasn&#39;t
for him. and Death Row at the time.
million in advances
than $2 tor Knightwasin&#39;
&#39;
at DeathRowneverevencametothe Fiachbein accuses oi Kennerof
recording andvideocosts-which, thetimeon a probation violtion tabletohaveadiscussion." having acon ict ofinterest when
he
according andcouldnotattendthem ting.
to standardindustry Death Shakur&#39;s
motherhasalsocast drafted thecontract andgaveadvice
practice, mustberecouped by the Row attorney &#39; doubt onthevalidity oitherecord- to Shalmraboutsigning it. Ken-
record company beforehisaccount wasalsonotpresent. ingcontract thatDeath Rowstruck ner-who wasfired by Shakur
can turn a pro t, DeathRow During themeeting. ln rscope&#39;swith her sonon Sept.16,1995. about three eeksbefore therapper
sources said. attorneys alsopledged an addi- Unlike a standardrecording died- ariyconfiictoi interest.
Nevertheless, tional
whenShalrui-&#39;8 $2million in advances to be agreement, typically thick and t
insisting Shakur was repre-
motherthreatened in October to paidbefore Aprilandhelped nego- lacedwith dozens ct complicatedsented the time by attorney &#39;
l
sueDeathRowandbartherelease tiateanupgrade in theroyaltyrate termsand conditions, Shakur s l letreecould not . _-~1
oiherson&#39;s
posthumous "Makav cit from12%to18%!Paidtoherson pactwithDeathRowishand-writ» be forcomment Monday.
The Don Killuminati album, torpastreleases. ten and just three pageslong. It&#39;s
unclearwhetherShakur s-
DeathRnw distributor
s Intersoope Fischbein insists thatInterscopeShahur signedthe agreement, mot wouldseekto havethe
Records worked a dealtopay attorneys
out forgave about50%otthe Fischbein suggests. because he written contractdisavowed.
an immediate $3-millionnonre- $4.9-milliondebt-a pointwith wasunhappy andhadbeenincar- ButWchbeinsaidDeathRowhas
fundableadvance toShakui-es- s whichDeathRowadamantly dis- cerated formonths ona sexabuse yettoprovide thenecessary books
allow
that would the estateto
conduct anindependent audit-
 1
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s

|
l
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--~-.=--|- &#39;
- ?.&#39;=
- -~.-&#39;
- "1:-12."-r""&#39;

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. Continued from D1. -
. .
-.
__.Vv ,3
.Z&#39;t
.: ~
_
1 .
f
-= -,.~u
_ V__"____&#39;§
|&#39;l 7"charge
1"-*-&#39;2 -..i._ before
Knigh_t
showed-up
A representative for Death Row 1 -_&#39;""with
a&#39;pron_1ise
tobailhim"o_ui.=-_
-
deniedthatthecompany
has&#39;mis- . Taped
was
one
of_the mos&#39;t
succe§§iuL§_i;jtlsfts§ln.-_thi§
fi ""1"l&#39;his.&#39;contract"l
not.likeany
handledShakm-&#39;s
account,
blaming
the&#39;_:_&#39;apper&#39;s
&#39;
debtson his own
Amusic
buslness and
yetsomehdw; __oii&#39;-theiday
hea -_other__agreement
I&#39;ve
ever__seer_&#3
in
"-mylife. Fischbein
said.&#39;
noth-
lt s
extravagantspendinghabits. dled,&#39;he
had_ah_&#39;solutely 3* f? ing
.nothln_&#39;g_to&#39;
show&#39;for;;ltj.}
but toiletpaper!~ " ;
In the year precedinghis slay- Webelieve
thafbeatliRowwithheld
royalty
paymentsThe agreement,which
_ grants
ing, Death Row had advanced
of
Shakurlarge sums cashto buy
from-Tupac
andfailed
todeliver
manyoitheadvancesmanyas four albums,spellsoutasa
-DeathRow the right to release
a
several cars for himself and " .P promisedunderhiscontract.
&#39; of
series advancepayments
prohi-
t . -.
_- --P I_ &#39;-
-_ .
house for his mother iunds that of
isedto-Shalgur-many which
the rapper was requiredto pay
.~ RICHARD
nscnasm_ *_~"
V Altomeyandco-administrator
of therapstar&#39;s
estate 2 - &#39;-Fischhein
allegestherappernever
back, Death Row sources said. received. -
Shakuralsochargedto the com- =,, I Fischbeinalso "complains
that
pany lease-paymentsfor three Shakurdidnothaveproperrepre-
well
residences as a
as of
slew sentation when he signed the
lavish bills. includinga$300,000 &#39;.ischbeinsaidi
tate,li &#39;
&#39;
if 3gT¬Q 5- U
&#39; ~~.- &#39; agreement. According to Fisch-
tab at the PeninsulaHotel and The paperswere drawn up at a
It was Jimmylovine who took bein, the rapper-_
appearsto have
of
hundreds of
thousands doilarsin by
beenrepresented Ke_nner,
who
Nov.1&#39;
meeting
betweenShaltur s the leadin getting-theball rolling
invoicesforjewelry,furniture,se_- mother,Pischhein,Interscopeco- tostraightenthismessout,"Fisch- also was the attorney for Knight
curity and limo service, sources &#39;
and Death Row at the time.
said. &#39; Jimmy
founder lovineandagroup beinsaid."Nothing
wouldhave of
Fischbeinaccuses Kennerof
of attorneys.Death =Row-owner happened if it wasn&#39;t
&#39;for
~h1m.
ln addition,
Shakurranupmore havinga con
of ict interest
whenhe
than "$2 million in advances for Marion"Surge"Knightwasinjail at Death Row nevereven came to the
a .
drafted
? . "&#39;
the contract
andgave advice
a
the time on probation violation table tc have discussion
recording
andvideocosts-which, to Shakurabout it. Ken-
according to standard industry andcouldnotattendtheameeting. Shakur s_mother has also cast her-_-whowas fired by Shakur
by
practice.mustbe recouped the DeathRowattorney DavidKenner dohht onthevalidityof_i:he reodrd-about tin-ee
weeks bdfore
therapper
recordcompany before hisaccount wasalsonotpresent. - . _- ingcontractthatDeathBowstruck died-deniedanycon of ict, iniermt,
can~_turn_4
a_ profit, Death Row withhersononSept._&#39;l6.
Duringthe meeting,Interscope&#39;s 1995.- insisting that Shakur was repre-
sourcessaid attorneysalso pledgedan addi- _Unlike;a._.standard
- recording sented at the time by attorney
tional
1/Nevertheless, when Shakur&#39;s $2mllliohinadvances tobe agreement,typicallythick and CharlesOgletree.Ogletreecouldnot
paidbefore pril andhelpednego- laced hviui dozefu$&#39;o£ ciiu&#39;1p1icated
l
mother threatenedin Octoberto
sue Death Row and bar the release tiate
alnaupéade
inthe
royalty
rateternis and conditi&#39;ons.&#39;.Sh&#39;aktir
&#39;.
:hereachediorconunentMonday._
It&#39;s s whether
unclear
_
Shakur&#39;s
of herson&#39;s
posthumous
lllakavelh from&#39;
12% to 18%! paidto her son pact with Death Row is hand-writ, mother would seek to have the
The Don Killuminati" album. forpastreleases.1. -: .". . &#39;ten and-just~ long. handwritten contract disavowed.
DeathRow&#39;s
distributor
Inter-scope Fischbein insiststhat Interscope Shakur signed the agreement, But Fisehbeinsaid Death Row has
Recordsworkedout a7dealto pay attorneys
an immediate $3-million nonre-
forgave of
about&#39;50%the Fischhein-suggests,
$4.9-milliondebt-a point with
;l_>ec&#39;ause_
he _yet to provide the necessarybooks
Wis.
smart #1-_92<U1§4.
less".
ices- that would allow the estate to
1
fundablef? to Shakur es-
advance s which Death Row-adamantlydis- cerated
formonths &#39; -dohductanindependent
_on&#39;-a
sex.ahuse&#39; audit.
u-_..~- .i-&#39;.

t
 6
rv-850 Rev. s-a-at i

92
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i

i MountC pplng
InSpaceBelow! V__ Indicatepage,nameoi
__ . _ ".1 . e. , city
~ andslale.!|_OS
J
V. _&#39;l&#39;l-IE
BIZ U
/Cl-lUCl_ PHILlPSandALAN
ABRAHAMSON §§},,,;m
PAGE
1;!
"W4 CA
L05ANGELES,
newspaper,

;RapperLeaves
Ta ngled
11I

&#39;
1 t

Slainrapstar&#39;lShakur
upacsoldmore
Legacy¢~»;¢@~@s
Classmcahon;
than$60millionworthof
-alone.makinghim one of the top-selling The d_ispute ill_ustrabes
how recording Submitting
Oi ce:
domesticartists.Yet, at the time of his art1&#39;sts 4_contracts
areskewed in favorof
- death.
therapper owed hisrecord company} record,companies.Even if Shakur had
$4.9
millipn, Shakur &#39;
attorneylsays.
s recorded
&#39;f&#39;
u_"
additional
albums,he wouldlikely L08ANGELESiWWW
Shaktu-&#39;s
-mother--who last week wona ~.3 have remained in debt for years to come,
Isoiii-mssaid. ~ &#39; Indexing:
courtbattleforcingDeathRowRecords .,&#39;
and two-other companies to stop selling
Tupacwasoneof the mostsuccessful
unauthorizedTupac merchandise-be- artistsin the musicbusiness and
yet
her
llevesDeathRowshortchanged sonout somehow,on the day he died. he had
of royalty paymentsand has hired an absolutelynothing to show for it, said
auditor to conduct-an independent_ ac-, New York attorney Richard Fischbein,
countingof the rap label&#39;s
hooks. whoalongwith AfeniShakuris eo-admin-
The allegationsstem from an unusual istratorof therapstar&#39;s
estate. We believe
handwrittenthree-pagecontractdrafted that Death Row withheld royalty pay-
and signed while Shakur was in prison in mentsfromTupacandfailedto deliver
1995. rnany of the advances promised under his

contract."
I
&#39; Plcasesee&#39;1&#39;HE
BlZ,D7

&#39;
ALL E&#39;Ii7¥.&#39;.&#39;:F=II*--i&#39;..~"=&#39;_&#39;-"-f_&#39;

E §§§$j%§ aee%eennconP"
queens

i lvti
FBI/DOJ
.3604-1.4! - &#39;>7
~/ X3/J --iii .
*0 0»,
l2Bln995! =

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE Date: 02/12/1997

To: FBI Headquarters NSD,

Attn: CT Branch, DTS, DTOU

From: Los Angeles

NSD 6

ApprovedI:Izv
Bw
Drafted BY: £9 b7C F
ALL rr71&#39;- cw-.-*_@.&#39;rI"t~:-I
" -5" -

Case#&#39;
ID
I &#39; 66A LA 201807 92
Tim-= ET AL °l=9292u92-92 <9292
DECEASED!; Iqu9qI911
TUPAC SHAKUR-VICTIM
ERIC WRIGHT,
AKA EAZY E VICTIM
DECEASED!; qI!929292,92_,[_
AOT-DT-DEATH THREATS
00; LOS ANGELES

ARMED AND DANGEROUS

Synopsis: Status of investigation and request for extension of

PI.

Preliminary Inquiry Initiated: 10/17/1996, extended to expire

O2/16/1997 .

Enclosures: original
One and five copies of aLetterhead
Memorandum, dated O2/05/1997.

Enclosed for the Bureau are one

original and five
copies of aLetterhead Memorandum, dated 02/05/1997, which
contains the current status of captionedmatter. by

b7C

Several leads rema&#39; outstandin at Los An eles

regarding captioned matter. b7D
w 1C may in
assist
identifying ssociates. T ecivil case file has not been
located at the Superior Court, Los Angeles. In addition, the
LAFO copyright matter which was closed in 1995 has not been D C
located for review purposes. Searches are on for both case
files

/17/1997, Case Agent met with Detective

LOS ANGELES POLICE DE &#39; &#39;strative Vice
Unit, who as
an informant
- - - &#39;
who
knows
9 m:
k

in the
next weeks
two concerning pg@é#_;#-Q
fffff
The informant has to meet with Case Agent

SEARCHED __W
INDEXED ___
.stamuzzn i
Fnrn 5?
 sl 0!
To: FBI Headquarters From: Los Angeles
Re: 266A LA 20l807 ~

It is that
anticipated investigation during the next
thirty will
days of
resolve the issue whether the extortionateb7c
activity
financial
being conducted
backing
byr thers
for their aniza or
lOI1 is
to
is &#39;
provide
only for personal
financial gain.

It is requested that this Preliminary Investigation be

extended another thirty of
days as a result outstanding leads.

ARMED AND DANGEROUS

O

2
 U.S. Department of
Justice
:""%:&#39;"&#39;*-1
Fedenn Bureau oflnves ga on

In Reply,Please Refer to ]_]_QQ[! Wilshire Blvd _

File No.
ALL 5-mmc____,Am_,,92.,
CATWAHIED Los Angeles, CA
l£ a.i92»&#39;a.
L1-JL. u&#39;..&#39; 90024
§,*b1§mE3Qm§§:L m§@ms3
12, 1997
"c mu
|@J February
&#39;-Net->L¢
? %
TUPAC SHAKUR -VICTIM DECEASED!; b"_7Q
ET AL

ERIC WRIGHT, AKA

EAZY E VICTIM DECEASED!;
ACT OF TERRORISM
DOMESTIC TERRORISM DEATH THREATS
OFFICE OF ORIGIN: LOS ANGELES b&#39;}7C

All informants mentioned herein have provided reliable

information in the past.

