I failed to protect him from that.
[reporter] We begin with the man whose music
is as controversial as he is.
It would seem that his middle name is "trouble."
But in fact, he was never arrested
until he got famous.
Tupac Shakur,
who just turned 24 years old,
has grown up in front of our eyes,
making him seem like the king of contradiction.
He has spent the last eight months
in a maximum security prison.
[Garland] I wasn't in his life for 15 years,
but Tupac wanted to see me again,
so I made that trip up to Dannemora.
Four and a half hours.
Last stop you see is Montreal, 55 miles.
They put you up there
purposely to keep you away from family and friends.
Oh, shit. That was no place for a human being.
Soon as you pull up,
all you see is a 60-foot old castle wall,
like it's been there for years.
[Blood] Yeah, it was a fuckin' dungeon. People talk about Attica.
Dannemora is the one.
That shit would take the starch out of your ass.
[Dante] Very violent. He was there with stone-cold killers.
Once he came out to the visitation room...
[whoops] "Inmates, get up! Leave! Let's go."
They talked to 'em like shit. Like, "Pac, what's going on?"
"Man, somebody got stabbed in the bathroom."
Talk again. [whoops] "Get the fuck up!
Let's go." "Somebody got stabbed in the kitchen."
[whoops] Seemed like every five minutes,
somebody was getting stabbed.
So we'd try to keep his spirit up.
[voices clamoring]
♪ I'm just a young Black male Cursed since my birth ♪
♪ Had to turn To crack sales ♪
♪ If worse come to worse Headed for them packed jails ♪
♪ Or maybe it's a hearse My only way to stack mail... ♪
[E.D.I.] Tupac has the distinction of being the only pop star
with a number one album incarcerated.
All his vocals was done for Me Against the World
before he was in prison.
But it wasn't an album yet,
so he would call me every day
while we was in the studio
and make me put the phone up
while they was playing the records.
"Tell 'em to turn the guitar down."
So, he actually put it together
when he was already incarcerated.
I think I dig real deep with this album.
From "Dear Mama" to "Shed So Many Tears,"
I tell my own personal problems.
[Atron] "Dear Mama" shot the album to number one.
But how can you feel like you're having success
as an artist when you're locked up?
I don't think, really, the album
did as good as it could have been doing
'cause I ain't gettin' no awards.
And then there was talk about him
having trouble in prison.
[Tupac] First, me and the guards had problems.
I got smacked because
I used to talk a lot of shit.
[Billy] He said that the guards would threaten him.
"Who does this nigga think he is?"
[Watani] Clearly didn't want to be there.
He felt that he was a victim,
and he, to some extent, contributed that
to being a product of the movement.
In other words, he was treated differently
because he was Tupac Shakur.
But he was protected in prison.
Nobody was going to touch him. Because we had people inside.
[Atron] During that time period, we started an appeal package.
When the appeal was granted, bail was already in place.
[Watani] We had individuals that was gonna put money up to get him out.
But sometimes in a father-son
or uncle-nephew relationship, you have this pushback.
So, I think that was what was going on with Pac and myself.
[E.D.I.] He had a lot of resentment built up over the years to the point where
he might have been like, "Y'all had y'all turn to do it.
It's my turn. Let me do it my way."
He wants his own thing, but when he came home,
it was going to be all positive.
He was going to stop smoking weed, was clear,
ready to turn over a new leaf.
We just got to be smarter and sharper,
or they gonna start taking away
each and every person that steps forward
to do anything positive for the community.
So, that's why you be wondering why
everybody want to live a negative lifestyle.
It's safer. And the community don't support us
when we do step out
and take bullets for y'all.
[man] So, can we look forward to some very positive things
from Tupac Shakur in the future?
Oh, no doubt. You can look forward to me
doing movies, writing movies, starring in movies.
Soon, I want to direct them.
You can look forward to me doing records.
Got a community project that's in the works right now.
I just met with Al Sharpton,
Malikah Shabazz, Malcolm X's daughter,
a whole bunch of teachers
and educators and community workers.
And we're just going to start slowly but surely
taking our communities back.
He was gonna dedicate himself to building a better society,
all that kind of stuff,
and then come Suge.
[reporter] At the age of only 30,
and with a lengthy criminal record,
Suge Knight has managed to become the head
of a hundred-million-dollar record company
and one of the most powerful
and feared men in the American music industry.
[Berman] Suge Knight and Dre were the partners
of Death Row.
The Chronic. Bam! You know?
And then Snoop Dogg, Doggystyle.
Bam.
Suge was singularly focused...
[telephone rings]
...on taking over the rap game.
He wanted to dominate it.
[Snoop Dogg] At Death Row,
we needed Tupac like he needed us.
So I made a call to Suge...
This is a piece that's missing from the equation.
Is there anything you can do to put him with us?
[Watani] So Suge and Kenner come out to Clinton prison.
[Suge] When I went to go visit Pac, you know, he was telling me
that he didn't have no money on his book.
His mother didn't have a place.
He wanted to get out.
And I was like,
"There's probably a 98% chance I get you out.
The first thing you gotta do is shape it up,
pull yourself together and be ready to ride.
Far as your moms, instead of getting her an apartment,
I'll buy her a house."
And Pac was like,
"You believe in me, I believe in you."
Let's do it, we don't need nobody.
No doubt.
[Watani] He believed that there was elements on the East Coast
that was out to get him.
They shot me.
So, he felt West Coast was coming to save him.
But let's be clear.
Death Row was funded through Interscope,
so Death Row didn't get him out.
It was Pac's publishing money, so we didn't need any of that.
[Atron] Tupac needed to stay on the straight and narrow.
So, I said, I don't think Death Row was a good idea.
But when Kenner and Suge came out,
Tupac had signed this piece of paper.
[Allen] And what we know now was
he had a three-album commitment.
[Watani] With three albums, he figured he was done.
That was what he was telling me.
[Tupac] I just signed to Death Row Records.
And we finna come out pretty tight.
- Did you sign with them? - No question. Signed with Death Row.
[buzzer sounds]
[Watani] That was when we broke professionally.
It's like, "Man, what are you doing?" You know?
So, none of the team rode with him.
[Mike Tyson] I just gotta be honest,
I thought it was good that he signed
with those guys at the time.
No other-- no other record company
would've gave him that power boost.
♪
[Tupac] I feel like this jail time was like a coma.
Except I got to think.
I got to watch the world move around me...
without being a part of it.
♪
And I got to see how I took a lot of things for granted.
And so I said, "When I come out...
I'm definitely gonna enjoy life more.
And I'm going to try to live it to the fullest."
And that is just to get everything I want.
♪
Make a goal, accomplish it,
make another one, accomplish it.
And keep going higher and higher.
♪
I learned my lesson.
If we can just be even from here, I'm cool.
I'm only 24.
You know, the world is just beginning.
Let's start part two of Tupac's life.
♪ California Love ♪
♪
♪ California Knows how to party ♪
♪ In the city of L. A. ♪
♪ In the city of Good old Watts ♪
♪ In the city City of Compton ♪
♪ We keepin' it rockin' ♪
♪ We keepin' rockin' ♪
♪ Now let me Welcome everybody To the Wild, Wild West ♪
♪ A state that's untouchable Like Eliot Ness ♪
♪ The track hits your eardrum Like a slug to your chest ♪
♪ Pack a vest for your Jimmy In the city of sex ♪
♪ We in that Sunshine State Where the bomb-ass hemp be ♪
♪ The state where you never Find a dance floor empty ♪
♪ And pimps be on a mission For them greens ♪
♪ Lean mean money- Making machines ♪
♪ Servin' fiends ♪
[Dre] When Tupac gets out of jail,
he came right to the studio.
And he's like, "Man, I've been trying to get
a motherfucking Dre beat forever.
