Released: October 18, 1995

Featuring: Sanyika Shakur

T: Sanyika, what's up?
S: 2Pac true playa. I got the message you was trying to send. But you know they had me on the Hannibal Lecter trip.
T: Yeah, I was wondering what happened, because they did that to me too when I was up in there.
S: Yeah, I heard.
T: Certain people I couldn't write to, like Mutulu they opened my whole letter to him.
S: Oh yeah, well you know I would get at Mutulu, I go ride long way, right?
T: Uh-huh
S: through this cat named Robin.
T: Uh-huh
S: or I get at Watani I go another way too, right.
T: But I'm scared to do that shit, I ain't wanna everybody else to get the letter, 'cause if this other cat wrote me, and said that you talked to him and it was cool and send it through him" but I was like shit.
S: Yeah, yeah.
T: how I know he said that.
S: Right, right.
T: Everybody know I'm trying to get at you.
S: And that was good shoutout you gave me, man in The Vibe, man.
T: Oh you know it's all good I'm trying to tell it to your face for the longest time.
S: I'm telling you. Ay, ay, you don't remember where we met at, huh?
T: Nah, Watani said it was up in L.A., right?
S: Straight it up, man.
T: I don't remember that shit.
S: It was me, you, it was [?] Dara we was kicking it in Mkumbu's pad.
T: I still don't remember that shit, you know I budded out though.
S: I know, homie
T: [?]
S: Hey you got my number here though?
T: Nah
S: You called me, remember?
T: But I got the number from Mo, he was with me, he dialed the number for me.
S: Okay, take this number down.
T: Okay.
S: 909
T: Mhm
S: 243
T: Mhm
S: 2889
T: 2889
S: Ey you know we started shooting the movie next month, right?
T: You do!?
S: I'm telling you, man, I want you to play me, man.
T: I wanna play you. They can't have nobody play you
S: Okay, dig this. Check this out
the producer— I mean director, right— is Antoine Fuqua a young brother. 28 years old from Baltimore, right. But he straight, straight up cat like us, right.
T: Mhm
S: And he's a good cat. We got hella pull with him, right.
T: Mhm
S: We didn't even did casting yet, man
T: Mhm
S: You know?
T: You gotta put me down.
S: I'm telling you, I had seen your shit, I just seen Juice.
T: Oh, you did? [*Pac laughs*]
S: 'Cause I was all locked up all them years.
T: Oh shit.
S: I just seen your shit, man.
T: Word!
S: Yep, Above the Rim who that last night
T: Yeah, when I was up in that jailhouse, I wrote one too, I suppose to be getting that shit together, what else you doing man?
S: Ay, man you won't believe I got some dope ass lyrics
T: Word?
S: I'm serious! I got this shit called "Level 5" that's bomb shit.
T: Word! [laughing] You got to come to the studio then.
S: I'm telling you, I got some shit.
T: So when are you going to come through?
S: When can I come through?
T: Anytime you want. I'm in the studio every day. I'm finishing my album. I'm doing double album this Christmas called All Eyez On Me. I got the song with Dre, I got the song with Roger, I got a song with George Clinton.
S: That shit is fat.
T: Faith, I got Sister Souljah coming, if you're coming then we can do the bomb shit
I'm telling you
S: Hey, check this out, check this out. I'm telling you that shit you shout, man "So Many Tearz"
T: Yeah.
S: Man, I burst out in tears when I heard that shit.
T: You liked that shit?
S: Man you shot that shit, I'm telling you, yesterday I was cleaning up the pad
T: Uh-huh
S: And I was me and my wife, right.
T: Mhm
S: And I'm cleaning up the pad, and Um "Lord Knows" was on, right.
T: Uh-huh
S: and at the last verse
T: Yeah
S: that shit hit me and froze me, man.
T: [?] man
S: Man, hey hey, homie, I love that shit outta you man, you shot that shit
T: [*2Pac laughs*] [?] partner
S: I'm telling you
T: You're my player. I was telling you it was this letter I was trying to send to you man when them dudes started diss this to me.
S: Man! Who was that man?
T: it was Dee fools from New York, this gang out there called "A Team". Dee fools was mad 'cause I told 'em I won't fuck with 'em no more.
S: You motherfuckers I was mad as hell about that.
T: So when they put the pistols out, I swear on everything I love. first thing I thought about was reading your book when you told 'em about how you felt when them niggas drew down.
S: Ain't that cold?