Date Investigative Summary Prepared: February 5, 1997.

initiated at
information thaq
On October
Los Angeles
17, 1996, apreliminary
Field Office
inquiry PI!
to corroborate
Ia known organized crime
source
was
i
figure, along wit agroup o uni enti ied individuals are
utilizing death threats the
in furtherance extortion
of attempts
targeted towards two former prominent rap musicians the
from Los
Angeles area and victims
other yet unidentified.

and others yet unidentified have been extorting money rom

various rap music stars via death threats. The scheme involves b2
Qand
rap sar
subjects
other
Subjects then
making telephonic
intercede by
death
contacting
threats
the victim
to and
theb7c
b"/B
offering protection
for afee g;;;Eeported that
WRIGHT,
ERIC
also known as
EAZY E, who owned RSS Woodland
RECORDS, Hills,
California, was avictim this
of extortion scheme prior to dying
fromAIDS.
?had also reportedly
targeted TUPAC
SHAKUR prior
to his murder
recen in Las Vegas, Nevada.

I0"/C

1b7C
 &#39;~ P»
Following ERIC WRIGHTs death, ued for 50% ownership of b7¢
RUTHLESS RECORDS. oula
be able to provide further details regarding ut that she
was not available for interview until mid January, 1997.

On March2&#39;7, 199S,Zfiled acivil lawsuit against

RONALD SWEENEY, Entertainment Attorney for the WRIGHT estate.
This lawsuit titled
is COMPTOWN RECORDS INC, et V.
al LAW
OFFICES RONALD SWEENEY, et
al", case
civil number BC 124555 was
filed Los
in Angeles Superior Court, Los Angeles, California a >75
pertains erty rights of RUTHLESS RECORDS. During the
lawsuit, ffered a ce two letters
purportedly signed
by ERIC
WRIGHT, granting
RECORDS. The
ownership
art
RUTHLESS
letters were
of eemed forged by
an exp ert witness.
[;:::;;ladvised
con iential
the
results
and require
of
this lawsuit
asubpoena,
classified
were
which is pending.

early 199 aeging ta

filedalawsuit
made telephonic
againstp in
1379 death t reats
to
her and her family afte IGHT These
died. records have
not yet reviewed
been at Los Angeles they
as have reportedly been
misfiled at the Superior Court, Los Angeles.

|:1
b7 &#39;1
92.!
ll__&#39;l
!

Los Angeles Fiefa Office currently

is compiling the
F
court transcripts and related documents mentioned &#39;
court cases for review rior to the interview of
1 ing eresu ts of several b7
C
recor schecks.

b7C

b7D

InvesE1gaEion conE1nuing at Los Angeles.

 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
AND
PRIVACY ACTS

Tupacz
SUBJECT Shakur
f

FILE NUMBER 266A-LA;201807 I

SECTION NUMBER 4S

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

 I
r

FEDERAL BUREAU
OF INVESTIGATION

Precedence: ROUTINE Date: 04/15/1997

To: FBIHQ Attn: NSD, Branch,

CT
DTS, DTOU

/26$/Angeles 92
|
I
From: Los Angeles
NSD 6

Approved By: ALL INFORMA I ICN COH&#39;I AINED

HEREIN IS UNCLASSIFIED
mu
Case ID #: 266A-LA 201807 Pending!
NED Q ° oL929292u
°929292qi2 lqwgq
q
Title: I
ET-KL;
l 92L>92-92bu_L, m
TUPAC SHAKUR VICTIM DECEASED!;
EAZY-E VICTIM DECEASED!;
AOT-DT-DEATH THREATS;
0O: LOS ANGELES

ARMED AND DANGEROUS

Synopsis: Request Field SSA authorization to open aFull Field

Investigation.

Details: Reference Los Angeles EC, dated 04/03/1997 which b7

lcontaing criminal
historg1andassociates
criminal of
On 10/17/1996, aPreliminary Inquiry PI! was
initiated at Los 1 &#39; &#39; corroborate source
information
&#39;
&#39;
Ia
that!
figure, along
wi agroup of unfaen 1 ied
known
org nized
cr me
a&#39;
individuals are b7g
i

utilizing threats
death in furtherance
the of extortionate
activity targeted towards two former prominent rap musicians from
the Los Angeles area and other
victims yet unidentified.
-I
b7C
b7D
I
éd 44 °""5 7&#39;/7: .
$1§=°»1%E %

{Bl-LO
Wi_
APR2Z I997
 I

1
1
To: FBIHQ From: Los Angeles
Re: 266A-LA-201807, 15,
April 1997

: and others yet

unidentifiedbeen
have extorting money
from various ra music stars via death threats. The scheme
involvesstar.ther
to the
rap
subjects
Subjects
making
then intercede
telephonic
contacting
by
death threijjé
the &#39;
victim and offering protection for a"fee". ERIC WRIGHT, also
known as EAZY-E, who owned RUTHLESS RECORDS, Woodland Hills,
California was avictim of extortion
this prior
scheme to dying
from AIDS.o reportedly targeted TUPAC
SHAKUR prior
to SI-IAKUR&#39;s
murder
recent Las
in Vegas, Nevada.

b7C !
F 73
|:| &#39;
Ii]

_ On March 27, 1995, : filed acivil lawsuit against 92

RONALD SWEENEY, Entertainment Attorney for the WRIGHT estate.
This lawsuit is titled COMPTOWN RECORDS INC, et al-vs. LAW
OFFICES RONALD SWEENEY, et al", Civil case number BC 124555. b"iC
This case was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Los Angeles,
California and pertains to property rights of RUTHLESS RECORDS.
During the lawsuit, Eoffered as evidence tw letters
purportedly signed
by ERIC
WRIGHT, granting
part ownership
of RUTHLE RE RDS. The letters were deemed forged by an expert
witness. advised the case
was settled
out ofcourt and
the results of were classified confidential the
by judge.

E early
in
I !1a
1996 a egingtat
&#39;
alawsuit
ed against b7c
ade telephonicdeath
threats to her and her family after ERIC WRIGHT died.

l&#39;:&#39;_|
|:|
Ii! b / C
 J

To: FBIHQ From: Los Angeles "

Re: 266A LA-201807,
April 15,
1997 I
l:| W &#
b7C

b"/C

|:|

E: 1b7 :3 A

On 04/11/1997, investigators were prov

C7 a_&#39;
civil court complaint, dated 0_3-&#39;/11/1996, entitled f
an individual, WATERSIDE _CAN&#39;IINC
INA a California ion,
orpora bin;
MISSION BAY RESTAURANT and C15 INC., aCalifornia Co oration
Plaintiffs vs &#39;=&#39;

ind1viHua1s;&#39;F .M.L.
PHASEREKLT
A
ASSOgATES,
limited pa&#39;
inc sive,
Does 1 through
ONE D VE P192QENT,___I
50,
C. , California corporations,
Defendants . is believed to
BELM PARK
be the
2

The civil
complaint alleges that on Friday,
0&#39;7/28/1995, at approximatel l_Q:O0 several
p.m., individuals
forcibly entered a business
&#39; &#39;
&#39; ere
identified as
and two unidentified subjects referred to as ,_
uwsma #1.
and UNSUB
#2. UNSUB#1 is believed to be: WC
who
ent, claimed
inci UNSUB to represent
brand
#1 ed . Durin at the
weaponéUNSUB
#2 stated
After he represented
physical
and and
RUT CORDS.
psychologica
intimidation, onsidered
the threat to his patrons and the
left business eoccupied. The
complaint further alleges that :had committed and caused to
be committed the same acts against RUTHLESS RECORDS. Following
the takeover
ofgnightclub
asked: Don
on 07/28/1995,
you know who I am? I&#39;m
with ef .
reportedly
 J
.92

To: FBIHQ From: Los Angeles

Re: 266A-LA 201807, April 15, 1997

DYC

lawsuit against:
It has
since been
learnedantsthatg:::::Ldropped
and the other defen ased
the
on fear and 1
intimidation. -
I

lawsuit reveal
FBI records
checksthe
of defendants
the following:
ingcivib-VIC
92

in Ehe toilowing files:

IFOIMS
references! bq I
1
HQ 192-1866 Hobbs Act - Commercial Institutions!
LA 192B 290 Hobbs Act - Commercial Institutions! i
NK 1OOA 57409 Domestic Security - JDL related case! 1
NK 174A¢276o-1 JDL related case!
NY 183G-3546 RICO!

l /FOIME
references; iin I
the following 1 ee:

NY 281A 192451 OC/DI!

b7C !
NY 281A 20l963

in the following case:

IFOIMS
references
b&#39;°
n
SA 245C 34965 Hl OCDE!

which FOIMS references in the following case:

LA 179B-914 ECT!

FOIMS refe .

LA 2a1A-1o2e32 001! bqg

:|

1
 . -

0 .- é

To: FBIHQ From: Los Angeles

Re: 266A LA-201807,
April 15, 1.997 Lqc &#
Hi
1

in FOIMS,
unknown
identical.
if I&#39;_"
"" 1
Further checksregarding theabove individualswill be I
necessary fully
to identify them. ,

Investigators are currently compiling the court

transcripts and related documents mentioned the
in above court
cases for and
review analysis for lead potential. Investigators bin:
are awaiting
the results
of several
records checks
to include
b7D
Based on the extortionate activity presented herein,
and other criminal activity yet unidentified, itis recommended
that a Full Field Investigation be initiated this
in matter.
There appears to be
a reasonable indication thatsas been
conducting extortionate/criminal activity for some time and
will 5
to
continue do so as long as he is successful and not held _p ,
criminally liable. Los Angeles sources believe :to be b"c
acting with
in concert on
or behalf of the JDL and its 5
associates.

It is anticipated a Full Field Investigation will ;

identify whether the extortionate activity is being perpetrated
on behalf MS et al, for personal gain and/or on behalf of l
the JDL. -

ARMEDmmcsnous
mm 1°76

O0

-,_....._...__.ii_. ____._____~.__di_.____.___i_J
l2f3l/199$!

l " OF
FEDERAL
BUREAU lNVESTlGAT|ON

Precedence: ROUTINE Date: 04/21/1997

T0: Los Angeles ,

b7C
From: Los Angeles
NSD-6

Approved By:

Drafted By: mpbh

Case ID #= , 66A-LA-201807
LA as-sea sue A&#39;!7§/
I
Title: IET AL 1
-
TUPAC SHAKUR VICTIM DECEASED!
-
EAZY E VICTIM DECEASED!
AOT -
oo=
-
or
LOS ANGELES
DEATH THREATS
ll
ARMED AND DANGEROUS

Synopsis: Request for of

authorization mail cover.

Full
Field Investigation Instituted: 04/15/1997.
I
Details: On October 17, 1996, a preliminary inquiry PI! was

P
initiated at &#39;
Los &#39; corroborate source
information
along
figure,
that known of
1
with agroup unidentified individuals
organized
are
crime
utilizing death threats of
in the furtherance extortion attempts
targeted two
towards
Angeles area andother
from
former prominent rap musicians
victims yet unidentified.
the Los
5
b7C I
b7D
0
an ers ye n
uni ie av
rom vari us ra music stars via death threats. The scheme
other
involves nd subjects
making
telephonic
death
threats
to the rap star. Subjects b
then intercede contacting the
victim
andoffering
protection
fora fee breported
. that
ERIC WRIGHT, alsoknown who
as EAZY-E, owned RUTHLESS RECORDS,
Woodland&#39;Hills, California, of
was a victim this extortion scheme
prior to dying from AIDS. :had also reportedly targeted
SHAKUR
TUPAC prior to his recent murder in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Ann! ~»¢:-¢4&#39;i:/?@7&#39;1
*"Wm-- mun
Aynnm§§{g§§§§%%§é&£uQ£££
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r___________________1b
--
RUTHLESS RECORDS.
-&#39;-
---- ----
The civil lawsuit is titled "COMPTOWN
-
RECORDS
1
INC et
number BC
al V. LAW OFFICES
124555 and was filed
RONALD SWEENEY,
in Los
et al , civil case
Angeles Superior Court, Los b7C
l
Angeles, California. During the lawsuit,:offered as
evidence two letters purportedly signed by ERIC WRIGHT, granting
Ii
deemed
by forged
eierj
original
art witness.
G could
produce
part ownership

advised
letters.
no of RUTHLESS RECORDS. The letters were

the results this

of lawsuit
were classified con iential" and require a subpoena, is
which
pending.

i
ddition, _ led a lawsuit K -"C
in
against early 1996 aleging t at
made telephonic
death threats her
to and her family ERIC
after WRIGHT died.

%
On 04/11/1997, investigators were provided aco a
of
civil court
an individual,
complaint,03/11/1996,entitled
dated
WATERSIDE CANTINA, INC., aCalifornia Corporation,
MISSION BAX RESTAURANT and CLUB &#39; &#39; &#39; W
Plaintiffs, vs. bC

individuals; REALTY,
R.M.L. INC.; PHASE
ONE DEVELOPMENT, INC., California corporations, BELMONT PARK
ASSOCIATES, alimited partnership, and Does 1 through 50, .
inclusive Defendants .

The civil complaint alleges that on Friday, 07/28/1995

at approximately O0
10 pm ,forcibly entered

were identified
a business owned and o erated These individuals
b "II =1
F

#2. UNSUB
and two
is believed
#1
represent <
be to ho claimed
unidentified subjects

Durin e inci ent, SUB

#1
to ref rUB #1, and UNSUB

brandishe a concea e wea SUB

on #2 stated he
represented ORDS After physical
and psychologica intimi ation,::onsidered the threat to
his and
patrons the
left business he occupied The complaint
further alleges :l committed and caused to be
committed the same acts
against RUTHLESS RECORDS Following the

2
 la

1
|:l
&#39; I

:11

IIII

b7C
|:&#39;:|

[II

|:|
The focus the
of requested mail cover includes the
following individuals: !
1
i

It is requested the mail cover include first and second

class mail and last for a period thirty
of days commencing on the
date the request is received by the District Postal Inspector in
Charge, located in Pasadena,
California.
To the best of my knowledge, the name and address an
of
attorney who represents the mail cover subject is unknown. If,
during the period the
of cover,
mail the name and address an
of
attorney retained by the mail cover subject becomes known to the
case agent, such information will be promptly furnished.

Mail cover subject is allegedly in violation the

of
following U.S. laws: -

1! Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 1951

Punishable by fine or imprisonment not more than twenty
years or and
both;

2! Title 21, U.S. Code, Section 841 and 846.