I had to stop and go, "Dre, you do not know how long
I waited to get in this booth."
[Dre] I put this track on.
He starts writing.
After the 20, 30 minutes,
he says, "I got the verse."
He's like, "Turn the fucking mic on, man."
California Love.
♪ Out on bail fresh out of jail California dreaming ♪
♪ Soon as I step on the scene I'm hearing hoochies screaming
♪ Fiending for money and alcohol ♪
♪ The life of A Westside player ♪
♪ Where cowards die and the strong ball ♪
[Snoop] Tupac gave us a new burst of energy
to turn it up another level.
He was with the best producer,
dopest rappers that moved like he moved,
that felt like he felt-- Death Row Records.
[indistinct]
♪ Only in Cali where we riot Not rally, to live and die ♪
- ♪ In L. A. we wearin' Chucks not Ballys ♪ - ♪ Yeah, that's right on ♪
♪ Dressed in Locs and khaki Suits and ride is what we do ♪
♪ Flossin' but have caution We collide with other crews ♪
♪ Famous because We throw grams worldwide ♪
♪ Let 'em recognize from Long Beach to Rosecrans ♪
♪ Bumpin' and grindin' like A slow jam, it's Westside ♪
♪ So you know the row Won't bow down to no man ♪
♪ Say what you say, but give me That bomb beat from Dre ♪
♪ Let me serenade The streets of L. A. ♪
♪ From Oakland to Sactown ♪
♪ The Bay Area and back down ♪
♪ Cali is where they put They mack down... ♪
If you come to Death Row,
you will see your art brought to a bigger plateau,
and you will be paid
one of these days, Death Row. Come on.
Let's count with me. Come on, y'all.
Next year, Death Row gonna start
printing our own money
'cause we makin' so much,
we need to start printing our own money.
[Snoop] He was happy, excited.
He had money, and he was free.
But sometimes the progression is a digression
because the environment was bad for him.
♪ ...an earthquake on the Richter scale ♪
[tape switches off, music stops]
[Allen] Glo, I just want you to describe the feeling
you had because all these years, you and your sister,
from Virginia to North Carolina,
to the poverty in New York...
Finally, this is the American dream
you guys are getting ready to realize.
What is that feeling?
I can only tell you... happy.
Afeni and Tupac were getting along again,
trying to live a different life.
It was an adventure.
At any event I could be at, I was at.
And Suge put on this Mother's Day event every year.
[Allen] You were at this event?
[Glo] Yes, 'cause look at me,
I am the first and original
number one main groupie to Pac.
[host] Good afternoon,
and on behalf of Suge Knight
and Death Row Records,
Happy Mother's Day to everyone.
[Suge] Death Row is like an artist label.
And where the artist start from, they start from the mothers.
This is our way of giving something back.
[Glo] The other mothers were there too.
And Tupac would perform "Dear Mama."
And he wanted this to be for all the mothers.
[man] Tupac!
[cheering]
Hey, before we go into the song...
I know everybody love their mama.
But I want to talk about something else first.
I want to talk about the people that don't have
they mama no more.
We've got to get back to that old-school shit
where we all care for everybody,
and all of us raise all these kids
'cause we all out of hand.
So, last year about this time,
I was sitting in a maximum security penitentiary.
I couldn't sing this song for my mama,
but I'mma do it today for all y'all and all y'all moms.
[Glo] For me, it was the wow effect.
- He's the baby... - ♪ Dear Mama ♪
...that you knew from birth,
and you're looking at him now. And wow!
♪ When I was young Me and my mama had beef ♪
♪ Seventeen years old Kicked out on the streets ♪
♪ Though back at the time I never thought ♪
♪ I'd see her face Ain't a woman alive ♪
♪ That could take My mama's place ♪
♪ Suspended from school And scared to go home ♪
♪ I was a fool with the big Boys breakin' all the rules ♪
♪ I shed tears With my baby sister ♪
♪ Over the years We was poorer ♪
♪ Than the other little kids... ♪
[Glo] I loved it. Tupac was living his dream,
and wanted us to be part of that dream.
So, the other time I got to see him perform,
he had sent for us, we came to Vegas.
And he was playing at The 662 Club.
Suge's club.
And this boy's on stage tearing it up.
And I am too.
I'm doing the old school two-step.
I'm moving with it, moving with it.
I'm doing a whole lot of that, right?
And somebody comes and tap me
and say, "Tupac said for you to sit down."
- [record scratch] - What?!
"He say you throwing up gang signs."
Gang signs?! What is he talking about?
♪ Picture me rollin' in My 500 Benz ♪
♪ I got no love for These niggas ♪
♪ There's no need To be friends ♪
♪ They got me Under surveillance ♪
♪ That's what Somebody be tellin' me ♪
♪ Known as don't be insulted ♪
♪ But I ain't the one tellin' ♪
So, now I'm scared of all things Suge.
But with Tupac, I didn't see it like danger
and all of that, I just saw it as just the persona. There's only music.
♪ Mama, I'm still thuggin' The world is a war zone ♪
♪ My homies is inmates, And most of them dead grown ♪
[Dre] You know, it's really difficult
to give me fucking goosebumps in the studio.
Usually, artists, they come out of the mic booth,
and then they come out and hear it on the big speakers.
Tupac was different.
♪ Flossin' a Benz on rims That isn't stolen ♪
♪ My dreams is censored My hopes are gone ♪
♪ I'm like a fiend That finally sees ♪
♪ When all the dope is gone ♪
♪ My nerves is wrecked Heart beatin' ♪
♪ And my hands Is swollen ♪
♪ Thinking of the Gs I'll be holdin' ♪
[Dre] He would stay in the mic booth.
Like, "Man, put up another beat!"
He was writing, writing, writing, writing
till it's all the way done.
That's the difference between a regular writer
and somebody that's just writing with the passion
of, "I want you to feel the way I feel,
and I can't give you that feeling until I get it."
He didn't try to polish his shit up.
That's what made Tupac the greatest.
He liked his shit raw.
♪ Just picture me rollin' ♪
[Dre] It was one of my favorite
experiences as a producer.
But to be honest, Allen, I-- I really try to forget
a lot of those moments because...
that was like the height of Death Row.
And it was just like a bunch of gangbang shit going on
and what have you.
And you'd have to muscle through
a bunch of bullshit just to get to the studio to record.
So, the bottom line is I'm a fan of Tupac,
and we worked on a few songs.
A couple of them came out.
But I was thinking about leaving Death Row
for a long time before that.
I understand that we had this East Coast rivalry going on.
For me, it started out as a friendly competition.
[Snoop] The media was pushing the East Coast/West Coast.
But what y'all don't know is, we was really showing love.
[Tupac] There is no fear. There is no problem.
There ain't nothing but opportunity.
[Snoop] We rappers. This is what we do.
We're competitive-driven.
[Tupac] America has shown us over and over again
what ambition is
and what forms ambition should be shown,
and how ambition can take you to the top.
All we doing is putting a mirror up and showing you that,
"Yes, we saw it, and, yes, we're doing it."
[Snoop] I remember the first couple of weeks,
he used to ride in the back of my Rolls-Royce.
And Suge was like, "This nigga with us now."
I might as well see my little brother 'cause...
[Snoop] He gets everything.
[Suge] ...I get a Benz, he get a Benz.
[Snoop] Three weeks later, he had a Rolls-Royce.
[Suge] I get a Rolls, he get a Rolls.
[Dre] For most of Pac's career,
he didn't feel like anybody had his back.
Pac also grew up
without a consistent, strong male figure,
so Suge represented a big brother role.
[Watani] This guy got him out of jail, making his dream come true.
Then we almost drowned together at Cabo.
That's a different story.
[Dre] Pac wasn't that great of a swimmer.
Almost drowned.
And Suge jumped in the water to save his life.