T: That's exactly how I felt, the set up, the shit you was talking about, how you just look up and nigga be like boom.
S: Like that.
T: Everything was just like that
S: And when I was reading about the shit happened to you I was like many shit stayed like parallel to me
T: It's exactly man
S: I'm telling you
T: Bug me out
S: Man I'm telling you we started shooting in December, man, and no later than January and propaganda is doing it, right.
T: Uh-huh, that's good.
S: propaganda doing it polygram. And when the shit is all ready, man. I'm telling you, I'ma plug you in, can't nobody do that shit but you might as well [?] Shakur thing.
T: Alright I'ma blow it up.
S: Shakur thang
T: Hey I represent it for you, all the New York, I got all those New York dudes who hate the West Coast.
S: Yeah
T: screamin' out yo' name
S: Hell with that shit
T: I was passin' your autobiography for niggas 'cause they didn't understand the West Side.
S: I'm telling ya, I seen you on BET one time. It was you and John Singleton, right?
T: Yeah
S: You ask John Singleton, you had the book "Do or Die", you be ready eat to live and Watani was there too.
T: Uh-huh, Yeah.
S: I been following yo bruh.
T: Yeah man nigga John Singleton is a coward though.
S: I also heard what you did to the Hughes Brothers.
T: Yeah
S: I read that article-- that interview Dream did with you.
T: Yeah, Hughes brothers is cowards too.
S: Yeah.
T: Man I've just been struggling out here looking for you man I need some help, man.
S: I'm telling you I'm here, brother. Whatever I can do, I'm telling you straight up. I'ma plug you in.
T: Got to man.
S: I'm telling you, man, I'm telling you 'Pac
T: And I want to get this organization started wit' you. Only we can do it, let me tell you the idea.
S: Alright.
T: It's like, we're like, we start like this youth league, right.
S: Right.
T: Football league, Basketball, football-- I mean basketball, football, softball for girls and boys.
S: Yeah.
T: I'ma get all the rappers to adopt a team.
S: Right.
T: Each rapper have his own team, Coolio have his team, Treach have his team, I have my team and we play, and the rappers the ones that put the money up. We get to field, we play, we have like the churches come out and sell food.
S: That's real.
T: We have the fathers and the uncles and all them and the community, they do security.
S: Right.
T: To get they respect back for the kids and everything then we have the Afroman come out we have the Deckens from the church, they do the security. And we just play football, baseball you know get back community spirit going again. Then on the weekend we have back parties.
S: Alright.
T: Every rapper gotta get up, every rapper, nigga if you gotta recognize you gotta get up for us, you gotta come to a free show for the hood.
S: That's real.
T: And it's like a little tour so we do that, then we get all the communities back together. And I'm talking to Al Sharpton about this, some other motherfuckers with some power. And then when we do that, we register to the voters, and if we can register for Democrats, Republican or independent. Once we register to the voters, we have power. Then we start going up to the mayors of these cities and telling them, "Look, we got this many voters in this city; we want you to do this we want a community center." We start hittin' up Nike for the free clothes and [?] stores for the free computers in each community center. And if they don't then shit that's how many people will have in those cities, we can regulate. Y'knaw mean?
S: Yah!
T: If we tellin' the mayor nigga if you don't do this then we ain't gon' do this.
S: Yeah.
T: We tellin' him we can clean up the streets, I'ma have all these tough ass supposed to be gangsta rappers.
S: Straight up.
T: We gon' all get in the [?], we gon' travel, L.A. gotta be the last place 'cause it gon' be the hardest but we can do the Jersey and all of that, we gon' drive to all these drug areas, right?
S: Yeah.
T: Imagine me, Redman, Treach, Ice Cube [?] havin' nigga for gettin' out, goin' out to whoever the main drug dealer on that block, who run shit you know, we get out of our man being "what's up nigga, hey y'all doing, what's up, ayo who the nigga that run shit" they gon' take us to that nigga. We invite those niggas to dinner, invite them niggas to some Dom Pérignon.