?unishable depending on quantity and type narcotics.
of

No subject this
of mail cover is presently under
indictment or formally charged with any violation ofcriminal
law. Should any subject be indicted or formally charged during
the period the
of cover,
mail the postal inspector will be
3
 I

&#39; W. .
&#39; promptly»advised the
Bo mail may
cover be immediately canceled. I

It is understood the results of the mail cover, PS Form

2009, are the property of the U.S. Postal Service and its use is !
limited to law enforcement agencies. The results can be retained .
in the agen s
case office an
as investigative for
tool aperiod a
of 60 days and then returned to the following address: E

|____i__.| W
Postal Inspector
ISOSG
Mail Cover Section
P.O. BOX 9000
South San Francisco, CA 94083-900

It is recommended that a mail cover request be

authorized to enhance captioned investigation.

Investigation continuing at Los Angeles.

i
1

.92
 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
AND
PRIVACY ACTS

Tupac
SUBJECT Shakm; I W

FILE NUMBER 266A-LA-201807

SECTION NUMBER _ 6I

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

 _____:_.a_-1

FD-350
6-8-81!
RSV.
_¢/J II
"I 92 92
..._O
5.
lo

Indicate page,name of
newspaper. clty
and state.!

_ _ _7 Il51oun_i Cllpplngrln
Below}
Space _92
41 _, Q~
23:38 ; LP,vfL i.5
Title:

Character:
or
Classi cation:
Submitting Ol cez
LA

s, ,..a5
mmetseraasmm ta<~<»W*
. lndexin

Quad &#39;80l
.qQSo¢$ euuq
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slésiii p

Man Namedas Suspectin Death

of Shakur Sues theRapper s Estate
ICourts: Orlando Anderson It is unusual
for gang disputes to end up
in civil lawsuits, but Anderson&#39;s action
is
says
was assaultedthe
he by star particularly surprising because it could
subject him to
renewed scrutiny in connec-
and othersin aLas Vegas
hotel. tion with Shakur&#39;s death.
fatal
hoursbefore shooting. Shakur, oneof the brightest starsin rap
and a budding actor, was fatally wounded
By CHUCKPHILIPS just off the Las Vegas Strip by
gunfire
TIMES HAFF
WRITER wbileriding ina car driven by Death Row
founder Marion Suge" Knight. Ever since,
A reputed Los Angeles gang member there has been widespread speculation
named
once by-police as asuspecl..in the about the relationship betweenthe killing
murderoiTupac Shakur hasfiled alawsuit and the MGM altercation.
against theslain rap star&#39;s estate-a
-year The. suit, filed late Monday inLos
and aday afterShakur wasgunned down. Angeles Superior Court. also names Death
Orlando Anderson&#39;s
lawsuit contends I
Row andKnight asdefendants, and
alleges fe
that he was assaultedby the rapper and vt t _
that Anderson suffered physical injuries ," kw. fr,
severalDeath
Row Records employees
in and severe emotional and mental distress.
the lobby
of the MGM Grand
Hotel Las
in Representatives forShakur&#39;s estate
and
just
Vegas _before
hours Shakur Was Death Row declined comment Tuesday. Rapper Tupac
Shakur wasgunned down
gunned down.
No arrestshavebeenmade. Please SI-IAFKUB,
see B3Las Vegas ln September 1996.
in
_ ..
it it
,_______,,_......_.....i.-.-.._. -.., ... ...
_ i[lo &#39;l+
_.
. As-clues
.. _. ._- .._ - -.. .- i. ..- ..__...-.. . . ....... ...<_ - ---~
FD-350 Rev.so-s1! O
,..
. ..~ &#39;
. _
J
Indicatepage,nameof
newspaper,city andstate.!

Mount
Clipping
inSpacer
Below!

Date:
Edition:
1-&#39;}&#39;§siig92ir;siia_Knigh£
had
gone
tothe
Mike Tyson-BruceSeldonheavy-
-;._we_ignt,rig1it_{ai;,im;
MGM.Onthe Death R_0w -af liated
-members
of
&#39;Conlin_uedtrom&#39;B1_&#39;___
92- who_repre.--way out,ShakuniKnight andsev-
ReneeL. Campbell,
the Mob-Piru Bloods and the
.. Southside Crips,-ofwhich"Ander-
sents"Anderson,.
aclinowledgéd ;_er_a&#39;i
&#39;_L Rowemployees
_&#39;I&#39;!e*&#39;ath1
_i<icked.
sonandseverslofhis»-relatives
are
that her client was:told last__fall punched ja"nd.struck&#39;
Anderson_ in
that he wasa suspécttin the lobby,thelawsuitstates. &#39;
&#39;92 - al1eg&#39;edly. .m&#39;embei_&#39;§.
Anderso_n
was
Sh_akur&#39;s
l Aboutthree hours later;
Shakur &#39; {meTaffidiivit
attacked, &#39; said,_- be-.
killing;but-deniedI-hat J16-had causehe_ hadallegedlystolena i
anything todo,withtheshooting. - andKnightweresitting inKnight&#39;s
goldchain fromoneo&#39;f;the
Qeath
- it is-clear-thatif -thereis any 759 ZBMW at a&#39;red
light when
gunfireerupted froina white late- ROW emi>l0yees".d!1rinxH sans. 3
victim, &#39;my
client"isthevictim,"5
_Campbellsai_d.-1 *---5&#39; 7_&#39; model_ -Cadillacii-carrying four souffle- month
af
W°°d lt92.ill-
eai-lier&#39;at
I r
a Lake-
.
.. Kni ght /was i sent -to prison in me_n}-th_a&#39;t &#39;
had-pu_l_led&#39;
up_in the
f
next lane. Shakur-died
.si;<,_
days Accordingto the affidavit,"
An-
February" for a probation. violation dersonw&#39;a.s&#39;seen
severaldaysafter
stemmingfrom. his ,ro_le.in&#39;.the
hospital.--
late,i1inaLas&#39;Vegas
-
Y - BeforeShakurdieddetectivesin theshooting
wjthla-Gl6ck&#39;
.40-,caii-
assaullt
onAnderson,
whichwas Las Vegas-andComptonwere in- bar handgu n-&#39;_-_"t_.he
samekindof
capturedon_ a&#39;
hotel-surveillance weaponusedin theihomicide- and
videotape.At a hearinglast fall, undated with ii flurry of tips from
his cousinwas seendriving a white
Anderson "did
testifiedthat Knight informants
contending
thatAnder-
son-.a Lakewood resident who
late-modelCadillac-intoan auto
not participatein the beatingbut shopin Compton. That sameWeek,
triedtohelpstoptheattack. goesby such &#39;gang_r&#39;nonikers
as
Las Vegas detectivesexamineda
Whenasked"-whether Anderson. L-ando"and Lane -was respon- box of .40-caliberroundsconfis-
who ls listed in policei lesas a siblefor Ptherapper&#39;s shooting, catedby -Comptonpolicefrom a
n_iember_of theSouthside Cripsgang accordingto -a .Compton_ police
iii Compton, hadpeijuredhimselfon affidavitpreparedSept 26 to ob- residence whereAnderson&#39;s
cousin
wasliving.Theyalsocon scated
the-standin November,Campbell tainsearchwarrantsfor a pending weapons froma Compton residence
said her client testi ed the way -he s=nsrai¢ i_ .&#39; &#39;
. .
of_Anderson&#39;s
uncle,_-Dwayne Keith
didoutoffearforhissafety." _» _ Accordingto the affidavit,_the _ Kee_fee D ?Davis, who sources
On the evening of Sept: 7. 1996. ruckusin theMGMlobbywasthe
= ,-.-/"&#39;_&#39; &#39;_-" &#39;
" V "&#39;-"
_&#39;._&#39; -
result of gang rivalry between saidis listed,in policefilesas a
;_ ,_
memberof the SouthsideCrips.
2
During an Oct" gang raid
,. _
Il &#39; &#39;
- . ..-J
i ~
I
redbyshootings . Notorious
after&#39;S_hak- &#39; tors
B.LG.who wasgunned that
hemet Wallace neagly
leath,Anderson
iwas-"taken,,downMarch9 outside
of thePeter- two "yearsbeforethe"rapperwas
:ustody-on an outstanding sen Automotive Museum in the -slain.sourcessaid.The two were
nt stemming from_aslaying Mid-Wilshire district.
. introduced
by a mutualfriendafter
nptonunrelatedto_Shakur&#39;s" "&#39; 1;
&#39;aconcertinAnahéiml
y. in May.-LosAngeies&#39;investiga- &#39;
"ALasYegas detectivewho torsseizedDavis Chevyvlmpala The friend,_a&#39;drug déa]er_fi-pm
ipated intheraidtoldAn&#39;de fromr-his girlfriend&#39;s
house in Harlem, broughtllhvls toWallaeefs
hat he was a suspect -in Compton.The two-door sedan -hotel altertheshowand&#39;tol<_!
the
|r s shooting.accordingto - .matched.. .the dcscri
. P-tion of the car. rapperthathecouldpijovideprotec-
sonfsformerattorney, . .-
used_inV{allace&#39;s&#39;shooting. tionin LosAngel_es_ l or _Wal1ace s
-Policehave not returnedthe entourage. shouldlie everneedit,
lerson&#39;.was
released_&#39;Oct.
4 vehicle.ources sayinvestigatorssources said.Wallaoe&#39;tu;ned_down
I bos An ge1_es prosecutors de- interviewedDavis-inJunebuttold the.offer,_e:iplaining thathisrecord
Y to file chargesagainst"him himthat he is not awsuspect in company hadalready body-
aCompton slaying;In F ebru- murder.No arrestshave guards,sour_c_essaid.
; Wallace&#39;s -&#39;
&#39;.3;
gas_ Vegas told;
police The_-beet_1madeinthe.c_ase1. &#39;_
&#39;- Davis told poiioedhathe also"
&#39;.
investigator&#39;s
i-that Anderson was&#39;~stlll havebeen
focusingattended
the1inii;¢h industry
1aosi¢
lered ai_n Sh.akur&#39;s"_
i on~tbeideathat Wallace&#39;s
shooting party-atthe__Petersen
Miisemn_and
l ng._ re- .:§tenimed
Biittheinvestigation &#39;.&#39;from,a
pcmonaldisputespokewith =Walla&#39;ce"
and.s&#39;ev&#39;eral
~ _ , I-- zit
with_a Con|ptgangon member- members ofhisentot&#39;i
lessthan
rag_e
eallegations
against:
my cli- possibly the result of an un id an hourbeforethe rapperwasshot,
1,,-theaffidavit
are totally_..fse;;urity;j_bilI, -soimces.
said;Police some-=said "*1 - &#39;- Jo.
Ede&#39;§l§? , -.w"
one,Campbell his,j ~-.~:Da_vis_
thatWallace-.and could_ b_é.;r_eachedA|for
not
hesay theybald
nosubsequentr&#39;éco&#39;rd7j.comj5any
"chairman,
Sean comment"AttorneyFaal&#39;de_ nied
rt with Anderson;-"But:fthe - ff,l§%921f.f>"I&#39;
Combs!. hada&#39;
the-sug&#39;gestiori;tha
ooen_-..émployed -t
$.41
ofmsuncle,Davis.
resiirféded - inémljeré as z iig
oftheSouthside_Cifips todo-4wi_th&#39; _.Wal1ac8&#39;§
it inonthslater durii1g&#39;~the
igation
security -_-an
or thekilling.ofShak- [adamant
._ ly...
-allegation Combs
denies
:,~&#39;-.,.-.
j-Law
vestlgators
enf&#39;1&#39;-cement
&#39;sources_say£-&#39
havenotuncovered y-
iislcal
rival.Christopher Wai- jDu&#39;rlng
{an _in i.erv,iew&#39;7
June evidence
in uia&#39;mvdusae&#39;§muia ei
New
Yorkrapstarknown
as--.,with;-police;&#39;iI!avis_
&#39;.r....
told.&#39;investig;a-
-,-- -...__-..-.< l-.;
_ _-~-D.--.~ -, .. "q>&#39;nne&#39;c:tcd.
ss;ro"s1rysg.vF;&#3 FBI/D04
 FEDERALOF
BUREAU
INVESTIGQION
FOIPA

DELETED PAGE INFORMATION SHEET

Serial Description " COVER SHEET 02/05/1998

Total Deleted Page s! "1

Page 3 "b7C, b7D

 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
AND
PRIVACY ACTS

SUBJECT, Shakur_
Tupac _ _ __

FILE NUMBER_ 266A-LA-ZQI 80j

SECTION NUMBERI _7S _

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

 i
uuunwn

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

1
Precedence: ROUTINE Date: 02/O5/1998 l
To: LosAngeles ~t/ Attn: s
From: Los Angeles t//F b7C
NSD 6
Contac
C
2
umnon commnmn
APPr ve
.Y
Od B . $§,;m92;g_92;E,_
UNQLASSIFIED
. Q/ AA q9292<92 Q<9292o Z&#39
1

Drafted| BY _Q0 -9292n92192

e9292
92
Case #= 266A LA 20l80&#39;7 Pending!
ID &#39;-92k&>U 1
Title:NI ETAL;
AOT DT DEATH THREATS
OO: LOS ANGELES

Synopsis:
areporter
Requesting
for THE
approvalinterviewl
to
NEW YORKER MAGAZINE.
I
Details: For-your information, on October 17, 1996, a b7C
preliminary inquiry was
PI! initiated at Los An eles Field
Office tocorroborate source
information that
auni en organized were
known
ified individuals
crimeutilizing
figure,
along with
death threats
agroup
in the
of
furtherance extortion
of attempts targeting two former prominent
rap musicians from the Los Angeles area and other
victims yet
unidentified. v

an
others yet unidentified have been extorting money from various
rap music stars via death threats. The scheme involves: and
the other
subjects making
telephonic death
threats to the rap
star. Subjects then intercede by contacting the victim and b7C
offering protection for aAfeez. Source
reported ERIC WRIGHT, b7D
also known EAZY-E
as and then owner RUTHLESS
of RECORDS in
Woodland Hills, California, was avictim of this
extortion
scheme, prior to dying
from AIDS. :had also reportedly
targeted TUPAC SHAKUR before his recent murder in Las Vegas,
Nevada.