One of the reasons why I always have Pac' back
is 'cause he always have my back.
That was my little brother.
[Shock G] If Suge says it, that's the new way it is.
[Suge] And I know one thing.
Pac love Death Row.
And Death Row love Pac.
First one of the ads that's happening for the single.
[Suge] So, all eyes is on him.
[Shock G] All Eyez On Me was Tupac showing that respect,
being a man and making the best record for the West Coast
that he could, and that's what Suge stood for,
so that's what Pac did.
- [Tupac laughs] - [Shock G] But listen to him laugh.
- [Tupac] Death Row. - Death Row. [laughs]
He's not laughing.
- You could hear it. Forced laughter. - [Tupac laughs]
[Mike Tyson] He was creating a record that Suge wanted.
It's tight, man.
[Dre] If anybody knows Tupac,
he's like a comedian, joke after joke.
He wasn't none of that.
He was serious, focused,
and his temper was short.
[Watani] All of those records, all he's talking about is the pain.
[interviewer] Do your mother's feelings ever get hurt
when you talk about how painful
- and sad you were as a kid? - [Tupac] Yes.
- Yes, she's always-- - That must be hard for her to hear.
She's always like that. I always used to feel like
she cared more about "the" people
than "her" people.
But I love her for that.
That's how I am.
But because of my mother, I'm a chainsmoker.
[both laugh]
[Gobi] This dude at 25 had accomplished more
than most in their lifetime.
And look, without being sacrilegious,
where the fuck was Jesus when he was 25?
[Allen laughs]
[Gobi] What would Pac have been
if they had allowed him
to live to 33?
I was a fly on the wall, a wannabe filmmaker,
shooting a living documentary on you.
So, the first thing I noticed
was that this motherfucker was on a inexplicable schedule.
He packed his days in
with as much creativity as possible.
And we're on the set
for the video How Do U Want It.
First thing, Pac tells all the men
to take their tops off.
"These girls are all naked.
You motherfuckers need to take at least your top off."
I was like, "This guy's dope as fuck."
He's like, equal opportunity
with the porn stars and the strippers, right?
♪ No matter where I go ♪
♪ I see the same hoes ♪
Uh, anyway, we shoot the video,
and then the guy that was supposed to direct
2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted
calls up two days before the shoot,
and he says, "I'm not doing it."
"What are you talking about?"
He's like, "I'm not sharing
co-director credit with Tupac."
Pac just looked at me,
and he said, "Let the motherfucker do it."
So, that became my official first directing credit,
2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted. Right there on the spot.
It was like he saw something special in me
that no one else had ever seen before.
[Snoop] That's what it was with him.
He loved giving love,
and putting spotlights on other people
and letting other motherfuckers shine.
Look how many opportunities he gave
to Thug Life and the Outlawz.
And he was teaching me how to give structure
with my homies because there was
so much gangster shit instilled in us,
I didn't know I was great.
[reporter] Tupac Shakur reminds that the rappers
have sold millions of records.
If we can represent that many votes,
we got to let these politicians be scared of us.
[Snoop] He was training me to be more of a speaking vessel
for the people coming behind us.
This rap thing is a blessing in disguise, believe me.
You got more gang members doing rap than doing killing,
so let's keep the rap thing going
and keep the vote thing going.
I'm preaching right now.
I'm preaching.
[cheering]
He was putting shit on my head
that I needed to get me on the path
because I was fighting a murder case.
How much gangster shit can I do?
[reporter] It happened in this Los Angeles park.
Snoop's bodyguard shot and killed
24-year-old Philip Woldemariam.
Snoop's attorney claims self-defense
and says the DA has an agenda.
That terrible music is gonna get out into the public.
That's why he's prosecuting this man.
[Snoop] So, I'm fighting for my life, thinking,
"How am I going to be different?"
And Tupac was there with me going to court.
Today is "We Love Snoop Day."
Because he fighting for his life
when y'all know he didn't do it.
But he got to go through all this,
make all his mama's hair gray for this.
How do you feel, having been on the other side
of situations like this?
I'm going to the studio to make Bob Dole mad.
I'm finna make you real mad
for what y'all doin' to my homeboy,
you and Delores Tucker.
[Snoop] Tupac understood the frustration of being locked up
and wrongfully accused.
So we got real close,
and our relationship was based off aspirations
as far as what we're gonna be.
Like, "You gonna win this case."
Nigga, we two of America's most wanted. Nigga, we great."
[judge] Calvin Broadus, not guilty of the crime of murder in the first degree.
[Snoop] And when I actually won the case, we celebrated.
[Dan Rather] A jury in Los Angeles
found the 24-year-old rapper
and his bodyguard
not guilty in the fatal shooting
of a gang member.
Snoop Doggy Dogg, whose real name is...
[cork pops]
[Snoop] Say, man, some of the greatest shit ever written
came out of pain.
We learned to bring that pain
that we were given into a better picture.
[reporter] In the fatal shooting of a gang member...
[Snoop] He wasn't brought up in a regular household,
so definitely his art
is gonna give you...
pictures that the average artist can't paint.
♪ Picture perfect I paint a perfect picture ♪
♪ Bomb the hoochies With precision ♪
♪ My intention's To get richer ♪
♪ With the S-N Double-O-P, Dogg ♪
♪ My fuckin' homie, You's a Cold-ass nigga on them hogs ♪
♪ Sure nuff, I keep my hand On my gun ♪
♪ 'Cause they got me On the run ♪
♪ Now I'm back in the courtroom Waitin' on the outcome ♪
♪ "Free Tupac" is all That's on a niggaz mind ♪
♪ But at the same time ♪
♪ It seems they Tryin' to take mine ♪
♪ So I'mma get smart And get defensive and shit ♪
♪ And put together A million march ♪
♪ For some gangsta shit ♪
[Mike Wallace] In New York, a jury acquitted 13 Black Panthers
accused of conspiring to bomb buildings
and kill policemen.
[man] It's a beautiful victory.
[Glo] We were acquitted
one month and three days before Tupac was born.
It was a joyous time because Tupac was carried
under the worst conditions,
and then, lo and behold, here comes this
healthy, smiling, beautiful baby.
[Afeni] He loved life. It was like, "I'm here."
But it's just that my life had been by now so devastated,
I really didn't know how to get it back on track.
[Jamal] Colonial warfare, mental disorder.
The acquittal of the Panther 21 was a true highlight
before a fall into struggle, depression, disorientation.
We, as a movement, were dealing with
post-traumatic stress syndrome
because the whole army had been decimated.
And none of us thought we would wind up broke,
paranoid, and depressed.
[Garland] Oppression brings about addictions,
so a lot of people in the movement
become addicted to certain substances.
[Jamal] So people started drinking, and I'm smoking whatever
anybody passed me, and my mission was to be numb.
But somehow, Afeni on her worst days
was better than a lot of people are on their best days.
[Billy] She was an icon,
the face of strong women in our movement.
But she was trying to move on with life.
[Glo] When Tupac was small,
Afeni worked for the Bronx Legal Services.
And she had a friend there,
an actress and a singer, Ebony Jo-Ann.
- She was awesome, right? - Yeah.
Afeni's job was to stop illegal evictions.
Afeni was a warrior.
She was also trying to get the government onboard
with acupuncture, with Mutulu Shakur.
[Glo] Afeni and Mutulu became a couple.
I liked Mutulu.
A family guy, loved the children.
They had a daughter, Sekyiwa.
I have fond memories of Mutulu.
[Lesane] Mutulu bought a brownstone in Strivers' Row,
a very nice area where Black doctors
and lawyers lived.
And he turned it into a clinic.
[Jamal] Mutulu and Afeni also formed the National Task Force
for COINTELPRO Litigation and Research,
with emphasis around Geronimo Pratt.