[*Sanyika laughs*]
T: And lobster, anjd be like look player we askin' you not tellin' you, we askin' you as a player to a player, can you please give us a path to have these street clean, from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Let that be for the kids, let them niggas be safe, doing no time, no gun shots, no drug dealings from 11 p.m. till 6 a.m. y'all can have the streets back, but let us get the streets from these times then we can get these [?] he said he can get to the the police to like chill out um no those nights times patrol, if niggas can get the streets clean from 6 to 11.
S: Hey but you know what else too though? Why talk to them face to face pin out some shit on you right, some other stuff too right.
T: Mhm
S: But yeah that's bad, man, and we all that right? And that's my top of work.
T: We need power man.
S: I'm telling you. Dig it, man. Hey I'm telling you, we got power now.
T: Yeah we need power, power is numbers it's like, these rappers man while we don't having, we got the juice we just say doing nuttin wit' it.
S: because it ain't collectivized say what, did you see the cats in Chicago I think they was GDs
T: Yeah.
S: Cause they havin' it put people in the streets.
T: I know they be lookin' out for me when I come out there.
S: And they be runnin' people on the picky like the council.
T: I know they got them-- this dude what's his name umm some nigga they just had out there but he lost.
S: gatory club gator
T: yeah he came close though.
S: Yeah, him and some good cats too man.
T: I went out there they be lookin' out for me, but they be gang like within one set they want me to be down with them and Black Stones want me to be with them, GDs be with them but. Yeah, I had a run-in with them in Milwaukee, 'cause when that little kid die Yummy Sandifer.
S: Yeah, I heard you sent a shoutout to him.
T: Yeah, I had to do a show that next day after they just killed that kid.
S: Yeah.
T: 'Cause you knew what happened right?
S: Yeah they executed him.
T: Right, they executed him and I was out there when I did the show the gang was in the fuckin' audience, the whole gang had like bought out the stadium
S: Damn!
T: So I'm rappin' to the niggas that just killed this little kid.
S: OHH
T: And they all screamin' out "Thug Life". I felt bad like what it is this, they got it twisted.
S: Yeah.
T: So I started cursin' them niggas out like "y'all niggas is cowards, y'all niggas is coward, y'all killed that kid, y'all niggas is punks man, I hate all of you"
[?]
S:[*Sanyika laughs*]
T: Them niggas started throwin' shit [?] in the stadium (Word!, Damn!)
T: It was tough man, the whole gang toured the whole neighborhood, but then I started gettin' letters from that area where all like the mothers, the girls was writin' me like "thank you for doing that , 'cause everybody scared of these niggas", see that's what I want to do.
S: That's right.
T: If these gang niggas ain't gon' get straight, then I wanna take 'em out the game
S: That's real
T: 'Cause if they don't, it's making trouble to us, youknamean?
S: 'Cause if you ain't part of the solution then you are part of the problem.
T: No doubt.
S: Where you gon' be when you tryna whack us anyway?
T: No doubt *Pac laughs*
S: Man, so shit, business as usual
T: That's how I feel
S: But just pull up force is good, man. You know I want all that 'Pac you know any time, anything I can do brother, you know, that's what I'm about; I've always been less the talker more the doer and um you know that's just my style, man.
T: Yeah, no doubt, you talked to Bone?
S: Yeah, in fact, me and Bone--
T: He finna do something too
S: Yeah, Bone is doing when they shoot the movie, Bone doing the documentary called "The Making of the Monster", right?
T: Oh yeah.
S: And he's also doing another documentary man.
T: About gangbanging.
S: Yeah about street organization that's all footages from the Panthers.
T: Man!
S: And um you know shit is fat man. How's moms doing?
T: She's doing good. We had a big ass show in Vegas
S: Did she?
T: We had a big ass show me and the Dogg cause I'm on Death Row now.
S: Yeah, next reservations.
T: Thanks.
S: You happy over there?
T: Yes, aight so far, let me tell you hold on second..
S: Aight.