b7D
b7C
I&#39;____ l

b7C

gamete *5 Q4, Q9,

;,A»9- >92&#39;{{
9 ~,O "7
I
To: Los Angeles From: Los Angeles
Re: 266A-LA 201807, 02/05/1998

LEAD S!:
1
Set Lead 1:

LOS ANGELES

AT AT LOS ANGELES

interview reporter TI-IE

telephone number
romYORKER
NEW MAG
Los Ang

12 536-5400
ffice
&#39;

or 840-3800
is requesting

via telephone
permission to

or by
sending a lead to New York Field Office and have that office
conduct same regarding the above mentioned information. .Research
revealed[:::::hrote an article on TUPAC SHAKUR
for THE NEW
YORKER MAGAZINE in the July 7, 1997, issue.
b7C

3
 5 F a

|
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I

jimmyIowinub !,tbsband
qflnterxcape.
ixbro/.-ering
Ifxcitlermwr
in .1:11
it brought
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 l

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&#39;
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fir A REPORTER AT LARGE
;|
jl THE TAKEDOWN OF TUPAC
Tupar Sbakur
was one
of gangsta
rap : biggest
stars. But
be got
caugbt in
acollisionqfrultures
when inner-city
gangs met
with the multibillion-d0l1ar&#39;rec0rd
up industry.
eotrmntno
AI L,£E3,§? lF°n,
egcownle
m;%&#39;§°,,N$8
oaucrt
;|
r
mu &#39; §9292
9292
&#39;~9292925 I
i.
.&#39;.&#39; ml . Tugwere gangsters
just outof thepeniten- After Tupasfs
murder, however,
things
Ii pac Shakurwas
shot and tiary. Theywould
look you, staring began tounravel forKnight. In the
at
J killed inLas Vegas
last an, right throughyou.
No words would summer of1992, he
had pulled
a gunon
2|" he wasriding inthe passenger seat
B.M.W. 750sedan driven
by
Marion
of a have to be said."
Intimidation was
two rappers,
Suge Knight&#39;s
George andStanley Lyn-
stock- wood, for using aphone atthe studio.
til Suge! Knight,
the head
of DeathRow in-trade. It is said that he forced ablack After beatingone ofthem withthe gun,
Ill Row, theleading pur- music executive
Records. Death
veyor ofWest Coast
at arival company to
isa strip inthe men&#39;s
gangsta rap, room and
he ordered
then madeknees, threatened to kill them, and
them both down on their

The com- him walknaked through

music business phenomenon. forced themto takeoil" theirpants. He
his company&#39;s
pany
earned seventy- ve million
dollars oflices. A mammoth,
three-hundred- was convictedon assault
charges andput
in revenueslast year.The rst album and- fteen-pound man, Knight hasa on probation.But fouryears later,
just
Tupac made for DeathRow, All Eyez substantial criminal record, repletewith before Tupac was killed,Knight took
on Me, which wasreleased inearly violent acts. Even when he was on his part inthe beatingofa maninLas Ve-
1996, soldover fivemillion units. Tupac best behavior&#39; dealing
-say,withawhite gas, andthis puthim inviolation of
his
had madethree earlier albums, but they executive atone of the major
enter- probation. InFebruary ofthis yearhe
had neverreached thestratosphere of tainment companies -menacehung began servinganine-year sentence and
i quintuple platinum."Still, thedays pre- heavy inthe air.
One man told me
ceding hismurder wereanything but anegotiation he had in the apparent
about is nowin
San Luis Obispostate prison.
In addition, hundreds of millions of dol-
halcyon forhim. It had become increas- safety ofhis ownof ce. Knightwas at- lars&#39; worth
of suits have now been led
ingly clear
that there wasasteeppenalty tended byabodyguard,and whenthey against Death
Row thelargest being
to payfor having thrown inwith Suge reachedadifficult point inthe deal, the that ofTupac&#39;s
charging
estate, that
he
Knight. bodyguard osrentatiously leaned for- was defiaudedof over fty million dol-
Even forthe rough edged music in- ward andlet his gun, whichwas wom lars, andseeking damagesof ahundred
r. dustry, whichhas historicallybeen prone in aholster underhisjacket, slip into and fty million!. Andthere maybe
to excess and to connections with crimi- ill view. more tocome. Ateam ofagencies, in-
nal elements,Death Rowwas aremark- For atime, the aura served cluding the
of violence F.B.l., theD.E.A., and
the
able place.
It wasnothing forKnight to Knight well.
It grantedhim enormousli- l.R.S., areinvestigating allegations
of
hand over astack of hundred-dollar cense in
small thingslike keeping
other money laundering,links tostreet gangs, ,1
bills toTupac foraweekend sexpenses. executives waiting
for hours,without a drug trafficking,
and organized crime at 25%
Knight&#39;sinoLbs dec- murmur ofobjection!
ieeAngeles was and inlarger ones.Death Row. ii
orated in red, thecolor of
the Bloods, Music andvideo producers
who claimed "I think, Tupac, youbrought down 5|
one ofthe city&#39;s
principal gangs.A guard that DeathRow owedthem money were one ofthe most
evil empires
of mytime," gl
holding ametal detector stoodat the too frightenedto demandit, or to sue. one of his friends, who grew up inthe
front door of the Death Row studio. I The potential
for violence was also
apow- music business,
says. Hedid
not intend .
1.
have not been to one other studio to this er rl disincentiveto anyone who might to romanricize
Tupac; thisfriend, like 1!
day whereyou haveto be searched be- have considered talking to
law-enforcementmany others,
acknowledges Tupae
that L
fore youget in, aveteranof theL.A. authorities about questionable practices.
was famously
split between
what hehim-
. businesswho worked with
music Tupac Moreover, diditnot keep him&#39;omselfrefenedtoashis
do- good"andhisevil
it told me. They haveachecklist of peo- ing business with two of the entertain- sides, andthat it was hisdarker sidethat
|.
ple who can goin with guns. Soyou ment industrfscorporate giants. Death seemed have
to gained
dominion during
5
ekill have to gure, Theseguys haveguns, Row hasbeen Funded since itsinception much of his tenure at Death Row,
and it&#39;s
along run to
the front door,and by its disnibutor, lnrerscope,which for Nonetheless, these
friends insist,that
 $5
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m1
nercities.
Andthereal wasa member
Tupac wastrying kur,Tupac&#39;s
mother, of bullet holes in them orcuffs on his
to leave Death Row when he was killed. theBlackPanther
Party.Earlyin 1971, hands. None."
whileshewaspregnant
withTupac,
she The leaders of the black nationalist
UWAMY or
not,
hasbecome
Tupac
Shal<ur
name sNew
wason trialforconspiring
withviolent several
synonymous
toblowup
Yorkdepartment
stores.
She
movement to
belonged
which the other Shalmrs
hadbeenvirtually
eliminated,
ra.p
lyrics
andthug
life"aphrase
Tupac
had and her codefendants the Panther 21 largelythrough theeffortsof theF.B.l.
tattooedacross While hewas wereacquitted
hismidr-i &#39;!. justa monthbefore Tu- In 1988,Tupac&#39;s
stepfather,
Dr. Mutulu
alive,
hewascensured and,like pacwas
bypoliticians bom.Hewasnamed for thelast Shakur, whohadreceived a degreein
otherrappers,waskept &#39;om Inca chiefto betortured,btutalized,and acupuncture in Canadaandusedhis
someconcert arenas because promotersmurdered bySpanish conquistadores. .. skillstodevelop drug-abuse~treatrnent
couldnotinsuretheevens thethreat a warrior,
Afeni says.His surname, programs, wassentenced tosixtyyears
in
ofmayhem fromfans. At thesame time, Shalrur, is a kindofclannametakenby prison forconspiring to commit armed
however, hewassuspected bymanyinhis a loosegroupof blacknationalists in robbery andmurder. The crimeshewas
coreghetto audience of notbeing cold- New York. accused of includedtheattempted rob-
enough
blooded to measureuptohissta- Thephrase "Black Powerhadbeen beryof a Brinkarmored
s 1981, in
carin
tusasthearchetypal gangstarapper. likea lullaby l
when wasa kid, Tupac whichtwopolice o icers anda guard
These con icting viewsofTupacre- recalled a deposition
in hegave in 1995 werekilledandfor whichtheWeatlier
>
a degree,
ect,to racial
andsocial chasms.in a civilsuitin whichit waschargedUndergroundleader
KathyBoudin was
Rap rns insist be
thatperformers lyricshadin u- alsoconvicted!.
audien-thatsomeof Tupac&#39;s Mutuluwasalsofound
ticrepresentatives life:thatthey enceda youngmanwho murdereda guiltyof conspiring
ofghetto to breakTupac&#39;s
livethelifetheyrapabout,thatlifecon- Texasstatetrooper!. He rememberedaunt, AssataShakurJoanneChesi-
formroart,soto speak. Rap critics,
s on thatwhenhe wasa teen-ager, livingin rnard!,
ourofprison.
Shehadbeen con-
the other hand, areterri edthat life will Baltimore,wedidn&#39;t l
haveanylights. victedin 1977of murdering
a NewJet-
conformto art, that the behavior~the used to sitoutside
bythestreet
lightsand seystatetrooper,butescaped
twoyears
drugdealing readtheautobiography
andtheviolence described of Malcolm X. laterand edto Cuba.Tupac&#39;s godfa-
I byrappers
willseepintothemainstream ther, Elmer Geronimo! Pratt, is a for-
And it madeit sorealto me, thatl did.n&#39;t
culture.
The majority of ardentfansand haveanylightsathomeandI wassitting merBlackPanther Parryleader
whowas
consumersofrapare,in fact,middle-classoutside
on thebenchesreadingthis convictedoflcilling
a schoolteacher
dur-
whiteyouths. percentofthose book.
Seventy Andit changed me. inga robbery
me,it moved inSanta
Monica
in 1968.
whobuyraprecords arewhite.!Itis the And then of coursemy motherhad He wasimprisoned for twenty-seven
fearof a violent,marginalized booksby peoplelike . .. PatriceLu- years.
culture&#39;s Hisconvictionwasreverseda few
in uenceon susceptible youngpeople tnurnba andStokely Carmichael,Seize weeks agoontheground thatthegov-
thatfuelsmuch of thepoliticaldebate,theTime byBobbyScaleand&#39;Soledad ernmentsuppressed evidencefavorable
Andshe tohimathistrialmost signi cantly
that
I andthisfearisexacerbated
spread of
adoption
Controversy,
hip-hop
ofcourse,
bythewide- BrotherbyGeorge
style.
hasnever
wouldtellthese of
Jackson.
stories thingsthatshe theprincipal witness
against
hurt did or she saw or she was involved with paidpoliceinformant!.
himwasa

salm.
Tothecontrary.
Tupac andit made
understoodthis mefeelapartofsomething. It wasahaunting
lineage,
andTupac
verywell,asdidtherecord cornpany omen- Shealways raisedmeto thinkthatI was wouldfrequently invoke thenames of
to
tiveswhostood pro tfromhis the BlackPrinceof the revolution. Mutulu,Geronimo, andother political
talents,
andhisnotoriety.Themore Tupachadindeed become a prisoners
in hislyrics. It wasliketheir
troubleTupac gotintowiththelaw, BlackPrincebythetimehewas words withmyvoice," hesaid. I just
themorecredibility hegainedon killed,but not alongthe lines continued wheretheyleftoff.I triedto
the street--and the more viable a laidout bythepoliticalactivists addsparkto it,I triedto be the new
i rapstarhebecame.
The huge- of the sixties. Afeni and her I
breed,thenewgeneration.
triedto
t commercial
success
ofgangsta rap friends were involved in whatmakethemproudof me."But, at the
created
a peculiarly
volatilenexus theyperceived asrevolutionarysametime,he did not want to bethem.
betweentheworldsof inner-city activityfor the goodof their Their revolution,andin mostcasestheir
gangsandthemult;ibi.l.l.ion-dollar community. Tupacandhisfel- lives,too,wereashes.
&#39;
record
industry.
Tupac sometimes _ _/ /<, lowgangsta rappers sported
he
saidthat
parables,
thoughtof hissongs as diamond-encrusted
andnowit ishisownlife&#39;Rolls-Royce
his
goldjewelry,drove
Corniches,andviedwith defended
21 trial,
INthe
Panther
Tupac&#39;
herself
mother
witha withering
l joumey intothose twoworlds, andhis oneanother in displays
of gargantuancross-examination a keyprosecution
of
immolationat the pointat whichthey excess.Nevertheless,
Tupac didnotfor- witness,who turnedout to be an under-
converged thatseemsalmost allegoriml.getwhohisfbrebears
were."Inmyfam- cover government agent,
a erheracquit-
ily everyblackmalewith thelastname tal, thisunschooled
but intellectually
THEworldofSugcKnight
andSouth ofShakurthateverpassed theageof f-
isatafarre- teenhaseitherbeenkilledorputinjail,
CentralLosAng92&#39;.les
power-woman
ll
circles,
waslion-ized
invited
tospeak
atHarv:iii_lj&#39;an
movefrom the one in whichTupac Tupacsaidinhisdeposition.Thereare Yale,
andsubsidized
inanapartriiiiiit
on
Shakur
grewup,though initsown no Shakurs,black male Shalcurs,out NewYork&#39;s
each, Riverside
Drive.Tupab
and
way,romanticized
violence.
AfeniSha- right now, free, breathing,without his sisterSekyiwa,who wasbom in
is
s
LI.
ilu
in
his
ant
=in
led

vas
ib-
.in
ird
ner
vas
nd
tc&#39;s
SI
!l"l-
er

are
fa-
or-
vas
M-
68. SHAKEFPFARE
muss9!
3
49
J.»

&#39;en 1975,became
smallPanther
celebritieson the radical-
chiccircuit. Thenevery- _[_._
-s

- - Ms.
"cw thingchanged,
thepolitical
tidechanged
over, Tupac
UV said
inhis
deposition.
"VVe
ble - .4,2: went
onwelfare,
welived
in
theghettos
of theBronx, *&#39;
 Z. ____ ___, 3...