[reporter] Serving life for murder,
and now there are growing indications
Geronimo Pratt has spent 23 years in prison
for something he didn't do.
[Lesane] We kept hearing about Geronimo.
He was falsely imprisoned in California.
[Glo] So, that's what she was doing
when she would go to California.
She was working on Geronimo's case,
one of Tupac's godfathers.
[reporter] Isn't it true that Geronimo Pratt wired a shotgun to the head
of a California State judge and blew it off?
No. No. You sound like the COINTELPRO.
- [woman] Like? - The COINTELPRO.
COINTELPRO makes us paranoid.
Do you know if he's ever killed anybody?
- [reporter] Yes, I do. - How do you know?
Were you a witness to a killing that he committed?
[reporter] I'll ask the questions.
I know, but that's my godfather,
and that's disrespectful
for you to speak of my godfather that way.
And I will not allow that unless you have proof
- or you are witness. - [reporter] I'll ask--
If you have neither, then you can't do that.
Because I would never do that to your family members.
- [reporter] I'm just asking a question. - I understand,
but you cannot disrespect my family.
- [reporter] Okay. - Okay?
[Watani] He couldn't run from who he was.
He was a child that was born in the movement.
They targeted him as a result of that.
[Afeni] It wasn't that the police was looking for me.
Please understand that.
It's just that I lost my job
because the pressure from the police,
it was just really hard for me.
And sometimes when my children went to school,
they were followed by the FBI
and police officers who would corner them,
then ask them about people that they might have known.
Those were experiences that I wish
that I had not had my children exposed to.
[Lesane] We were all traumatized.
First pistol I ever saw was in Feni's room.
Afeni lived across the hall from us.
There was always a lot of Panther paraphernalia
that had cops getting they pig brains blown out.
You know, things like that in a child's mind
didn't seem normal.
'Cause they would tell us,
"When the pigs come to you,
don't say nothing to them."
[Jamala] 'Cause the feds, they used to come to the house,
- and we're just the kids. - [pounding on door]
[Lesane] Pac was a mischievous kid.
He liked to play a lot. He was fun-loving.
[Jamala] You would have thought he would have became a comedian.
But in Harlem, back in those days,
it wasn't cool to have names like Tupac,
Qatari, Sekyiwa, Mutulu...
I wanted my name to be Lisa. But it was Jamala.
[laughs]
Definitely, there was a chip on my shoulder.
Mm-hmm.
People always thought we was African.
And we got teased a lot.
Like, "You bald-headed Black bitch."
That's how the fighting would start.
But Pac didn't know how to mind his business.
He would intervene
and walk up to a brother and tell that brother,
"Keep your hands off your woman."
And we'd be like, "Yo, Pac, chill!
Come on, man, let's keep walking.
We don't know these people."
He would challenge you with his intelligence.
"I bet you can't spell 'harpsichord.'"
But his mom used to make him read The New York Times
as a punishment.
Okay, nine times out of ten,
she'd whoop his tail.
[Afeni] "Take your little sorry self in that corner...
[Glo] But the other part of that punishment
- was that he had to read. - ...get The New York Times.
- [Tupac] She's my guide through life. - [Afeni] Read it.
- [Tupac] She knows the importance of being honest. - [Afeni] And let's have
- a debate about it. - [Tupac] We talk about everything.
- [Afeni] Not a discussion. - [Tupac] Facing each situation as it comes.
- [Afeni] The more we challenge our inside... - [Tupac] Being realistic
- about the problem... - [Afeni] make ourselves think...
- [Tupac] ...analyzing i... - [Afeni] critically...
- [Tupac] and solving it. - [Afeni] how can that hurt?"
[Tupac] It's just that everybody doesn't think like us.
[Glo] Feni wanted all of us to be smart and active
in the community,
and she was the most generous person.
Give you anything. Her son, same thing.
But people take advantage of that too,
so that's adding to that knot in her gut.
Because the only person I knew that provided
for Afeni Shakur was Afeni Shakur.
[reporter 1] On October 20th, 1981,
remaining members of the radical Weather Underground
and Black Liberation Army
ambushed a Brink's truck, killing a guard,
later killing two police officers.
[reporter 2] Several of the suspects left
this Harlem acupuncture clinic.
- A Dr. Shakur's name... - [sighs]
...was listed on a plaque.
[reporter 3] Fugitive Mutulu Shakur,
reputedly the mastermind of the Brink's heist.
They were pretty secretive around me.
I then began reading things in the newspaper.
♪ Ain't nothin' but A gangsta party ♪
[Glo] Mutulu, wanted by the police.
[Lesane] He was number one on America's Most Wanted list.
♪ Ain't nothin' but A gangsta party ♪
That's where everything became, "What?"
[reporter] SWAT teams raided two separate
New York City apartments.
[Lesane] We didn't know what was going on.
Suddenly, Mutulu wasn't around anymore. Jamal...
[reporter] Twenty-nine year-old Edward Joseph...
- I went back to prison. - [Lesane] Blood...
I was in prison.
I'm Jesse James.
[reporter] Five suspects are still at large
in what appears to be a network
of new terrorist activity.
[Lesane] It was always mysticism about police violence.
♪ Now give me 50 feet Defeat is not my destiny ♪
♪ Release me to the streets but keep whatever's left of me ♪
♪ Jealousy is envious Suffering is greed ♪
♪ Better be prepared when you Cowards bust at me ♪
♪ I bust and flee These niggaz must be crazy ♪
♪ What? There ain't no mercy, Motherfuckers ♪
♪ Who can fade the thugs? ♪
♪ You thought it was But it wasn't ♪
♪ Now disappear ♪
♪ Bow down in the presence Of a boss player ♪
I was very naive. I thought I knew a lot, but I didn't.
Like when they broke that girl out of jail.
[reporter 1] Assata Shakur escaped
from the Clinton Correctional Facility.
Now, I'm wondering, "Who thought of that shit?"
- [reporter 1] No shots were fired. - And that money...
- [reporter 1] Close to one million dollars... - Where's the money?
[reporter 1] ...missing from similar holdups,
investigators are now wondering what the motive might be.
[reporter 2] A lot of the money was placed in envelopes and delivered anonymously
to homes in Harlem at Christmastime.
[Glo] All I know is
Afeni had no furniture in the whole house.
[Afeni] We were poor.
And I'll tell you what Tupac always wanted to know...
why are we so poor?
[Tupac] If money was nothing
and everything depended on your moral standards,
we'd be millionaires.
But since it's not like that,
I missed out on a lot of things,
and it made me very bitter.
[Lesane] So, the poverty, the Panthers, the guns...
we all suffer from post- traumatic stress disorder, you know?
Particularly Tupac, particularly Afeni.
They didn't know it because no one knew
what anxiety looked like, or depression.
We just... we covered it up with drugs.
[Allen] I'm read
1240 Woodpress Avenue, 200 West 108 Street,
59 Morningside Drive, 626 Riverside Drive,
something Underhill Avenue,
Third Avenue,
409 Edgecombe,
1838 7th Avenue and-- and Kerrigan?
- Kerrigan. - Kerrigan Avenue.
[Allen] What was going on with Afeni that she was moving...
that displaced in her life,
and how was it affecting Tupac and the other children?
Well, when Afeni was moving a lot,
it wasn't just Afeni, we were all moving
and, um, I think a lot of it was, um...
finances.
Afeni's spirit was totally diminished in 1984.
She was angry because no one came to her aid.
Her aid was me.
But I had six children.
I'm also going through my own personal challenges,
and I look back and I wonder
what would have happened if
someone would have looked at her as a woman.
[Allen] Hmm.
You know, and said, "What do you need, sister?"
You know, "Where-- where are you living at, sister?"
[Afeni] We were homeless during this period,
and this is when I was starting to, um, smoke crack cocaine.