...

T: Hello
S: Yeah
T: That was my lawyer and shit.
S: What's up with the case though?
T: shit is gone crazy I just.. damn hold on one second please.
S: Alright, alright.
....

T: Hello, yup. You know I had the police case.
S: Yeah. I heard they wanted you to compensate them.
T: They trying to sue me!
S: Word!
T: These fools shot at me!
S: And you defended yourself.
T: And they trying to sue me [2Pac laughing]. And white people is crazy, 'cause if it was anybody else they get that nigga a ticket to their parade
S: Straight up.
T: Unarmed man, two motherfuckers. I was fucked up. They suing me, I got this girl who lied about the rape shit.
S: You smoke weed right now?
T: huh?
S: You smoking weed right now.
T: Nah cigarette, I will be smoking some weed. My homeboy is in Colombia right now
S: Yeah.
T: But um the girl. See the girl that did this rape shit, she hooked up with the niggas that shot me.
S: Oh, is that right?
T: They all connected. It was a big plan, I just caught it like at the end. And that's why they shot me.
S: Man! Hey man, you gotta stay up man. When you step through that, that way you gotta be on point.
T: I ain't goin' through there no more, if I do, I'm going with hundred motherfuckers.
S: And I'll be one of them.
T: Yup, no doubt.
S: No dizoubt. We can't be having you not here you know what I'm saying
T: I know that's what they told me but you know what, you know what it was?
Here's my problem just like I'm telling you what she saying, I always 'cause I'm where my mom ama raised me the way I'm moving in, they fucked my head in a way, see like you, you could be movement oriented but you got the gang bang shit first in your mind.
S: Right, right
T: My shit the gang bang shit come second to me
S: Right, right
T: And now I'm trying to make it come first 'cause that movement shit will fuck you up. Movement shit got me loving every brother
S: Yeah! at that point you know I gotta get next to you [?]
T: Right, to me I'm there for you, nigga need money and job I'm wit' you, niggas come to me with guns on, niggas hugging me with TECs on, you know what I mean?
S: It just though. you know what the thing is man, we gotta be individuals too inside the movement and wherever we involved in right? We gotta be able to differentiate between cats that are firm and cats that's ain't firm, sometimes it take sometimes but test. We talk about friends that's mean, you know. I am who I am, I survived through what I survived through by being intelligent, by not allowing cats to outsmart me and putting me in precarious positions where I can get whacked, right?
Trying to choose my friends very very carefully and I over said there's layers and layers of friends, you see. Some I hold close to the body, man, like a vest and others hold at arm's distance, some just look at, some I don't even fuck with, but the circles is small but the ones that are in there I believe are trustworthy right. For instance, you and I. You and I have been probably through the same shit in our lives

T: No doubt.

S: You know what I'm saying? and we're like 10 years apart, almost. So it's like almost a common destiny. What you grew up then is where I came around too. You see what I'm saying? The banging shit was first with me and then the movement. Wit' you the movement was first and then the banging was came second.

T: Yes that's the ill shit.
S: I'm getting around to where you grew up at
T: And I'm getting around the way you grew up at.
S: You see so, so who else better, you see, who can get along like you and I?

T: No doubt.

S: Watching else's back
T: No doubt

S: 'Cause you want it, I want it, but together you know I mean. Man you got the courage of the godfather
when the shit-- what happened when [?] wrote that piece [?] dealing with the pigs right, I was like that was my boy man

T: No doubt! You see that's another problem I'm helping another nigga, nigga I don't even know, nigga in the middle of the streets, he run off and don't even help me.

S: Yeah, that fucked up man!