I
17

R
r

.
E

.I

f
kl
I

92 A -:-ialmt
tit-airy
enrcigeil
eiertueen
Eur!Cans!
mppm
likeBiggie
Snmll:
left!andL./1.-based
stars
likeSnoop
DogvDogg.
v_ BlackPantherParty."KarenLee.one gaveit to histeen-age daughter. She burnthat Vice-President Dan Qtayk
toldme. andat times tOlrl her Father how much she liloed it. saidhad noplaceinoursociety."
of hispublicists.
ll .e=~¢
I to
he wanted be." Lee said that he was being
92/Vhalley
recalls struck
asmuch
by
.
4,I . tirtious that his mother&#39;s
former com- Tupac&#39;s
looksandby his presence asIxthe
deposition
Tupac
gave
in1995,
E. J
radesmadenomoveto tryto rescue her by histalent.He remembers
and her children when she became ad- hisassistant, Haveyo-.1
sayingto whenhewasasked
everseeneyes eralof thesongs
tointerpret
on 2pacalypse
sev-
Now,
ll dictedtodrugs. he
Indeed.when wasliv- like that?" hee92plainedthatit washispractice no
r ..I ._.
ingin MarinCity iicstirure. withno lnterscopc hadpositioned itselfas introducea centralcharacter through
placeto stayhismotherandhehad something of a maverick in themusic whomhecoulddevelop a narrative,bk
lbught bitterly.
andheaccused herofly- business, producing mostlyaltemativecausehe believed that before youcan
ingto himaboutherdruguse!-it was rockandgangsta rap.whichdrewon understand whatI mean.youhaveto
r.- 7 mainlystreetpeoplewho triedto help theculture ofthegangs ofSouth Cen- knowhowllivedorhowthepeople I&#39;m
&#39;
l him. Man Man CharlesFuller!.a friend tralLosAngeles for itsmaterial. Rap talkingto live.. . . You don&#39;t
haveto
who would later become his road man- wasoriginally an EastCoastphenom- agreewith me,butjust to understand
ager.provided a
himwith bed.andkept enon.an elementof the hip-hopcul- whatI&#39;m talking about. Compassion, to
a himfrombecoming a Full- edgeddrug tore of the nineteen-seventies,which showcompassion. He alsosaidthathe
dealer. alsoincludedgra iti andbreakdanc- wasnotadvocating violence against the
F Histbttunes begantobrighten slightly ing. Althoughhip-hop musicbroke policebutwassimplytellingstories that
92
in 1990whenhegot-.1 job with therap into the mainstream in 1979 with the described realityForyoung black men-
groupDigitalUnderground. asa road international hit Rappers Delight," andcautionary stories at that.in which
manager anddancer. But hisrealbreak it wasnotuntilthe lateeighties, with violence
againstthe policeoftenleads
camethefollowing year.whenhewas the emergence of gangstarap,that it todeathorimprisonment. On onecrack
picked upbyInterscope-small .1 oom- showed signs
of becoming hugely com- he says. They claim that l&#39;m
violent
It that
pany by mercial -especially
hadjust beenfounded a
whenit gained justcuzIre rsetobesilent.Thesong
jimmy Iovineand wideaudience
the recordproducer of whiteyouths.
much on the albumthat provedto be the
theentertainmentmagnate Ted Field as blues.jazz, andearlyrockandroll mostpopular
wasentitled"Brenda&#39;s
Got
- anheirto theMarshallFieldfortune! had.In 1991.Interaeope
released a Baby."Tupacsaidthat he hadwrit-
Tupac&#39;s
t
asajointventurewithTimeWamer. firstalbum. lpacalypse Now,"which oenthesong afterreading
a newspapu
5-1
Tom Whalley.who signedTupac at was repletewith militant lyricsde- storyabouta twelve-year-old girlwho
lntetscope.hadbroughtin a demo pictingviolencebetweenyoungblack became impregnated byhercousin and
 of &#39;-92
. 92

T
,-

yle

95,
ev-
l
w,u
IO
tgh
M-
:an l

IO David
Kemter
le wound
by
cinerutor.
! upattbe
Asked
top
afane
qftbe
batter!
black
labels,
DeathRaw.
t::bicl&#39;
hislawyerwhether couldreconcile
-was
cqfomtded
Dr.Dre.
thecon icting senti- did notjoineithergang.He wasatbot-
heconsidered a
thesong I
state- ments.he says, I wrotethiswhen
political tom an observer and chronicler,
pro-
I&#39;m
ment.Tupac
said,Yes. . . . Whenthis was seventeen. . . . It&#39;s
a
about charac- l"0nndl_92"
utilitarian
in hisapproach to
I0 songcameout,nomalerappers at all ter. somewhatlike myself,whojust experience
weretalkingaboutproblems gotintothetapbusiness,
anywhere
and,somethought, people
wentfromhav- as well. .-ind South Central L.A.-
ind thatfemales werehaving,numberone. ingnogirlsto nowthere&#39;s
girlsallthe whichis almostlike -.92
foreigncountry
, KO Number two, it talked about sexual timeandhe&#39;s
justgetting
somuch sex- withina city.sosingular
andbaroqueare
: he abuse.it talkedaboutchild molestation, ualattention in hismind,a dy- thegang
andhe&#39;s, customs. culture.
andlawsthat
the it talkedaboutfamiliestakingadvan- namo.He&#39;s
RudolphValentino and govern it -was therichest
territory
he d
-hat rageof families, it talkedaboutthe FrankSinatra,he&#39;s
everybody.
. . . He &#39;
ever seen.
.&#39;l_&#39; e isctsof poverty,it talkedabouthow inngetanybody
hewanted.
. . . I man He couldbe with this poet,this
oneperson&#39;s
problems
moa &#39;ect Sol feltlilte. ..1
a whole actorandlwasapoet. pimp.thisthug- he
couldsuckevery-
rich community ofthemandthatwould
It talkedabout have to tell the multifacetednatureof thingfromeach
of people.
ads howtheinnocentaretheonesthatget a human being. . . .A mancanbesex- be partor him,"saidHan Man, the
|
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l.

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Tl-El92EW92OlKEl92.JUlX7.l997

close
toTupsc
since
hewasasmallboy,
wasapopleetic.
"I said, What
haveyou
done?"Tyehimba
recalledWetallned 3
aboutit, andit becameclearthat he did 1

t I./J;
Q
s
ittomakesureheneve
 "Q
-461 W .
or

Not

aem
n&#39;t."
IF
ived
trror

iylte
: the

PP
mm»
&#39; ve 92
-

lou&#39;l:
11-I251-|oor|ne|~&#39;An.AurA
l
Cripswouldn&#39;t
thinkhewasa Blood.
Hisbehaviorwasnot rigbehewason
theedge.But theyjust guredhewas
5+ l ! meuevvom
Dr. Shakur . ..were violated by the
cowrcrrao program. GOINTELPRO
was initiated by theF.B.I. toneutralizeTyehimba alarmed was bythe
relationships abuse, sodomy, and also weapons charges
black activist leaders as well as certain and warnedTupac to
keep his
distance. two gunswere found in thehotel room!,
tight wing extremists.! Recently,ade- in I told Tupac therst timelmet him, and Agnant&#39;s lawyer, Paul Brenner, who
velopment unlike not that in thecase ofCharles Fuller told Tupac, everyone toldhad represented the Patrolmen&#39;s Benevo-
Geronimo Pratt, Mutulu wasgranted him heshould stay away from Iaoques. lent Association for years,
many moved
permissionleto amotionforanewtrial Tupac ignored the warnings. jaoques that his client&#39;s becasesevered from his
the ground that
on evidence was discov- had allthis goldand diamond jewelry, two codefendants&#39;, the ground that
on
ered
indicating the
that government Man Mansays. He had money. He had only Tupac and Man Manhad been
withheld information that would have anice H.M.W. He could getyou inany charged with
the weapons offenses, and
been favorable to his defense. club. Pacwas juststarting to
be known that therefore the indictment was im-
In thespring of six months then, and
1994,about get inall theclubs. properly joined.
he couldn&#39;t The prosecutor did not
after Tupac shot the in At- Iacques spent
police officers four or vethousandoppose themotion somethingthat
about
lanta, Mutuluwas moved from thepeni- dollars on Tupac inthe beginning-heTupac&#39;ssay lawyers
ishighly unusual -
tentiary Lewisburg,
in Pennqivania,
to the just overwhelmed him. According to and thejudge granted it.
super-maximum-security federal prison someone eisewho
knew Agmnt,Madonna Itwas apparentlyafter Agnanfs case was
in Marion,Illinois, andfrom thereto the with whom Tupac would become close! severed that became
Tupac convinced
country&#39;s maximum-security
most was one
insti- of Agnantcelebrity
s friends. that Agnant wasagovemment informer
tution, inFlorence, Colorado. In amemo- On November 14, 1993,Iaoques Agnant and had set him up. &#39;Tupac
suspicionss
randum writtenin February,1994, the and Tupacwent to
Neil&#39;s, downtown
the were, inevitably, shaped bythe experi-
warden Lewisburg
of that Mutulu New Yorkclub. Afriend ofAgna.nt&#39;s,
argued ence of his extendedfamily; Jacques
needed "the controls ofMarion," inpart identi ed only as "Tim," introduced Tu-didn t smell right tome, says Watani
because ofhis outside contacts andin- pac to anineteen-year-old woman named Tyehimba, who considers himself
par-
uence over the younger black element." Ayanna Jackson.
She expressed
her inter- ticularly attunedto the presence under-
of
Mutuluis convincedthat Tupac be- est inhim; they danced together; and shecover agents because his of long
history
camealightning rod afterhe shotthe performedsex orala in
corner the dancewith the Panthers and what he learned
of
policemenAtlanta.in These floor. They
disen &#39;an- went tohis hotel, where theyfrom COINTELPRO tiles obtained through
chised the young blackswho
are poor had intercourse.next
The day, shecalled the Freedom of Information Act.
and hopeless have no leader,Mutulu and left many messages his voice mail, One night
on in November, 1994, during
said Theirheroes are cultural and sports saying, among things, how much thc trialof Tupac
other and Man Man, Tupac
heroes. Noone- not IesseJackson, not she&#39;d enjoyed his prowess. Four days was ata clubwith theactor MickeyRourke
Ben Chavis,not LouisFarrakhan- has later, onNovember 18th, to and afriend ofRourke&#39;s,
she returned Benza,
A.]. a
asmuch
in uenoe this
with segment as his hotelsuite. There,
she foundTupac, reporter for
the DailyNews. Tupac
told
rappers. when
So Tupac an unidenti edBenza that
upa Man Man,Agnant, and
stands to he believed
that Agnant
had
white cop,shoots out,
it wins the battle,friend ofAgnanfs. Theyall watched set himup.Acouple of days later Benza
gets cutfree, and
continues to say the television inthe living room, andthen wrote an
account the
of conversation,
re-
things he&#39;s
been saying decision
- the she and
to Tupac went into thebedroom; calling thatTupac hadtold himthat
destroy his
credibility clear.
is later, the three othermen enteredthe Mike Tysonhad called him upfrom
room. What ensueddisputed;
is prison to
Jackson wam him that Agnanrwas bad
claims thatshe was forced toperform news." On the nightof November 30th,
N II-IETHER happenstance
by not, or on Tupac
about two weeks after the At- oral sex while Agnant partlywhile thejurywas
deliberating, Tupac
went
lanta shootingsomething occurred that undressed her and grabbed be- toaTimesSquare music
her &#39;om studio rap
to for
could not have beenbetter de- hind, andthat theythen madeher per- an artist,Little Shawn,who, accordingto
signed remove
ro Tupac
from form oralsex onAgnant&#39;s while
friendMan Man, had ties
to Agnant. WhenTu-
circulation-and that would Tupac held her. ManMan, pac and his entourage entered thelobby
ultimately lead
to hisundoing. she acknowledged, did nottouch of the studio, threeblack menfollowed
VVhile in New York for the
lming ofthe movieAbove &#39;- V 1% her.! Tupac claimed thathe leii: them, drew
the room when the other men
guns, and
down. Tupac
ordered them
reached for
to lie
his owngun,
., =2
the Rim, Tupac hadbeen socializing .
-" entered anddid not witness which he usually wore in hiswaistband,
with a Haitian-bom music
promoter, - whatever happened. In any cocked. Themen thenshotTupac ve
Jacques Agnant. Tupac was playing thecase, Jackson testified thatshe leftthe times, grabbed his goldjewelry, anded
part ofagangster named Birdiei.n the suite intears and
that Ag-nanttold herto Convinced that
the shooting
had also
movie, and told friends thatspending calm down,
he saying that he would hate beenasetup,and that the shootus would
to seewhat happened to Mike[Tyson] return tonish thejob, Tupac checked
tirnewithAgnantl1elpedhirninl1ispor- happen Tupac
ing himwithsexual assault,
to : that
is, awoman
which iswhat after surgery,
charg- himself outof the hospitalafew hours
and movedsecretly to
the
trayal
of Birdie
as mueh
outwith
Jackson promptly
did. She
hotel&#39;s osecurity
summoned the
icers, who
house ofthe actressjasmine
called the cuperate. When
Guy to,re-
he retumedto
the court-
the gangsin SouthCentral providedhim
with material
for hislyrics. He
said that police. Tupac, Man Man,and Agnant foom, bandaged and inawheelchai.r,_he
he wasstudying]aoques~ that]aoques were
was arrested. A,gna.nt&#39;s left.!friendwas acquitted
of thethree sodomycounts
Birdie, Watani Tyehirnba recalls.
But Indictments were handed down on sex- and the weapons chargesbut, inam;a_p-.

nu
- ?/ &#39;
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ed
ais"
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CH
nd

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"rot
tat
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V85
zed I

oer
ms

5;-
.res
ani
at. tsnacrnmnrorsexuatas

.er- two
parentcompromise
counts
verdict,convicted
of sexual
of
abuse speci rally,
-as

my forciblytouchingAyannaJackson&#39;s
but-
tocks. Bail was set at dtree million dol-