[Glo] Afeni was using drugs,
and sometimes she wouldn't come home,
and Tupac, I felt for him
because I knew he was suffering.
[Tupac] I'm dealing with Daddy not being there.
My mother's dealing with my man not being there.
'Cause my mother always told me, "Don't you ever
just volunteer yourself to our people
'cause they'll use you." You know what I'm saying?
She also told me to follow my heart.
[Jamala] As a child, Tupac's hobbies were writing,
and writing and performing.
[Glo] At 13 years old, his family was the theater,
and it was very strange
because there'd never been a child in this company before.
But Tupac went to the company and won their heart
because he was very good with his lines,
and he also used to help them with their lines.
The first time he appeared professionally on stage
was the year that Jesse Jackson was running for president.
They were having a benefit at the world-famous Apollo.
[Tupac] 1984, Raisin in the Sun,
Jesse Jackson's presidential campaign. It was a fundraiser.
[Ebony] That was a perfect role for Tupac
because life was like that for him,
where you don't have a bedroom. [sighs]
I loved it because it was about...
moving on.
[Glo] Feni went to every rehearsal.
The night of the performance, the theater was full.
[Tupac] It was when the curtain went up,
I just caught that bug.
[Glo] We saw a scrawny little boy
elevate himself to an actor.
- [Lesane] He nailed it. - [Tupac] Like, whoa.
[Lesane] Felt like this kid is a star.
[Glo] That was it. That was the beginning
of a dream that we didn't see coming.
[sultry saxophone plays]
[LL Cool J] ♪ I'm goin' Back to Cali, Cali, Cali ♪
♪ I'm goin' back to Cali ♪
♪ Hmm, I don't think so ♪
[Donald] Baltimore was a very racially divided city
geographically, and a lot of the white kids
that came to the Baltimore School of the Arts
had never been around African American kids.
So, I asked them to say their name,
and when it got around to Tupac,
some of the kids giggled.
Well, he stood up and delivered
a 10-minute speech about how he would not tolerate
anyone making fun of his name.
[chuckles] That was the end of that conversation.
This guy knew who he was.
♪ Goin' back to Cali ♪
♪ Stylin', profilin' ♪
♪ Growlin' and smilin' ♪
[Donald] That smile.
He had this absolutely infectious smile.
People gravitated toward him, and he had a lot of friends.
[Tupac] I had a friend named John Cole
who was blond and had blue eyes,
and he put me through high school.
[John] Tupac and I were very close.
I was a visual artist. Dye jeans.
He would take those clothes and wear 'em.
[Tupac] It was fun for him to not have,
and it was fun for me to have.
[John] We listened to a lot of Prince, Kate Bush,
The Cure, Peter Gabriel, LL Cool J.
He was MC New York.
[Tupac] It was fun for him to hear rap music.
It was fun for me to hear all of these things
that has really defined who I am as an artist today.
♪ Goin' back to Cali, Cali, Cali ♪
♪ I'm goin' back to Cali ♪
[Tupac] So, from that union, that stretch with John,
I know him.
I feel like I've always been an actor, and acting is my first love.
I went to School of Performing Arts,
but due to poverty, I never got a chance
to leisurely study acting.
What I did do was throw myself
in as many experiences as I could,
so now I have so many things to draw from.
And I don't want anybody to take that from me and say,
"You're a rapper who's acting."
[Tim Roth] I didn't know enough about him, so I was skeptical
because I wanted an actor, not a, you know, musician, to play off.
And I had no idea. But once we connected,
which was immediately, then I was on my toes
because he was better than me, you know.
[laughter]
He was talking the language
of an actor and then just surprising you
during the scene as well.
[director] And action.
My fucking lady's gonna die here,
and you're telling me about some fucking numbers?
If I knew the shit, I'd have wrote it down.
I need to see a doctor right away.
[Roth] He had some chops. And he was the funniest fucker.
We laughed a lot.
Well, have you learned anything from Tim in this?
I know he's given you some acting advice himself.
- Yes, actually. Honestly, I have. - Mm-hmm.
And, you know, I'm glad you're giving me
the opportunity to talk about it.
I've learned a lot from this guy.
I've learned exactly what not to do
when the camera's on me.
[Roth] I mean, I think we were in a bubble,
and it was a safe zone for him,
just for a little chunk of time.
Can I just bring one thing to your attention?
- What's that? - The fashion.
Look at me.
- Stop. - Look at him. Look at him.
He's ruining the whole movie!
I took three months to get my little gear right,
took him three minutes to pick this.
[Roth] We came from very, very different worlds.
But a big part of your time as an actor is doing nothing.
And we find ourselves sitting, having a beer,
waiting for the sun to go down, and he would talk to me a lot
about things that he'd done, things that he regretted,
his time in prison, his mom. He was a very sensitive guy.
But that wasn't stuff that you could, at that point certainly,
put in the public's eye.
I mean, he was huge.
And it was the first film
where I actually had to have security.
Rival groups would come down to the location calling at him
because of the East Coast/ West Coast thing.
[Tupac] That's what's frustrating and aggravating,
that I can't live down this big shadow
that I made to protect myself
'cause it started out as I need an alter ego
to keep people away from me and to protect myself.
And not that it's like a total facade.
It's me, but it's just...
- [lighter clicks] - ...blown up.
using narcotics
put an edge on Tupac Amaru.
[Tupac] Being numb,
anesthetizing ourselves to the world.
My life has made it easy for me
to jump into this character
because he's articulate, talented.
He's just a heroin addict like you've never seen.
But we all have addictions,
and I think that Spoon
is a man who hasn't found that peace.
So, I would be Spoon. Had I not took these chances,
had I not gone all out, I would still be
a talented human being that no one knew about.
[Afeni] Our move to Baltimore
was affected by the poverty,
but had I not been messing around with drugs,
I believe that I would have been able to stay in New York.
[John] I mean, he didn't like to talk about it,
but he would tell me they had to leave New York.
[Tupac] We moved out of New York because...
[John] They were on the run.
[Tupac] They figured out who she was,
and she couldn't keep a job. That should be illegal.
[John] Of course, I went to his house on Greenmount.
Faye stayed in the front room,
which was usually blacked out at the time.
The shades were drawn, like hiding out.
He would be on the outs occasionally with Faye.
[Afeni] His point was, "Why every time
we get some place, we have to move?
Why do you always have to lose your job?
Why does... why is it... why?
And the larger society
could not take responsibility for my errors.
[John] In his room, there were rats crawling around,
and he didn't really get along in his neighborhood.
Drug dealers and stuff were targeting him
because it was a bad area.
[Afeni] So, the best thing about the School of the Arts
is that he was with people who had dreams
and aspirations like himself.
They gave Tupac a sense that this was not permanent
because there was no evidence in my life
that said it wasn't.
I remember we had enough money for three potatoes.
I would make French fries,
and we would sit and sing folk songs.
And this particular song
helped me to deal with the changes with my son.
But the greatest effect it had on me
was when he was an adult
and had the right to make his own decisions.
[vocalist] ♪ Your children ♪
[vocalists] ♪ Are not your children ♪
♪ They are the sons And the daughters ♪
♪ Of life's Longing for itself ♪
♪ They come through you But they are not from you ♪
♪ And though they are with you They belong not to you ♪
♪ You can give them your love But not your thoughts ♪
♪ They have Their own thoughts ♪
♪ They have their own Thoughts ♪
♪ You can house their bodies ♪
♪ But not their souls ♪
♪ For their souls dwell ♪
♪ In a place of tomorrow ♪
♪ Which you cannot visit Not even in your dreams ♪
♪ You can strive To be like them ♪
♪ But you cannot make them Just like you ♪
♪ Strive to be like them ♪
♪ But you cannot make them Just like you ♪
[Afeni] Your children are not you.