T: These niggas that shot me like wanna see that when a white trash put a gun on me I can prepared. You know what I mean? I can react. When a nigga pull a gun on me I'm like "froze up" I'm like "oh shit a nigga gon kill me?"

S: You know what we should do, Pac? I'm telling you, me and you should sit down, right, and we should do a book on you, man.

T: Yeah? How you gon' do that?

S: You know what I'm talking about, I'm talking about, a straight up autobiography or something like that based on your life like Malcolm X [?] out with Alex Haley. I'm telling you, man. 'Cause the shit that you been through and I been through, just like my book man, I had to document that shit

T: Hey, your book is I swear on everything homie, I'm not just saying this shit, your shit is a classic, yo when I was up in that jailhouse nigga who hated west side they don't like nothing, they loving you. I had those motherfuckers speechless, they was reading, niggas that can't read was reading your shit in one day, nobody can put that shit down.

S: but yours just as explosive and I'm telling you, brother, I guarantee you before even get through it as a book Hollywood will be on our jock

T: They already want me to be something, poppin' hoes in the back 'cause I can't get the right one, I asked like Maya Angelou to help me write autobiography, she was like "okay"

S: You know what you need, somebody to write it from our level to kick the slang and the shit right. Maya Angelou might put some perfect English in that motherfucker.

T: And then it ain't come out right.
S: you and I we gon' kick the language we kick.
T: figures like I be your shit
S: I'm telling you.
T: But you know where you gotta pull me into?
S: What?
T: Overstand.
S: I'm telling you.
T: Pull me here into overstand man
S: dig it, this is the thing.

T: lil do it one time and I ain't [?]

S: okay dig it. The word "understand" is to play on one's person, right for instance, understand, to stand under, to be below, to be demeaned, and so. When you're under anything it's hard for you to get a whole view to of what's going on above-ground. So when you're under you have a disadvantage. So especially when you're standing on someone or under anything you can't comprehend it, you can't feel it, you can't vibe wit' it. So I created the word "over-stand" to get up over that shit, to get a vantage point, even looking down on some shit, you see what I'm sayin'. Like a helicopter got a vantage point over us when we have to get in the streets and break. They can see us better than a pig at our level

T: So like that!

S: The helicopter has an overstanding on us to great degree, you see what I'm saying, we have to do, words control people man I'm telling you. When you think.. when you speak positive, you think positive. So all the time I be trying to overstand shit, get a full comprehension

T: that's right!

S: you feel me? Yeah, that's where I came from, that concept came..

T: That's right. Had you on that shit man

S: They made me like pops, they made me like pops

[Tupac's laughs]

S: I'm telling you me and pops was like, 'cause when I had Mutulu million right, we were getting our court spot on, and he sending me the thugs code, of course I endorsed it right. Then, next thing I know, I got a clipping [prisoners of war] so we had to do whole another trip with the mayor, alright. And then I heard [?] has drowned.

T: Yeah he aight now.

S: [?] He's respiratory

T: I'm in jail too they telling me that shit. But shit that's fucked up was like me and him used to talk all the time. When I first came to LA he was like my eyes and ears I told him everything. [?] that they he was like we was talking every day and they just killed that shit. I haven't talked to him in like a year. More than that

S: But still they know you got legacy movement problems with the pigs, they stand to see you brother 'cause end up in the bloodline

T: You ain't lying. [?] calling me hold up one more time
...

T: Hello

S: Yeah

T: But, man [?] shit that I couldn't even read your shit like how you been saying when hit the nigga in nuts and all that shit

S: Yeah

T: you ain't lying, I get up these motherfuckers calling me nigger, and I'm buggin out, I never had white people calling me nigger and nothing happened. And [?] you get 7 years if you touched the police no matter what, 7 years no matter what, 'cause I was in maximum security in Dannemora then they had me in a special program like a federal program they got called APPU - Advance Placement something something something - where all like notorious motherfuckers. I'm hopping in there niggas with 80­. Damn, one more time...