. lC l lars,and&#39;I&#39;upacturnedhimse1fi.nandwas
incarcerated.
On February7, 1995,he
was sentenced to a term of not less than
eh I one and a half to not more than four and
l a halfyearsin prison.
-mg l A fewmonthsafterTupacwassen-
PZC tenced,
Jacques
Agnant&#39;s
indictment
was
dismissed,
andhe pleadedguilty to two
irkc misdemeanors. When I asked Melissa

a,a Mourges,
the
assistant districtattorney
who had tried
the caseagainstTupac,
I-

:old whyAgnanthadbeen dealtwith in such

a favorableway, shesaid that Ayanna
had , Jackson
case
was reluctant
again.Jackson
to
go throughthe
had,however,
brought _-I
nza .
 .1 _. p» _ .. _,___. .-_ _ , ,1 ._-----
.> . 1 r
!
56 1 n-|e~ewtomten..u.Y7.|9&#39;9&#39;1
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Z ___ &#39;

l la/K-.9,"-
Vi ~_*
~.it
-f_4§- . : _
in illviewoftheguards.Then
&#39;//I/-u theguards startedsayingTu-
paclTupacl&#39;
in thisfalsetto
voice,putting uptheir ngers
I./7
//I zit.I/I ia r »-
--&#39;4
#1 &#39;
O1;;7&#39;7l
,.&#39;-1.-5,3 /I withthese
plastic
gloves,
waving
I l »i
if?» &#39;
them- &#39;It&#39;s
time! It&#39;s
time!
2 , /&#39;
/ -;.-&#39;
» 2&#39;41" Why a secondrectalsearch,
lg A. whenhe&#39;d
beensittingtherein
plainviewwithhislawyer,
why,
I .1? -t
&#39;17
_5,1.,9&#39;-.¢;;&#39;__
_ N except tohumiliate him?"Yaas-
,.
!9 / e» _-&#39;92
~i -
1/ ."
, 2
=0- myn Fula, who had knovm him
F we &#39; 0
Q 1
I
&#39; since he a
was baby,and who
_&#39;qt_..-.1.
I/;&#39;_
I ,.,_~
/ _,_.&#39;//1&7,-,=_;;2f-._
4:- ~=_92_
-MI
,_ I
_-_: ,p_#_ »,_ pp. " I I 1
.».~ visitedhimoftenin prison, re-
;,-». /r"&#39;,&#39;
/ -¢ ry
,1 .&#39;/""
49,,
gr-:52
-.
/
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__ .. __-. they havein this "
9_ &#39; - -b I Otherfactorsweighingon
Tupaccontributed to hisanxi-
KW - etyabout in
being prison.He
_.._.
wasthebreadwinner a large
for
F
"Sam itoevyfacussed. extended family--hismother,
his sister,her baby,his aunt
andherfamily,andmore.Iris
Crews,
oneof hisattomeys
in
gaveme,I&#39;m
notinnocent interms of the school . . . she&#39;s
nice,she&#39;s a the sex-abuse
quiet,she&#39;s case - who hadbeenleery
wayI wasacting. . . . I&#39;m
justasguiltyfor square, a
she&#39;s my rst of representing
goodgirl. She&#39;s Tupacbut became be-
not doingnothingas I am for doing only girl iendI everhadin myen- guiledanddevotedhe
and Had beenthis
things.He accepted blamefornothav- tirelifeandnowshe&#39;s mywife." foulmourhed,woman-hatingkid, 1
ingintervened onbehalfofAyanna_Iack TupacandMorristalkedaboutmov- wouldn&#39;t havedone it ! tecalledthat
son. "I knowl feel ashamed- becauseI ing to Arizona,andwhat theywould onedayashesat in courtwithabunch
wantedto be accepted andbecause I nametheirkids.He startedto organiu of youngchildrenclimbingall over
no
didn&#39;t
want harmdoneto me,I d.idn t his nances, andattempted tosettlethe himduring arecesshehadremarked to
.1- saynothing." numerous pending
lawsuits againsthim her, If I don&#39;t kids
work, these don t
I t.4 In Aprilof199S&#39;,
whilehewasstillin across thecountry. Butin theforbidding,eat. He&#39;d
beendeprived of hischild-
| prison, hemarried Keisha Morris,whom almost feudal backdrop of theClinton hood,andthen,attwenty,hehadtwenty
been
he&#39;d datingfor aboutsixmonths Correctional Facility,
hiseffortsseemedpeopleto support,shesaid.Beyond
beforehewasputin Erninently re- increasingly irrelevant.
I-Iislawyerswere that,hehadenormous legalfeesforcases
l»
sponsible
andlevelheaded,
shewasgo- lingappeals
inhiscase, those all overthecountry.
andunder Afternearlysix
ingto schoolandholdingdownajob; circumstances he could have been al- months inprison,despite
themoney be-
shedidn&#39;t
smokemarijuana;and she lowedtopostbail,butthedistrict attor- ing advanced byInterscope,Tupac&#39;s
:- didn&#39;t
immediately havesexwith him. ney&#39;s
o ice
was ghting hisrighttodoso, funds
were depleted.
on
Morris told me that their rst dare andtheproceedings draggedon,month
theysawa movie,andthenTupacpre- after month.Whathehadspoken ofini-
vailedon herto stayin hishotelroom. tiallywhen he wasat RikersIslandas
:DEA&#39;1&#39;I-I
ROW
RECORDS
offered
to
solveall Tupac&#39;s
nancialprob-
Whensheinsisted ongoingtobed rlly prison&#39;s
gift" ofrespiteandintrospec- lems.DeathRowhadbeensmrted by
dressed,
heprotested onlythat"youcould tion -nowhadbeenovershadowed by SugeKnight and the rap producer
takeofFyoursneakers. In thedepositionthenightmare of incarceration. 1992. Knightwasa former
Dr. Dre in
hegave inthecivilcase brought against Dannemora was a hellhole -he had University of Nevadafootballstarwho
by thefamilyof the
him young manwho a one-to-four-year andthey had grownup in Comptonin South
sentence,
hadmurdered theTexasstatetrooper, puthimin a maximum-security prison!" CentralLA. In thelateeighties,
hehad
,Tupacdescribedhisnewwife: _She one
s of hislawyers,
Stewart says.worked asabodyguard
intheburgeon-
twenty-two,a
she&#39;s she..&#39;. Levy
Scorpio, justrecalls
thatwhilehe ingLA. rapscene,eventually
develop-
graduated witha Tupae
fromIohn]ayCollege one day,
"Tupachad*a i- ectal
ihga friendship
withDre,whowasthen
degreein criminalscience,and she&#39;s
search when he came in oo the visit- a member
of thegroupN.W.A. Knight
ingarea.Thenwe
rakenayearo she&#39;sgoingtogotolzw
i spentsixhoursthere persuadedDre that he wasgetting

~. - ~ .. .
- _ ,ȤIu
-Q ..IA."Y
, ,. -: .
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7.

n n-/
0
.1
V was &#39;.
VARNERANDDEATH
v - s1
cheated
byhisrecordcompany andthat Row wouldcontinue.Then, in the late vestigating
possible
criminal
activities
at
heshould to spring
leave.Knightis alleged of1995,&#39;I&#39;une
Wameragain came DeathRow.SugeKnighthasalways
producerwith underattack
havethreatenedDre&#39;s foritsinvolvement
in gang- beenatpains
toportrayhimself
asanin-
baseball
batsandpipes break
inorderto starap,thistimebythejoinedforces dependent operator.For example,he
his contract. of Wi iam Bennett and C. DeLores boastedthat Death Row, u.nl.ike
other
I The release of Dre&#39;s
album TheTucker,thechairwomanoftheNational smallcompanis,ownsits mastersthe
Fl
Chronic"shortlyafterDeathRowwas PoliticalCongress of BlackWomen. originalrecordings of thealbums!.Since
Iv founded helpedestablish as
thecompany Tucker,
pointing
toTupac,Snoop Dogy thelong-term valueof raprecordings is
a majorforce.Bythesummer of 1995,it Dogg,andDr. Dre the lattertwo at onlyspcmlative at thispoint,theown-
U. is
wasoneof thetopreoordcompanies in DeathRow!,allof whomhadproblems ershipof themasters a matterof ego
O
world.
therap music SugeandDrere- withthelaw,declared is more thaneconomis,a musicexemtive
that Interscope
allywereamagicalcombination,ablack a company TimeWarnerneeds to get explained to me,andin thecaseof
outof business
entertainment executivewho was then at withimmediately." DeathRow itwas important
fortheim-
oneof thebigmusiccompanies toldme. Tupac wastoopromising anartist
for agetosaytheywereblack-owned. But
Theyweretrusted onthestreets.Vi/bite lnterscopctoconsider but in factDeathRow masters
jettisoning-, s areheavily
no matterwhat their therewasa compromise
or blackexecutives, solutionthat mortgaged, andhavebeenusedassecu-
winking,werenotgoingto be trusted. might make it appear was rity againsr
thatInterscope loansandadvances from
l Ve&#39;re
square
formidable
tothem. And Knightwas insulated fiomhim,andthesolution
manager.He neverreally parentlymadesenseto everyonein-
ap- Intezsoope.
Indeed,
nancially
DeathRowhasbeen
dependentonlntersoope
from
He
remedtosleep. hadaninstinct with volved -except
Tupac. thebeginning.
I1.
eopleaboutwhathethought theirmar- SugeKnighthadwantedTupacat VVhileKnightclearly hadagreatdeal
could
etability could motivate DeathRowforsometime,although
be. He he of autonomy,he andIovineworkedto-
he
lre to nish what he
started. And a
hadnotbeen Tupacsupporterat rst. getherclosely.It wasJimmyandSuge,
take no for an answer. Dre had cs-
idn&#39;t thing, IimrnyandSuge,"someone
HewasnotintotheTupac-artist whoknew
rntially
alltheideas, andSugetheman- a producer whoknowsSugesays.But them both well told me. since no one
J- gcment muscle togetit done." thencamehis thugnotoriety- being wantedto tellKnightanything that"set
Death Row owed its start to Inter- a
called rapist, . . . his ise, hesaid,it wasIovinewhodealt
gettingin brawls.
;ope.jimmylovine andTedFieldhad With hisproblems,
5 fund Death Row and distrib-
ecided to tractive
he
toSuge."
became
Knight
moreat- withKnight.
hadbeenmalt- hands on.
Therelationship
Promotions
wasvery
andmarketingfor
re its productsin1992, whenother ingovertures toTupac DeathRowwerehandledby an lnte_r-
withlnterscope&#39;s
ampanies hadshied away.
Oneexecu- blessing.A musicexecutive
whoworked scope employee.If a production
company
veat a majorstudiowho had turned with Inrerscope recalls
Iovinesayingto wasmaking a video forDeathRow,its
awnthe prospective DeathRowven- Knight,Take thiskid,takehimplease.contract mightwellbe with lnterscope.
zretoldmethathe andhiscolleaguesHe&#39;s out of control. You can control him. The closenessbetween the two com-
:lt that "life is too short" to assumethe Takehim."WataniTyehimba rememberspanies wasunderscored bytheirphysical
sk that theybelievedan associationa meeting 1993 attended
in byTupac, proximity. Until lastyeartheywerelo-
ith Knightmightpose.Timmy iscom- Knight,Iovine, andhimself, at which catedjustacross
thehallfromeachother
~rtable withgangsters, hecandealwith lovine,saying it madesense forTupacto ina.noliioe buildinginWestwood.
tern, it doesn bother
t workwith
him, the execu- Dr.Dre,arguedstrongly
that
vesaid. He&#39;s
a streetguyhimself."he shouldsignwith DeathRow.Tye-
a
wine the sonof Brooklynlong- himbawassurprised,
but lovine ex-
ONabusiness
itmay
have
owchart,
meantjustshiftingTupacfrom
--1oreman, be
who,manysay,aspired
to plained
thatInterscope
andDeathRow oneboxtoanother, butforTupactogo-
a
the next David Geffen- wa11ted to make had unique fromInterscope
relationship -suggesting to DeathRow,onlya
: s hismarkfast,andhewasimpatient with thatDcathRow&#39;s
gainofTupacwould hallway
apart,
wasto entera di crent,
theprogress
of hisnewbusinessat rst. not meanInterscope&#39;s
signi cant loss. and far more sinister, world. It was
Sohegambled, andreapedthepayoff: The exactnatureof that unique re- widelybelieved
thatoneof themajorin-
I0 gangsta
rapturned be agoldmine. lationship"
outto maybe of morethanaca- vestors
in DeathRowwasa drugdealer
D But the disadvantage
volved
of beingin- demic interest to federal authorities in-
withDeathRowwascontinuing
namedMichaelHarry-O!Harris,who
wassewingtimefor attempted murder
>Y reproaches
fromsocialcriticsand in- aswellasdrugconvictions.
Hewassaid
21&#39;
Bl
censedshareholders.
succumbed

1993.By early
1995,
Time Warner had
to pressure
of that nature
itself Ice-T
whenit disengaged &#39;omin
however, thepro-
I XV 4 to haveprovided

comethelawyer
theseedmoney for
Death Row.KnightandHan-is&#39;s
law-
yer, David Kenner,who hadalsobe-&#39;4
forDeathRow,were