[Ambitionz Az A Ridah playing]
♪ I won't deny it, I'm a straight ridah ♪
♪ You don't wanna Fuck with me ♪
♪ My ambitions as a ridah ♪
♪ I'm a straight ridah Police bustin' me ♪
♪ So many battlefield scars While driven in plush cars ♪
♪ This life as a rap star Is nothin' without guard ♪
♪ Was born rough and rugged, Addressin' the mass public ♪
♪ My attitude was fuck it 'Cause motherfuckers love it ♪
♪ To be a soldier, must Maintain composure at ease ♪
♪ Though life is complicated Only what you make it to be ♪
- ♪ And, uh ♪ - ♪ And my ambitions as a ridah ♪
♪ To catch her while she hot And horny-- go up inside her ♪
♪ Then I spit some game In her ear ♪
♪ Go to the telly, ho, equipped with money in a 'Benz ♪
♪ 'Cause, bitch, I'm barely broke ♪
♪ And now you got me right beside you ♪
♪ Hopin' you listen I catch you ♪
♪ Payin' attention to my Ambitions as a ridah ♪
♪ I won't deny it, I'm a straight ridah ♪
♪ You don't wanna Fuck with me ♪
- ♪ My ambitions as a ridah ♪ - ♪ Police bustin' at me ♪
[Dre] Pac was like, "Fuck being broke."
You could see by the way he spoiled himself.
That was Pac saying, "Look,
I was the bummy nigga on the block,
but not anymore. I'm a king now."
As he should 'cause he bled for it.
[Ray Luv] This is a remake of Pac's crown ring.
It's a reminder that royalty
is not about how you get treated,
it's more about how you take care of your people.
[Afeni] June 16th, Tupac's birthday.
[Glo] Tupac was living his dream
'cause another one of his dreams is a compound.
[woman] Hey, chicken here. I'm fryin' dirty lickin' chicken, crispy brown.
[overlapping happy chatter]
[Jamala] I remember living in Calabasas,
the neighborhood was primarily
maybe white.
But all they knew is that a house full of niggas
just moved into... into Calabasas!
[laughter]
Nigga, we live here.
How 'bout that?
[laughter]
Pac'd be like, "Nigga, we live here, yo!"
[laughter]
This our shit!
[Dante] Pac was always like, "Get money."
He was like, make sure you make some fucking money
and change the lives of your family.
[woman] Oh, look at this!
"Happy birthday, Makaveli.
Can't stop, won't stop."
[Jamala] It is a picture of Tupac when he was six years old.
So, he loves the book The Prince.
His interest right now is historical characters
and their lives, people who have made a difference in history,
one way or the other.
[Glo] Pac worked every day, all night.
We only got two weeks to do this whole album.
[Lesane] His work ethic is legendary.
Get that beat popping. Throw them niggas on the track.
The name of the song is whatever this nigga's last word was.
[Lesane] But people don't understand the motivation behind that.
♪ Too immature To understand your ways ♪
♪ Inexperienced Back in the days ♪
♪ Caused so many arguments And strays ♪
[Tupac] That booth is my confessional.
I purge myself of nightmares, dreams, hopes,
plans, plots, memories, fantasies.
[Lesane] That was his air.
I need it. It's my drug.
- [Lesane] His vent. - You know what I mean?
- [Lesane] His oxygen. - It calms me, soothes me.
[Lesane] Otherwise, he was hurtin'.
♪ Never leave me, baby, I'm paranoid ♪
♪ Sleeping with you loaded By my bedside, crazy ♪
♪ Jealous when you hang With the fellas ♪
[Afeni] At this point, he wanted to settle down.
♪ The moment you come home I'm waitin' by the phone ♪
♪ This is true love, I can feel it ♪
[Glo] Kidada, who had a smile beyond belief.
[Tupac] ♪ Just me And my girlfriend ♪
[Glo] She loved Tupac, and Tupac loved her.
That was a real relationship.
They wanted to have babies. They wanted to be married.
[Jamala] He just wanted that fulfillment,
but you could tell he was getting tired.
[Lesane] Pac would get up in the morning, smoke a blunt,
and write songs, write scripts.
We would go from set to studio to set to studio,
and it was a repeat every day.
[Jamala] Back home, he may got three hours of sleep.
"Yo, make sure I'm up at five in the morning,"
and the Outlawz had to be five steps behind him.
"Make sure that these motherfuckers get up
and meet me at the studio at such and such time."
[Gobi] Everyone had a role for him.
Keep in mind, Pac had his whole family on sort of retainer,
as well as the Outlawz.
This 25-year-old had, like, 40 people
that he was taking care of.
His stress level was through the roof.
Come on, man, come on!
Interaction!
[Roth] He was absolutely exhausted,
leaving work, going to the studio,
writing all the time, worked into the ground.
[Gobi] We did like seven or eight videos in five months,
but they're complex, and we had
a bunch of movies he wanted to do.
So, we're going to have a whole slew of movies,
and 24/7 Productions is going to become his movie company.
[Jamala] He was forming his own record company, Euphanasia.
[Jamal] Tupac was building something of his own,
and Afeni is giving as much advice as she can.
But Suge is a very loud presence,
and also very paranoid about anyone, including Afeni,
influencing Tupac because Tupac is a golden calf.
[Tupac] ♪ All I need In this life of sin ♪
♪ Is me and my girlfriend ♪
[Roth] He was a cash cow.
♪ Down to ride To the bloody end ♪
♪ Just me and my girlfriend ♪
[Roth] And I think he was aware of that.
♪ All I need In this life of sin ♪
- ♪ Is me and my girlfriend ♪ - [Roth] My only worry
was that he wasn't able to change his trajectory.
[interviewer] Do you think that because of your legal problems,
there are some companies that might say,
"He's a little too controversial,
I don't know if we can deal with his projects"?
Without question.
And I'm trying to do as much as I can
by producing, by writing, doing low budgets,
whatever I gotta do to show that I'm a better person.
And I think I can handle it this time.
Everything I've ever done, I don't think I was professional.
[interviewer] Meaning you didn't show up on time, things like that?
[Tupac] I didn't show up on time.
I didn't have the concentration I should have had.
Being mad at Spike Lee and all of those people, all of that.
Dissing the Hughes Brothers. I wish I didn't do that.
[interviewer] Have you made peace with them?
[Tupac] Not personally, but I'm trying to.
You know, I was young and dumb.
[Afeni] He got caught up, but I think it's like a junkie.
He wasn't a drug addict,
but we're all addicted to something.
♪ Lost in the whirlwind ♪
♪ 'Ninety-six Bonnie and Clyde ♪
♪ Me and my girlfriend ♪
♪ Doing 85 when we ride ♪
♪ Trapped In this world of sin ♪
♪ Born as a ghetto child ♪
♪ Raised in this whirlwind ♪
♪ Look for me ♪
[Afeni] Fantasy.
The imagination.
The building things up,
to making things better than what it is.
That's myth shit.
[Lesane] So, we all dropped the ball in a sense
'cause somebody should have said,
"Nah, Pac, please take a break. Take a year off."
We can only imagine what he was suffering from,
that he never got a chance to properly heal.
[Afeni] Ambition. Ambition. Money.
More money.
He believed that he could absorb that crap...
and not let it become part of him.
He could use it as a mean to an end.
[Me and My Girlfriend playing, distorted]
♪ Lost in the whirlwind ♪
♪ 'Ninety-six Bonnie and Clyde ♪
♪ Me and my girlfriend ♪
♪ Doing 85 when we ride ♪
♪ Trapped in this world Of sin ♪
♪ Born as a ghetto child ♪
♪ Raised in this whirlwind ♪
♪ Look for me ♪
♪ All I need In this life of sin ♪
♪ Is me and my girlfriend ♪
[music continues, heavily distorted]
♪ All I need In this world of sin ♪
♪ Is me and my girlfriend ♪
♪ Down to ride To the bloody end ♪
♪ Me and my girlfriend ♪
♪ All I need In this life of sin ♪
[undistorted] ♪ Is me and my girlfriend ♪
[Allen] Myth-making. hink boxing is just this.
