Tupac originally considered signing to Bad Boy Records, says brother
Mopreme Shakur has said that Tupac “considered” signing to Bad Boy Records before his deal with the infamous Death Row Records.
The beef between Tupac and Notorious B.I.G. is one of the most infamous conflicts in rap history. This week, Mopreme revealed that the rivals were nearly labelmates, telling The Art Of Dialogue that, before Tupac signed to Death Row, he was “considering” joining Diddy’s iconic label.
He said: “There was a point ‘Pac was considering going to Bad Boy before his relationship with Death Row. He wanted to be on a Black label. He wanted to be with his people. He wanted to be with the brothers. He supported Black business.
“There was a period where we were all cool. Over time, things happened and ‘Pac started seeing things. Biggie was on Puffy’s label so with them two, it was Puffy calling the shots. There were some legitimate problems there.”
Tupac negotiated his deal with Suge Knight, the founder of Death Row Records, from jail before signing it upon his release in 1995.
Elsewhere in the video, Mopreme revealed that Diddy called him to deny his involvement in his brother’s death. “Puffy called me back in the day,” he recalled. “He called me and he was like, ‘I just want you to know [that] I ain’t had nothing to do with your brother’s [death].”
Mopreme said it was in “the early 2000s” when “The LA Times dropped an article in the newspaper implicating him as well.” He said it was “quite feasible that [Diddy] put up money to get ‘Pac killed. On top of it, he had his own problems with Suge [Knight].”
2Pac’s brother Mopreme Shakur says Diddy contacted him to deny involvement in 2Pac's murder.
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: The Art Of Dialogue / YouTube) pic.twitter.com/Wli5rQlu4A
— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) October 17, 2023
Tupac was hit in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996, before passing away six days later on September 13.
Last month, Duave “Keefe D” Davis was arrested and charged in connection to the shooting. The police believe that Davis’ nephew, Orlando Anderson, was the shooter and that he allegedly obtained the gun used “for the purpose of seeking retribution against Tupac”.
Mopreme also commented on the arrest, saying that it took 27 years to charge Davis because “Pac was a young black male and we have challenges in this country when it comes to equal justice”.
- READ MORE: Tupac and Biggie murders: what my new film taught me about rap’s biggest unsolved mystery
Suge Knight was also in the car when Tupac was shot. Earlier this month, he said that he wouldn’t testify for anyone in the Tupac murder trial. He also confirmed that Anderson was not the person who shot Tupac.
Knight is currently serving a 28-year prison sentence after he killed someone in a hit-and-run in 2015.
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