1-._
tability
ofgangsta
pingthescales
rapseemed
ofgreed
tobesp-
andfear.VVhen
A92 92 ests.Therewereeventumorsthat
supposed
to beguarding
Harris&#39;s
inter-
1-
4 _,-.,_,
ȴ~4 Time Warnerwasdismissing
raisingits oompanywas
being
used
no
launder
&#39;4l stake
inInterscope
fromtwenty- ve
per
_J .,-
-1:, -§_,...-__.- money a continuing
on basis.
More&#39;<:i92&#
2.,»
&#39;
I; &#39;5 centto y percent,theysoughtassur- it wassaidthattherewereconuactsldliiill
55&#39;"-§_-
ancesthattherelationship
with Death -%92_-
Z onKnight,
and that
Harris
wasuxihappiyii
Ii &#39;
+92u L ..:5?
I Hi-b -.
&#39;vF,¢
7" its- :2=."
~&#39; 0 <_,;&#39;
. :"4-.&#39;T"
As.
.3 .
4;t 92 _ -;
.1.-1, - _ fD fr~
.. --
_i_.i__- _
 .
..._.._._<__-.¬..-__. ._.. .. . , ..
___.. _ ._. ._._.._ .- -_....
w < _ ,..,.
no ~ &#39;
EM!
I

with Knight&#39;s
business How theywanted
practices. to.It hadbecome notonly town;BadBoyEntertainment
C.E.Q.
of
many these
stories lovine attractive but vital to Death Row that SeanPuffy!
hadreached Combs;therapper
Chris-
TupacjointhelabelOneof thecom- topher
is not clear.He did, of course,know of Wallace,
known bothasBiggie
Knight&#39;s
criminalrecord andpropensity pan!/sbiggest SnoopDoggyDogg, Smalls
stars, andastheNotorious
B.l.G.;and
whenhe rstmadethedeal wasfacingamurdertrial.anditwasn1- others.Theyall denied
forbrutality anyinvolve-
with Death Row, and as time went on mored on the street that Dr. Dre was ment.! At rst,ManMansaid, Tupac
he became awareof the continuingcli- leaving.Drewould indeed leavebyearly did notbelieve
thatBiggie,
whohad
mateofviolence theoom- 1996.! Death Row could not affordto beena goodfriendof his,andwhohad
thatenveloped
A
pany. DeathRowand losebothartists.
lawsuitagainst AndKnightsurely knew cometovisithimwhenhewasrecuper-
Intersoope
was ledonbehalfofa man thatTupac would bemorepopular than atingfromhis wounds,hadbeenin-
stomped
todeath term,
a DeathRowparty everalterhisprison
at more real volved Tupac
inanyway. Butwhen was
in early1995. injail hewasgettingletters
to his audiencethan he had been before. frompeople
As
for MichaelHarris bankrolling
s of Even thoughlnterscopeadvanced Biggiehadsomething to do with
federal
Death Row, Iovine told investi- Tupacsixhundred thousanddollarsdur- it, hestarted
thinkingaboutit, it gotso
thathehadhearda rumorabout
gators ingtheninemonths he outof hand,it grew andonceit got
hewasin prison,
it in 1994 or 1995, but it was not until To
wasbrokeandfrustrated. Tyehimba, thatbig,publicly, youhadtogowithit.
December,1995, when Harris threat- there seemed to be an unmistakable WataniTyehimba, Stewart Levy,and
enedto suethecompany, claiming that synchrony atwork. Interscope would not Charles Ogletree allsaytheyargued vig-
of
he ownedhalf it, that Iovine took time or couldnotprovideenough
funds for orously Tupac abouthisdecision
with to
rumorseriously. If thiswastrue,then Tupac. AndasKnightbecame a more gotoDeathRow.told Tupac us, The
lovinewasstrangely insulated,forin L.A. andmoreimportunate suitor,Intersoopetroublewith all of you is, you&#39;re too
music circlesI-latrisrole
s waswidely gos- wassqueezing us to get us to go to nice," Levyrecalls. Tyehimbatoldme
sipedabout.Indeed,in the summer of DeathRow,"Tyehimbasays.Knight- thatathislastmeeting withTupacatthe
1995,monthsbeforeHarriswroteto Io- accompanied by Death Row&#39;s lawyer, prison,Tupachugged him,wept,and
vineabouthisintentions to sue,thehead DavidKenner, whohadcometo playa said,"l knowI msellingmysoulto the
of theTime Warner musicdivision,Mi- majorrolein thecompany, farexceed- devil." Kennerdrafted a handwritten,
chaelFuchs, madeanoverture toarrange ingspeci legal
c taslcs made repeatedthree-page agreement forTupac tosign.
a prisonmeetingwith Harris.He was trips to Dannetnorato visit Tupac. Withina week,in a stunning coinci-
tryingto decidewhetherthe company Knight promised tosolve most dence,
Tupac&#39;s theNewYorkCourtofAppeals
yield
should to the politicalpressure intractable problems. According toseveral grantedhim leaveto postbail. The
aboutgangsta rapandsellitsinterest in peoplecloseto Tupac,Knightclaimed moneywasprovided by Interscope and
lnterscope, andhebelieved thatit might thatKennercouldcurethelegal a divisionof TimeWarner,although
wellbe Harris,not Knight,whocould andwinpermission to postbail.Knight Tupacalways gaveSuge ill credit.!
speakwith-authority to Time Warner irtherpromised thathe wouldputup Knight andKenner arrived in a pri-
about the future direction of Death Row. someportionof thebailand,moreim- vateplaneandwhitestretch limousine to
Themeeting never place, becauseportant,makeDeathRowthecorporatepick
took Tupac up.Underscoting thedegree
Time Warner executivesand the board of guarantor fortheentirety. Knightswore of porousness between Interscope and
directorsquicklydecided thatthecom- hewouldmakeTupac a superstar,much DeathRow,Tupacwas,according to
pany should shed itstroublesome invest- biggerthanhe&#39;d
beenwith Intersoope.someone familiarwiththenegotiation,
mentby sellingits fty-per-cent stake And he wouldsolveTupac snancial givena verbal releasefromhislnter-
backto lnterscope. lnterscope wasable worries.Hewould a
evenbuyAfeni house. scopecontractAs for Kenner&#39;s hand-
to exploitthatrebuffby turningaround a
lt was dazzlinghand.VVhatwas written document, Ogletree, whowould
andsellingthe fty-per-centstaketo probably trumpcard,however, notseeit untilmuchlater,says,
Knight&#39;s "Itwasn&#39;t
MCAMusic Group
Entertainment now wasthe thing that he, and he alone, a legalcontract. .. . It wasabsurdthat
known asUniversal!, a profit
for ofroughlycould olferTupac- the auraofgangsteranyonewith an opportunity to re ect
a hundred million dollars. power.Eventhough Tupachadclaimed would agree tothose terms. Itwasonlybe-
thathehadoutgrown thegangster pose, causehewasin prisonthathesigned it.
Temnmo as
Knight&#39;s
oifers
were
DeathRowwasthepremier
rap
hisstayin Danncmora hadmadehim Tupac wassaying,Myfreedom isevery-
feel more vulnerable than ever before. thing.
If youcangetmemy eedom,
you
label,puttingout onemulti-platinum Hewanted
togetoutofjail, andhe canhave tomyartistic
access product.
"
recordafteranother!,
Tupaehadconsis-neededa label that
could back him, a
tentlydeclined
to leave
Interscope.
But friendwhovisitedhim in prisonthat
in the summerof 1995, when it seemed summer
says.
"Thestreetshithadto be
INways
large
and
small,
inboth
art
Tupac
andlife, Shalcut
instinctively
asthoughhisincarceration
mightcon- dealtwith,andSugehadpoweron the pushedpastcustomary
boundaries,and
tinueinde nitely for
yearseven,ifhe street."
Tupac brooded
aboutbeingshot whenhecameoutof prisonandjoined
wasnot allowedto postbail-he was intheTimesSquare studio
and DeathRowthatimpulse washeight-
moredesperate everbeen.It about
than_he&#39;d whathebelieved wasthesetup by ened.
Hewouldworkthelongest
wasinthisbleakmoment that Jacques
Agnant. Healso suspected nineteen-hour
stretches,
despitezlthe
and,apparently,
Iovineaswell sawthe whoweretherein thestudiothatnight: consumption
of enormousamounts
of
opportunity
to arrangethingstheway Andre Harrell, now the head of Mo- alcohol
and
marijuana!,
hewould.;pe-

1- -
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 .53

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5-
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3-

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nd
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ne
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gh
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-2
!
it
69 "__ meYORKER
NEW
1, :99
l
come the
biggest star,
he wouldbecome hospital bedsidein NewYorkaTu- er had areal star. Theyhad Snoop and
asuperpower within the Dmth Row- pacwas shot in theTimes Square lobby!, Drrthe!/re entertainers. Snoop could l
dominated worldof gangstarap. Just the encounterfailed to satisfy him.It be sitting quietly overthere in acor-
92 nine months had said,Thug was inSuge Knight,many thought,es- ner" he gesturedto oneend ofthe res-
earlier, he
life to me is dead." Now he embraced it.pecially when they sawthe twoto- taurant wewere sittingin but if Tu-
Pac waslike a chameleon, Syke says, gether-the slender, shad- pac werehere hewould createsucha
l.ithe youth
echoing acommonview among owed bythe other&#39;s
Tupac&#39;s massive bulk,the ruckus. People
be
would saying, That&#39;s
friends. Whatever he was
around, one allanimation, the
that&#39;s other
exuding au- Tupac! Hehad star
aura. Suge saw that,
what heturned into.And whenhe got thority -that hefound thatconnection. and he liked that. All of a sudden,there
Tupac andKnight seemed
around DeathRow, hetried to be that." almost in- were all
these pictures
of Suge,
together
While Tupac many separablethe
had uansgtessed in months re- with Tupac,
a er Tupac&#39;s feeding off
each other.
social limits,he hadalso drawnto
him lease from
prison; they
worked together
r people who tried, with
varying degreesof long hours
success, tomoderate his behavior. But when they
in thestudio, and
were through.
socialized
One ofTu-
DNCE Tupac
came
joined Death
of out
prison
and
Row, heprobably
t set out for the province of pac&#39;sremembers
when he
Death Row,he leftbehind vi.rtually
friends watching
them did more to stoke the ames of amuch
all sing asong from the soundtrack of publicized feudbetween East
and West i
; of these putative guardians am0ng
them, WataniTyehimba, KarenLee,
"Gridlock d": You
Friend Like Me."
Ain t Never Had a Coast rappers
than anyone.
posturing and
For all the
the displays
of bravado
i marriage was
The combination of Tupac and and the
Man Man, even hiswife, Keisha. Their aspersions on
to havebeen combustible,tegrity, this
YaasmynKnight seems
later annulled.!
casteveryone&#39;s
was primarily
in-
afeud about I
. Fula, whowas oneof the few old friends
who remained
close to
Tupac, says
that
with each
activating the money. Rap
most explosive
elements in the other. Someone who has
had originated
in theEast,
but, starting in the late eighties,the
1
92
. was
he out of his element. lt was a oom- Knight
known gangsta rappers
well foryears points
out from LosAngeles were
pletely differentsoldier mentality.He that itwas after
Tupac arrived
at Death more successThen
il. PuffyCombs&#39;s
was fascinated it because ofthe ab- Row that its signatureexcess becameBad BoyRecords. which
by was basedin
sence of amale gure whocoidd say, evenmore
pronounced- fancy clothes, New York, began puttingout its own
&#39;Leave
alone.&#39;
it " gold anddiamond jewelry especiallyversion ofgangsta rap whichthe West
"He was always lookingfor afather," heavy medallions,
laden withdiamonds insisted was merely derivative.Watani
Watani Tyehimba says, inme some, in and rubies, Death Rowsym- Tyehimba told
bearing the me thatmuch ofTupac&#39;s
Mutulu some. But what he missed was bol of ahooded gure in an electric anger at Biggie Smalls, Pu &#39;y&#39;s
suc- most
i one fatherwith the good andthe bad, chair!, Rolls-Royces four were pur- cess il rapper, was based on professional
t not acomposite. By the time Tupac chased to
met the man who said he
celebrate Snoop
was h.is father acquittal on
jealousy: Tupac
Doggy Dogg&#39;s
and lotsof single One
murder charges!,
was inja.il, andBiggie&#39;s
More Chance" was No.1on
92 a former Black PanthernamedBilly women. Before Tupac, aknowledgeable the charts. In an interview in The Saurce
Garland, who materialized Tupac&#39;s
at insider pointed
out, DeathRow hadnot in ll/larch,1996, Tupac claimed he&#39;d
been
t Sleeping with
Bigg-ie&#39;s Wife,
l the singerFaith Evans,
and
he went so far as to taunt

i Biggie about
it in asong: I

Y
t ll - icked your bitch, you fat
motherfucker."
Some of those close to
Tupac wereappalled atthe
y. Faith Evans
imbroglio. She
denies that such an encoun-
ter with Tupac evertook
 ea}: U -

.
1&#39;8
l
1C1
J

rid

aly
ch
25!
he
do
!n .1
- Pr
nut EA.$&#39;l&#39;COASl VE.YTCQ°QT
" WA-. CW
.. 6|
ISI, verbal,it wasuse ilfor its mar-
the ketingpossibilities.
But it may
alsohaveplayed a
into real,not
ere _
__-->&#39;_____&#39; -Q.
hyped,desirefor vengeance
.1. on
_ __ __ 92_&#39;77I
- _-_¢ _~
Knight&#39;s
part,sinoehe is saidto
>$&#39;s
have
blameda close&#39;-=-5?;
Puffy
for _____i __~.--*;_~_..1¢
.._ _,- -~§% _I .4 -_&#39;
. .,-.5 _;&#39;
-

-jour ii_,,,a
Cunalatres
girls-!.
And ddr92"l
fOf,gl l. -1- &#39;
.wn
in i Friend&#39;s
murder. moved
Thefeud &#39; , . Q,
, to a newplaneat a.Christmas &#39;~ -
D &#39;-"&#39;
I,
CS! bash
in 1995,
hosted
byDeath - ---- -
"&#39; 1"»:wooJs
aretrawl- "*5
n9Fm
Row LeBlane_i - __. IQ-
attheChateau wiih Plmsloarapheril "-
ani i
, F
acs1 r mansion,
intheHollywood
Hills. 5_ -- 0-
uc i A record
promoter
fromNew l - _
I
mil
;ie&#39;s
Bell,
York,MarkAnthony
isanassociate
ofPu.fly
who
Combs,
is
i .--L
1--
_ ,-:_"
*""&#39;_"&#39;_&#39;-&#39;
a-- x-_
. OH
&#39; saidto havebeenluredupstairs ""l "&#39;*.
~..:i.
id
a roomWhere
to Knight,
Tupac, -_r-&#39;-&#39;
U768 andtheirentourage
hadbeen ,-4-~.
r -&#39;
&#39;-"
-%-i

en r drinking.
Bellwasallegedly
to a chair,interrogated
tied
about
.---""
M &#39;
--_- ..|-

rife, thekillingof Suge&#39;s

hounded
friend,and
fortheaddress
of Puify
and

; //all
9292.92
andPu &#39;y&#39;s
mother.
He isalleged
been
to have broken
beatenwith
tunt
champagne bottles,
andKnight
;= 1 * issaidto haveurinated
intoajat
.fat