You actually have to hype these fights.
You have to see these fights. You have to sell these fights.
- Absolutely. - It's a show.
Absolutely. Listen, um, everything's a show.
This whole planet's a show.
What that guy Shakespeare says, it's a stage. It really is.
Me, for instance, you know,
I don't think, um,
I'm a liar, but, um,
I may take the lie and hide it so well
under the truth, you might never find it.
[Donald] I don't think there's any underestimating
the value of vulnerability in artistry.
You have to be able to touch everything emotionally.
You've got to be able to go to the dark places
as well as to the happy places.
He had access to a level of stress,
and he had to cope with that stress.
What do you do? You either fall apart or you use it,
and I think he'd learned to use it at a very early age.
His strengths came with his versatility.
That's what an actor does. An actor transforms.
Oh, man, baby, I'mma tell ya...
[woman] He ain't got no hair like...
...the dreads ain't workin', baby!
[man] That's out of style, baby!
The dreads ain't workin', baby!
You wanna do something like this, baby.
[Donald] He could pretend to be anybody.
He had a chameleon-like nature.
♪ She's a super freak, Super freak ♪
♪ She's super freaky Yeah, yeah ♪
[Donald] He could be a clown. He could be a tragedian, who's sobbing and crying,
to being funny and running around.
He just had a natural instinct for transforming.
Let me tie somebody up. I'm 'bout to get freaky. My name's Rick James.
Come on! I'm about to tie somebody up and burn it all down!
Super freak!
[John] He would do characters, basically. And...
Burn my saxophone player! Burn him!
[John] ...he had this one, "I'm Red Bone."
You know, and just go on and on and on
for days and days and days, where you were like,
"Okay, it's just you and me, like, stop, you know, just be Pac."
- And he was-- - [Allen] For days?
Yeah, yeah, for days.
[Donald] Very often, the work we were doing was improv.
And then sometimes the kids would tend to be themselves in that circumstance.
Tupac always became somebody else
and brought better work into the studio every time he came in.
So, one time I gave the students an assignment to do a movement piece
to their favorite song,
and he had picked Don McLean's Vincent.
[Don McLean] ♪ Starry, starry night ♪
♪ Paint your palette Blue and gray ♪
[Donald] He said Vincent van Gogh was misunderstood.
[McLean] ♪ Look out On a summer's day ♪
[Donald] And he related to that...
♪ With eyes that know The darkness in my soul ♪
[Donald] ...as an artist...
♪ Now I understand ♪
[Donald] ...and choreographed this fabulous
theater piece telling that story...
♪ What you tried To say to me ♪
[Donald] ...just using his body, no voice.
♪ How you suffered For your sanity ♪
[Donald] He was a great, great storyteller.
♪ And how you tried To set them free ♪
♪ They would not listen, They did not know how ♪
[Donald] And the story he told most effectively...
♪ Perhaps they'll Listen now ♪
[Donald] ...was his own truth.
But he didn't really open up to me about his mom.
The closest he came was to say, "My mom has problems."
And near the end of his second year, he came to me,
and I knew there was something going on
because I'd gotten ripples from some other students
and could see he was really upset.
He said that his mom was moving to Oakland.
He had-- he cried.
He said, "I gotta go.
For my mom and my sister."
I remember him being, like, his dream was going away.
And that's hard to watch.
[Glo] So, once again, here we go.
My name is Tupac Shakur,
and I attend Tamalpais High School,
and I'm 17 years old.
[Donald] I was concerned that this was gonna break the continuity.
[Glo] I felt helpless.
And I felt for him as this child who was moving a lot.
[Lesane] Harlem, Bronx, Baltimore,
Marin, Oakland, Atlanta, and L. A.
When you ship a kid around like that,
there's an emptiness in there.
His family loved him dearly,
but he never had that deep-rooted support
that makes a kid feel loved and confident.
That's what the tats and the Thug Life was.
That's why he kept the Hennessey and the weed all strong.
And that's why he didn't take no shit off none of them police or nothing.
He had to let brothers know, "I'm with you."
[McLean] ♪ Now I understand ♪
[Lesane] "Is this what I have to do to get y'all attention?"
[McLean] ♪ What you tried To say to me ♪
[Lesane] "Now, will you listen to me?"
[McLean] ♪ How you suffered For your sanity ♪
♪ And how you tried to set them free ♪
♪ They would not listen ♪
♪ They did not know how ♪
♪ Perhaps they'll listen now ♪
[Lesane] "Y'all like real niggas? That's what a man is?
All right, watch this."
[Tupac] I want all of you West Coast people
to give up some love when this song come on.
[Hit Em Up by 2Pac playing]
[crowd cheering]
♪ Take money ♪
♪ First off, fuck your bitch And the click you claim ♪
♪ Westside when we ride Come equipped with game ♪
♪ You claim to be a player But I fucked your wife ♪
♪ We bust on Bad Boys Niggaz fucked for life ♪
♪ Plus Puffy tryin' to see me Weak hearts I rip ♪
♪ Biggie Smalls And Junior M. A. F. I. A. Some mark-ass bitches ♪
♪ We keep on comin' while We runnin' for yo' jewels ♪
♪ Steady gunnin', keep on Bustin' at them fools You know the rules ♪
♪ Lil' Ceaser, go ask Ya homie how I leave ya ♪
♪ Cut your young ass up Leave you in pieces Now be deceased ♪
♪ Lil' Kim, don't fuck around With real G's ♪
♪ Quick to snatch yo' ugly ass Off the streets So fuck peace ♪
♪ I let them niggaz know It's on for life ♪
♪ So let the Westside Ride tonight ♪
♪ Bad Boy murdered on wax And killed ♪
♪ Fuck wit' me and get yo' caps Peeled, you know, see ♪
♪ Grab ya Glocks, When you see Tupac ♪
♪ Call the cops, When you see Tupac, uh ♪
♪ Who shot me But ya punks didn't finish ♪
♪ Now ya 'bout to feel The wrath of a menace ♪
- ♪ Nigga, I hit 'em up ♪ - ♪ Take money ♪
[Donald] Habit is the actor's worst enemy.
One of the last conversations I had with him, I said,
"You don't have to live this,"
that he was letting his poetic mandate
overpower his inner being.
♪ I'm a self-made millionaire ♪
♪ Thug livin' out a prison, Pistols in the air ♪
♪ Biggie, remember when I used To let you sleep on the couch ♪
♪ And beg a bitch to let you Sleep in the house ♪
♪ Now it's all about Versace, You copied my style ♪
♪ Five shots couldn't drop me, I took it and smiled ♪
♪ Now I'm 'bout to set The record straight ♪
♪ With my A. K. I'm still the Thug that you love to hate ♪
♪ Motherfucker, I hit 'em up ♪
[Money B] When Hit Em Up came out, I was like,
"Eh, I don't know about this record.
Seems vindictive, and that's all it is.
It doesn't sound like you."
And he was like, "Fuck that record.
I've already recorded seven more albums."
He's like, "I'mma get back to it.
And I just need to get this out the way,
take care of my obligation."
[Tupac] ♪ Fuck Mobb Deep, Fuck Biggie ♪
♪ Fuck Bad Boy as a staff, Record label ♪
♪ And as a motherfucking crew ♪
[E.D.I.] On some hip hop shit, I love Hit Em Up
because it's a classic battle record,
so I was super ready to do it.
But when I look back on it, there was definitely
some lines crossed with the outro.