S: Alright

T: Hello. I'm up in there with niggas with 80 years and 60 years and I'm doing one and a half to four and a half. And I'm knowing my life in danger. These niggas ain't never getting out.

S: Yeah I've seen moms on [?] she was [?] that right? That she had you in a maximum security prison.

T: Yup! locked down 23 hours a day

S: that's how you had me

T: Before I even broke the rules

S: And that's heavy. And you didn't even get an opportunity to break one.

T: And he was like for my own protection 'cause I wouldn't find it [?] but they got mad right, cause they was telling me that you goin to die in here and you gon die in here, I said why am just have to die here, I'm not starting no PC. He like they put you in IPC-- that's Involuntary Protective Custody.

S: right right

T: so I'm fighting I'm getting lawyers to fight me to get out of there to get me in population, cause they put me in population the first day I got there, right.

S: Was it true?

T: Hell yeah! Even though I'm on the other side I'm with all enemies. These niggas hating 'cause I'm banging on east coast, screaming, "West side, west side" any team everything. So when I get there
the pigs they ain't get me no toilet sheets, you know you come there you get that cock shit, it was bloody cot, no nothing
he left me in population for like two hours, in two hours I had everything I needed, niggas gave me two stakes, two
niggas bringing knives, weed, heroin, cocaine everything I wanted, I was like "nah I'm cool homie I don't need that" I gave the niggas their bangers back, I didn't want no bangers, they want to stab me up for nothing, it was three murders while I was there

S: Damn [?]

T: they got the highest level of murders in New Work state. You can get murdered man, niggas with the same pow line know what's happen

S: Dannemora huh?
T: yep they crazy up there
S: it was proper
T: they crazy up there, riot
S: They been hooking you up on the video
T: Yeah no doubt I wanted to keep my face out there
S: you shot that shit

T: we finna gon shoot another video me and Dre finna do the shit called California love with Roger

S: oh okay
T: it's gon be the bomb mayne, peep it up for California mayne
S: I be glad to see you back out there

T: I got to take it all back, I won't be happy till I do it, they gotta be sorry for what they did.

S: I'm telling you, hey I'm wit you man

T: got to

S: Check this out I wanna come down and chill wit you

T: come on man what's sup. I be having Operations From the Bottom

S: yup

T: they be in there with me kicking it

S: yeah I like them I give shoutout for them
but I'm telling you some lyrics man

T: Come on you come with some lyrics you can spit on any song I got

S: I got some shit I'm telling you

T: I'm in the studio today I'm in the studio every day
S: Okay, what about Friday
T: friday I be there, that's when Sista Soulja coming through
S: Okay I'ma call you, what time you free to be going?
T: One o'clock
S: I'ma call you man
T: alright, I be there man
S: I love you man
T: One love
S: Watch yourself brother
T: no doubt
S: I hate to come [?] and tear shit for you
T: nah nah
S: I'm telling [?]
T: aight man *laughs* contact me man
S: I will
T: Alright

2Pac

Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an actor and a highly influential rapper who is considered by many to be the greatest of all-time due to the revolutionary spirit and thug passion he mixed into his music. During his music career, he made appearances in movies such as his acclaimed debut in Juice (1992), Poetic Justice (1993), and Above the Rim (1994).

Born in Harlem, New York City to Black Panther Party members Billy Garland and Afeni Shakur, Tupac would later move to Baltimore before settling in the Bay Area cities of Oakland and Marin City in the late 1980s. There, he joined his first rap group Strictly Dope with Ray Luv before connecting with Shock G and Digital Underground. He was a roadie and backup dancer for the group before his breakthrough performance on their 1991 song “Same Song.”

2Pac released his debut album 2Pacalypse Now in 1991, which featured intense storytelling on singles such as “Trapped” and “Brenda’s Got a Baby.” His sophomore album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z featured one of his signature songs, the Digital Underground-assisted “I Get Around.” After working on the Thug Life group album in 1994, 2Pac released Me Against the World the following year, which is considered by many to be his best album, peaking at #1 on the Billboard 200 and receiving a Grammy nomination—all while he sat in prison.