/ CA
MPAWAMNABE
lg =a.~~
and told Bell to drink from it.
Bell receivedan estimated six~
e to
hundred-thousand-dollar settle- =|
"the mentfrom Death Row, and he declined
But a friendof Bell&#39;s
to presscharges.
1She told me that he had reachedhim in Ja-
In February,
Tupachad decidedto
about
maica a monthafter the incident,
start
hisownproduction
company,called i
aun- andBell hadsaidto him, I&#39;m
heretilll Euphanasia,he askedhisoldfriend thanInterscope
and had."But shesuggests I
took r me
heal.Theybusted up bad! People Yaasmyn Fulatocometo L.A. torunit. that she was not oblivious of the dark .!
whowerewithTupacthelastyearof his 92
Tupac s sideof KnightandDeathRow.Shetold

with
Fulabegantryingto organize
lifearenotsurprised
thathewouldbein- business getting me thatTupachadnot allowedeither
affairs. We weren&#39;t
volved in somethinglikethis. VVhencopies of the nancial she Sykeor Tupac&#39;s
accountings," youngcousins the
TupacwaswithSuge," onefriendsays, said."VVe&#39;d Outlawz, who travelledwith him and
askfor them,andthey&#39;d
9292
3}

t92. i

~
___, .,,-.___-._.__- _ _._ __

oz
1
..> ~- THENEWVYOR| .ER.JUl.YT.l997

1&#39;
.
.
we»
&#39;
>. &#39;
&#39;
&#39;
&#39;*""i 7_ r -".&#39;i Rowhasmymoney,
-. .-~&#39; tellthemto send
_:- , .
-1. . ~. .
&#39;. .-. -- - -.
a._;;,.<&#39;,+:" &#39;
vi, the check. " When the check didn&#39;t
..- , te ~*:~ - -&#39;;¢ - . ~ -&#39; :
if, &#39;
Q; - . .-. -,92,J, . ;:. ,&#39;
G - -
3,1 come,Ogletree would
continued,
I call
_*_,,.- - =.&#39;»*--I.-;
-- Z1 1 2. -i -;;__
Kenner.He wouldsay, It&#39;s
in themail.
Then, when itnever arrived,he would
l.
1 COFFEE KICKINTHEPANT5
»~=>
»~
4
4? F°R;v92g;u_Y
TEA
AND
SYMPATHY!
,- sayhe wassendingit FedEx.Then,
whenit didn&#39;t
arrive,hewouldsayhe&#39;d
wireit." Ogletree
added,Weshould
havebeenable to closethe deal,but it
wasnever
possible.
Wehadtogothrough
therecord
company.
It wasasthough
he
hadnolifeexcept
thatgiven
tohimby
1 Death Row.
l Bythelatespring,
Ogleueesays,
Tu-
pacwascare illyplotting
hisescape.
I HehadEuphanasia, hehadtheOut-
,92 lawz, he had his movie deals he was
buildingsomething thatwasall to be
.
partof oneentity. . . He hada strat-
-w a
egy- theideawasto maintain friendly
4
1 Pj-Q.-&#39;.1-I.~iY.i§=&#39;-" relationship
with Sugebutto separate
hisbusiness." of
Theprecedent
Dr.Dre&#39;s
3 -/1&#39;
-- .
_ z. .
.- .¢.. &#39;- -_ departure
fromDeathRowdid not
.7- &#39;
- 1 &#39;
E // seem A
especially
encouraging.
music-
Z i n-CAJ business
executive
whowas iendly with
Dre saysthatDre left because
he was
4 O
uncomfortable
with Knights business
in
1
l whichKennerhasconsistentlydenied, theprover- practices.
1995hewas,somethought, Dreabandoned hisinterest
in
lI thecon ictwouldbeevenmorepatent. bialpower
behind
thethrone.To many the companyin retumfor a relatively
if It alsomightexplainhowhe - a
white of Tupac friends,
s be- modest nancialsettlement,and Inter-
the relationship
crirninal defense
lawyerwho in the andKennert a familiar scope
tweenKnighr facilitated
thedivorce
bygiving
eighties
handled
someof L.A.&#39;s
most pattem:
a whohasaccesshima lucrative
blackgangster Look
newcontract. at
high-pro ledrug, racketeering,
and to the streets works in consort with a Dre," Ogletreesays. Sucha brilliant,
l murder casesbuthadvirtually noexpe- whiteplayer whoisconnected tolevers creative musician. He started Death
| Knight Row,andinordertogetouthehadto
rience in entertainment law- oould have of powerin theworldat large.
ii emerged of oneof thehottest might wear a ring with the initials give up almosteverything.... Now,
at thetop
record
black-music labels. of
M.O.B. -- Member Bloods" but whatwouldit takeforTupac,thehot-
Kenner&#39;s
entree,it nowseems plain, in theireyes Kennerwastherealthing. teststararound,whosesuccess wasonly
camethroughMichael Harris. Paul growing?Froma legalstandpoint,
Palladino,a private
workedclosely
investigator
with Kennerfor
whohas
years,
DAVID to represent
KENNER
began
Tupacashisentertainment
Ogletree
law- contract
said,
it wasnotsodii cult,
signed
the
in prisoncouldbechal-
1991 or so David A
told me that back in yerandashislawyer forcivilandcrimi- ler1ged.
. .
Butyouhavetoli92reafterthat..
wasrepresenting MichaelHarrison his naloases in Califomia,butTupacasked It wasa question of howtowalkaway
appeal, andHarrisintroduced himto Charles Ogleu-ee tocontinue torepresentwith yourlimbsattachedandbodily
Suge."In hisun ledcomplaint against himaswell.Ogletree toldmethathere- functions operating.
Death RowandInterscope, Harrisal- peatedly to
wroteletters DeathRow,ask- I remember seeinghimjustbefore
legedthathe hadhad a prisonmeeting ingtoseethecontract Tupac hadsignedhistwenty- fth birthday," Ogletteecon-
in September, 1991,withKenner and withDeathRowin prisonandto nego- tinued.Hefeltit wasaglorious day.He
I Knight,to dismiss thetermsof hisin- tiate a formal contract under more con- neverimaginedhe&#39;d liveto be twenty-
.1 would
vestment in what beoome Death sdonablecircumstances;butallhisefforts, five but therewasa sadnms in hiseyes,
M
Row.HarrisandKnightwere be equal he said,were met with silence,diver- because
to hestillhadthese chainsbinding
partners,healleged, andKenner wasto sions,andoutrightmisrepresentations." him. This was not where he wanted to
97*,
nd
n&#39;t
I
all

til.
ild
:n
,
e&#39;d
lld
t it
igh
.he
by
Fu-
.pe.
UT
was
be

filt-
idly
:ate
&#39;re&#39;s
not
sic-

vith
wasI
rtess P&#39;t .orrnNoAnr_scA|>s
if _/&#39; 68

itin Belushi.Thenightit wrapped, Tupac Afterthealmostnonexistentght- grazed.Hewouldlatermaintain hehad

vsly celebratedby takingone of his law- Tysonknocked
Seldonout
in lessthan a bulletlodgedin his head.!At thehos-
I yers, Shawn Chapman, to dinner at twominutes -Knight,
Tupac,andtheir pital,Tupacwentinto emergency sur-
 I. ~.
3-Q.

attempt
to DeathRowthatledto malpractice
leave andbreach
of duciary
duty, smellinglike roses and not havethe
hisdeath.Dre hadmanaged
to doit, but chargingthat his purportedrepresenta- wild cardof Sugeand Kenner. A cou-
only
by relinquishingany claim on tion of
Tupac wasin hopeless
con ict ple of monthsago,
it wasreportedthat
Death Row. A music-business veteran with his own interests inasmuch as Seagtam, theparentof Universal,
iseon-
who is close to Dre told me that if Kenner,thesuitalleges,wasbothanat- sideringbuying,for threehundred and
Tupachadleft DeathRow. . . it would torneyfor DeathRow andan ownerof fty million dollars,the half of Inter-
havebeenworsethan devastating it&#39;s it. Severalpeoplecloseto the situation scope
that Universaldoesnot already
an
insult. lt&#39;s
apublicslapin theface.lt saythatthesuitisonthevergeof being own.This wouldmeana colossal pro t
is not tolerable. I&#39;vemadeyou and settled,and that Interscopehashelped for Iovine and Field.
l
i92 you&#39;re
going to leave me?And six to makethat possible.
months alter Dre did it? In another cul- SinceTupac death,
s
To manyblacksin the musicbusi-
Interscopehas ness,thelackof congruency in thispar-
l ture," he concluded, peoplesueyou." repeatedlysoughtto mollify Afeni. In ticular moralitytale is bitterly familiar.
In thelastfewmonths,Knighthas October,when she found Knight and SugeKnight has retainedMilton
1
I beenbuffetedbyonedamaging revelation Kcnner unresponsive and she was Grimes,whodefendedRodneyKing,to
afteranother. The LosAngelesTime: threatening to blocktherelease of Tu- representhim in the federalinvestiga-
reportedin Octoberthat he hadgiven a lastalbumunlessshegot anac- tion.Grimes
pac&#39;s arguesthatDeathRowdid
recording contractto thedaughter of the counting of the moneydue to him, it not operate in a vacuum._Theirmoney
deputy
districtattorney Longo, wasjimmy IovinewhometwithAfeni came &#39;0m
Lawrence Interscope,
andfromMCA,
whohadhelpedstrikehisprobationdeal andher lawyer,RichardFischbein,and and they -Interscope- were hands-
in the assaultcase,and also that
David agreed
that wouldpayheran on. So if therearegoing to be indict-
Interscope
Kenner had rented a n.i.neteen thousand- immediate three million dollars with ments,letthemtakeon theindustry-
dollar-a-month
Malibu Colony house more to come.And it waslnterscope, notjust thisoneblackbusiness."
fromtheLongo
familyandthatKnight not Death Row, that underwrote a me- Thatlnterscope
iswidelyregarded
as
It had stayedin it. Longo deniesany morial servicefor Tupac in Atlanta in the most successful new label since
wrongdoing.!
Then,in December,the November. Geffen Records cannot be attributed
LosAngeles
Time:reported
thatSteve lnterscope has, in a way, been a solelyto its a iliationwith DeathRow.
Cantrock, Death Row saccountantand model of corporateresponsibility.In- Interscopehas hugelysuccessful rock
a principalin the L.A. of ceof Gelfand, deed,in a strictlycorporatesenseit has groups, including Nine Inch Nails,
Rennert 8c Feldman, a division ofCoo done more than was required.Tupac Bush,andtheWall owers,
andthepop
l
pets8:.Lybrand,hadsignedadocument wasnot o -iciallylnterscope artist,s
sayingthat he stolefour anda half mil- ter all. But Interscopeexecutives
af-
may
groupsNo DoubtandGod&#39;s
But it was Death
Property.
Row that rescued
i
lion dollars from Death Row. Cantrock feel a levelof responsibility
for hav- themfromtheirearlydoldrumsandthat
wassaidto havetold federalinvesuga ingpushed TupacintoSugearms.
And
s deliveredonemulti-platinumalbumaf-
tors that he had been invited to a San thereisalso
a compellingbusiness ratio- ter another.And the legacyof Death
FernandoValleyhousewhereKnight, nalefor Interseope pos- Rowto lnterscope
to do everything isa richone. Death I
Kenner, andothersweregathered, that sibleto quelltheskirmishing between Rowserved anamazing purpose
for In- 1
he had been forced to his knees and, Tupac&#39;s
estateandDeath Row.As one terscope, an entertainmentexecutive

é
ll03
fearingforhislife,signed thehandwrit- lawyercloseto the situationpointsout, told me. It helpedput themin the
ten confession that Kenner had drafted ifA.fenididn&#39;t
getwhatshewanted from black-musicbusiness.
on thespot. Knightsaysthatnoforce Death Row shewould surelysuenot what happens,
Today,no matter
they/Ba-ue
that.Peoplein
wasinvolved.Cantroclcdeniesstealing only DeathRowbut lnterscopeaswell, that communityfeelthat theygavea
l
themoney.!Canuock,who is in hiding, on the theorythat the companies were blackmanpower.Theygavea black
i hassince beenforcedoutbyhis rm.He socloselyrelatedasto haveshared ex- manautonomy. Theygavea blackman
hasalsobeenreportedto havebeenan posure.Beingsubjectto a legalpro- money.
intermediarybetweenKnight and al- cessof discoveryon this issuecould Iovineand Field did bet on Suge
legedorganized-crime gures;federal hardly havebeen an attractivepros- KnightandDrewhenothercompanies
havereportedlybeenexam- pect for lnterscope -particularly in
investigators would not. They havejustified what
iningpossible
linksbetween
DeathRow light of the ongoing criminal probe theydid byalludingto theFirstAmend-
and organized crime
familiesin New of Death Row. ment,andto their beliefin givinga
York andChicago.VVhenfederalgrand chaneeto blackartistsandentrepreneurs
jury subpoenas
weresentoutlastFebru- IFInterscopc
escapes
unscathed
inthefrom the street,But Death Row was no
ary,theyfocussed
notonlyonKnight&#39;s undo- enterprisezone.And anyonewho got
federalprobe,SugeKnight&#39;s
role but on Kennel- sas well. ing couldwell provea boon. Iointven- near
it couldhavepredicted
that there
In mid April, Afeni Shalcuraled turesareonlyassuccessas rltheopera- would be a price to pay for its cultiva-
suitagainstDeathRow, tors arefrugal, an executive
racketeering closeto tion of gangsterism in lyrics,in social
SugeKnight, andDavid Kermer,alleg- lnterscope points out, and at Death conduct, andperhaps in business prac-
ing that they were engagedin acon- Row the spendingwas obscene. If tices as well. .1
spiracy
tostealfromTupac.Thesuitin- they&#39;can
shift the DeathRowassets Tupac,of course,paid the heaviest
cluded a claim against Kenner for within Interscope, they&#39;ll
come out priceof all.
0 -- .