♪ Oh, yeah, Mobb Deep You wanna fuck with us? ♪
♪ You little young-ass Motherfuckers ♪
♪ Don't one of you niggas Got sickle-cell or something? ♪
♪ You're fucking with me, Nigga, you fuck around ♪
♪ And have a seizure Or a heart attack ♪
♪ You better back the fuck up Before you get ♪
♪ Smacked the fuck up This how we do it On our side ♪
♪ Any of you niggas From New York ♪
♪ That want to bring it Bring it! ♪
♪ But we ain't singing, we bringing drama ♪
♪ Fuck you and your Motherfucking mama ♪
He had no brakes. And we had a lot
to do with that too, because we rooted him on.
[Allen] Was there a lesson you took from Tupac's life?
Yeah. Shut my fucking mouth.
[Tupac] ♪ All of y'all Motherfuckers, fuck you ♪
♪ Die slow, motherfucker ♪
♪ My .44 make sure All y'all kids don't grow! ♪
♪ You motherfuckers Can't be us or see us ♪
♪ We motherfuckin' Thug Life-riders, Westside till we die! ♪
♪ Out here in California, Nigga, we warned ya ♪
♪ We'll bomb on you Motherfuckers! ♪
♪ We do our job! ♪
♪ You think you mob? Nigga, we the Motherfuckin' mob ♪
♪ Ain't nothing but killers ♪
[gunshot]
♪ Are you still down? ♪
♪ Uh, are you Still down for me? ♪
♪ Are you down for me? ♪
♪ Are you still down? ♪
[chuckles]
♪ Why you turning on me? ♪
[Snoop] '96 MTV Awards, up until that point,
we had always rolled with each other, whether we were right or wrong.
[announcer] Please welcome America's Most Wanted,
Snoop Doggy Dogg and Tupac.
[Snoop] And it felt like, towards the end,
once Dre left, Suge is more vocal
in what's being said and what's being done.
The dialogue at Death Row becomes, "No, nigga, you can't leave.
And if you do leave, nigga, you gonna leave in a box."
I think I knew the difference between
rappers we gettin' into it with
or some real niggas you gettin' into it with.
And the difference between a rapper, he has a career
and consequences on his mind that may not make him want to go all the way.
[Jenny McCarthy] The winner is...
Coolio, Gangsta's Paradise.
[cheering and applause]
[Tupac] California Love and Crossroads were the best videos of the year.
We should all got an award tonight.
I'm sharing this with all my homies.
I said this, I'm not on a mission to save the world.
But I do have children, and I recognize that other people have children.
So it's got to be a bridge. You can't be one-sided.
I mean, I try to show all aspects of my personality in my music.
- I'll be right here. Okay. - Nah, I'm straight. I got it.
[Coolio] I've seen many come. I've seen many go.
Sometimes, the good die young, but that's just how it go.
[Snoop] With Pac, it was different because I knew he had
a lot of built-up energy from being locked up.
[interviewer] All right. So, you lost Best Rap Video.
You at all disappointed about that?
Oh, no, I didn't lose, see, 'cause I sold
six and a half million copies, so...
- He won. He won. - I won.
I got the most expensive CD out there,
and I sold six and a half million of those,
and I don't see nobody touching me on that.
So, no, I did not receive the little spaceman,
but it's cool 'cause my video is in rotation on MTV. I'm not mad.
[Snoop] So my thing was, how can I give him the support
and the acknowledgement that he needs
so he can make Death Row better and make us greater?
Because, you know, songs was coming out from Biggie,
and niggas out here was eggin' him on.
[interviewer] I know that Biggie and Puffy are here tonight.
Um, did you see them? Do you have anything to say to them at all?
Nah, but even if we saw them, we're not...
We are businessmen. We are not animals.
It's not like we're gonna see them and rush them and jump on them.
If they see us and they want the drama,
we're gonna definitely bring it like only Death Row could bring it.
[Snoop] We're getting all this money.
You know, all of that pressure is on you
with the most gangsterist label in the fucking world,
you feel like you gotta do some gangsta shit.
The day after the awards show,
I was asked a question on Hot 97...
[man] Can you envision a day when, you know, get together and make an album...
[Snoop] ...based off my opinion on Biggie and Puffy and would I work with them.
There's no dream of making an album with Biggie and Puffy, or none of them.
We're not sweating it like that.
This is our family over here.
We peacefully coexist right now.
[Snoop] I had just beat a murder case,
so I was thinking politically correct.
Hey, I like Puffy and Biggie.
We sell large amounts of records,
and they sell a few records,
and really, there's no-- there's no competition.
[Snoop] I like Biggie music. He dope as fuck.
Shit, I'll do a song with him.
If you wanna talk, we're gonna make it specific
as to what you can talk about.
[Snoop] When, in Pac's mind,
I should have said, "Fuck Biggie and Puffy.
I ain't working with them niggas.
This is Death Row."
The next morning,
we go to the airport to fly back to L. A.
But when I get to the plane, Suge tell me...
"Your security can't roll."
So, I'm like, "Okay, this is when they're gonna try to take me out."
[Tupac] You're shooting this to 30-- 300 homes--
300 countries, telling them
about an East Coast/West Coast war that they would never know exists.
So that's where information becomes a problem.
[Snoop] And if it did, if it did exist...
If it did exist, Pac, we wouldn't be here.
[Tupac] That's right, and if it exists, I wouldn't be here.
When I walked on the plane, I walked by Pac,
and I'm like, "You going to the Tyson fight in Vegas, cuh?"
My nigga do me like this.
So, I just walk and sit in the back
and, like, put my little blanket on my head,
with my knife and my little fork,
and just ride like this for five and a half hours back to L. A.,
with one eye open.
When we land, I ask him again,
"Cuz, you going to the Tyson fight?"
He just turned around and walk off.
All right. I go to L. A.
They go to the Tyson fight.
[announcer] And now, ladies and gentlemen in attendance,
boxing fans joining us around the world,
- it's showtime! - [cheering and applause]
♪ My family tree Consists of drug dealers Thugs and killers ♪
♪ Strugglin', known to hustle Screamin', Fuck they Feelings! ♪
♪ I got advice from my father All he told me was this ♪
♪ "Nigga, get off your ass If you plan to be rich! ♪
♪ There's ten rules To the game, but I'll share With you two ♪
♪ Know niggas gon' hate you For whatever you do ♪
♪ Now, rule one Get your cash on, M. O. B. ♪
♪ That's Money Over Bitches 'Cause they breed envy ♪
♪ Now, rule two is a hard one Watch for phonies ♪
♪ Keep your enemies close Nigga, watch your homies" ♪
♪ It seemed A little unimportant When he told me, I smiled ♪
♪ Picture jewels bein' handed To an innocent child ♪
♪ I never knew, in my lifetime I'd live by these rules ♪
♪ Initiated as an outlaw Studyin' rules ♪
♪ Now, Papa ain't around So I gotta recall ♪
♪ Or come to grips with bein' Written on my enemy's walls ♪
♪ Promised if I have a seed I'mma guide him right ♪
♪ Dear Lord, Don't let me die tonight ♪
♪ I got words for my comrades Listen and learn ♪
♪ Ain't nothin' free Get back what you earned ♪
♪ No doubt, gettin' higher Than a motherfucka Bless me, please ♪
♪ This Thug Life'll be The death of me ♪
♪ Come on, yeah ♪
♪ And I remember What my papa told me ♪
♪ Remember What my papa told me ♪
♪ Blasphemy! ♪
♪ Love for dem dat steal In the name of da Lord ♪
♪ And I remember What my pops told me ♪
♪ Dem a-tell enuff lie but holdin' my bird in a cloud ♪
♪ Usin' de name Of de Lord in vain ♪
♪ Remember What my pops told me ♪
♪ We probably in Hell already ♪