[Interview]
Sway: Ayy we back chillin' with Tupac. This man is multimedia. Not only is he a recording artist, but he's also an actor. But before we get into the acting, I want to say... How did you first get down with Suge Knight in Death Row?
2Pac: I used to always see Suge. When they did the soundtrack for Murder Was The Case and I was going through all those legal problems. He was like "Yo give me a song dog." I gave him a song and I got the most I ever got for a song. It was damn near an album budget. I got something like 200 thousand dollars for one song and they didn't even use it. But I still got paid for everything I did for the soundtrack. I remember when he did it. He did it not because he was jocking me, but because he knew I was having crazy legal problems and I was a man. He had asked me to come to Death Row and I told him I wasn't ready. Instead of taking it personal he did that for me and I appreciated that. So when I was in jail just sittin' there, I was gonna quit rappin' but then Puffy and Biggie came out in Vibe Magazine and lied and twisted the facts. All I wanted to do was end everything and walk away from the shit. I wanted to get out the game. I'm trying to get out the game and they wanna dirty up my memory. They wanna dirty up everything I worked for. So instead of quitting, it made me wanna come back and be more relentless to destroy who used to be my comrades and homeboys. These guys were my closest click. I worked hard all my life as far as this music business to bring about east coast west coast love and make everybody feel comfortable. I dreamed of the day when I could go to New York and feel comfortable and they could come out here and be comfortable. So when people ask me about this east coast/west coast thing it's not silly at all. But you can't disrespect the love. You can't disrespect the peace treaty. That's just like when the Indians made deals with the white dudes and they would just come and rape their women and shoot' em up and leave. Of course the Indians aren't gonna love white people no more. They're gonna want to kick up some dust until people think about it and renegotiate the terms of the treaty and that's where this East Coast/West Coast stuff is at right now. We gotta have this beef and these words and this dialogue until we can re negotiate the terms of the treaty. I love the East Coast. I from the east coast, but they have to understand you just can't be saying shit about us and think we're not gonna take it personally. You just can't be calling us fakers and pretenders and non-creative and say we can't freestyle, and we just sit back and say "Nah it's cool 'cause we love them because they started hip hop." Hell no, we're gonna take it personal, just like a kid would when his bigger brother who ain't doing his shit steps to him. That's like a little brother making lots of cash and the bigger brother comin' along and sayin' "You owe it all to me." That's wrong. Don't be mad because the little nigga is comin' up. You know what I mean?
Sway: Now, do you think the East Coast/West Coast rivalry is like both coasts? Because a lot of people think it's more Bad Boy/Death Row.
2Pac: It's not both coasts. What it is... is the people on the East coast are real proud and real cultural and real strong like we are on the west coast. What happen was Biggie came at a time just like Hitler did with the Jews. Biggie came at a time when they were open to somebody saying "We're the master race and these guys are nothing. They're pretenders and this is why we're not makin' it in the business. It's because of these guys. This is why we're not doing nothing." So the east coast really not hatin' us or knowing anything about us... have just been listening to their supposed to be leader. They were listening to the person who's supposed to be representing' for them. They didn't know that what they were doing was ending our culture. We held it down for you all. That's how I felt. I was in tears.. When LL was out there dancin' with women in silver suits which I'm not mad at because I might do that one day. But when the East coast was trying to be creative and test other boundaries we were holdin' it down with this hardcore shit. It might not have been what you wanted but it kept rap alive for years. It kept money comin' in. It let them notice us. So how could you look at us and say "You're not good enough?" We're from a broken home. Y'all didn't teach us this. We ain't got no subways and graffiti. In spite of the gangs and all of that we still came up with this culture. I feel like we never got what we deserved. I took it personal because I'm from the East coast and I know about that culture but I know about this culture because I was here when it was being put down. So now I'm doing what the East coast would've did if the west coast did this to them. I'm riding for my side. You're wrong. It's not right. Recognize us. The only way the east coast is gonna recognize us if for us to do it on record, by money, by sales and by representing. Just like KRS-One. When PM Dawn got on stage and he had been talking shit about him..what did KRS-One do? So why are people telling me I'm wrong for doing what I'm doing. They love KRS-One.. He is hip hop..am I correct? I'm mad at Biggie and I'm rushin' the nigga. What's the problem? As soon as the east coast separate themselves from Biggie we will do shows in the east. Everything is beautiful. But so far the east coast has been with him. Everything I read..every letter I read. every interview I read. Niggas keep saying "Fuck 2Pac" Biggie Biggie this and Biggie Biggie that like he's representin' everyone from the east coast. That's why I attack the way I do. I'm a general and I'm a smart general and I'm not gonna attack at no blind soldier. I'm gonna attack those who attack me. The only reason why people was mad was because I came out of jail and made this a reality. When I got out of jail the east coast west coast shit was really started. California Love, when I was singin' put it down. and now niggas is mad because money is fucked up, attitudes have changed. It's not as safe as it used to be. Nigguhs gotta think about their business and that's what I wanted to happen. Now let's go to the table. Let's talk. Let's make peace. Let's work it out. Let's give the community the money.
Sway: So you're saying with a conversation with guys like Puffy, Biggie, and that whole East Coast-
2Pac: I wouldn't sit down and have a conversation with Puffy and Biggie because that's like Scarface sitting down with the dude he overthrew. They are not on my level. But I can sit down with the OG's and from there which we are doing. People need to know we're not beefing with the East coast. We're about to start Death Row East with Eric B and all the OG niggas out there. We got Big Daddy Kane, Christopher Williams... we're trying to get Bobby Brown. We're trying to get the East coast Death Row to be like the West Coast Death Row and make it major. We're not doing that until we get this business settled. Even while we're doing this we're trying to get the Wu-Tang niggas. I love them niggas. I feel as though they represent the east coast the way we represent the west coast and I love them. If everybody's raps is what they really think then everybody should understand what I'm doing. It's gangsta shit, number one. It's warrior shit, number two, and it's all by the rules of the game. I'm calling for dialogue. I'm gathering attention for dialogue which is what you do in a struggle for power.
Sway: That's real, that's real. We still chillin' with Tupac. It's intense. I love this brother. I like this. My man keepin' it real. We're gonna come back with more Tupac...
Sway: Ayy we back chillin' with Tupac. This man is multimedia. Not only is he a recording artist, but he's also an actor. But before we get into the acting, I want to say... How did you first get down with Suge Knight in Death Row?
2Pac: I used to always see Suge. When they did the soundtrack for Murder Was The Case and I was going through all those legal problems. He was like "Yo give me a song dog." I gave him a song and I got the most I ever got for a song. It was damn near an album budget. I got something like 200 thousand dollars for one song and they didn't even use it. But I still got paid for everything I did for the soundtrack. I remember when he did it. He did it not because he was jocking me, but because he knew I was having crazy legal problems and I was a man. He had asked me to come to Death Row and I told him I wasn't ready. Instead of taking it personal he did that for me and I appreciated that. So when I was in jail just sittin' there, I was gonna quit rappin' but then Puffy and Biggie came out in Vibe Magazine and lied and twisted the facts. All I wanted to do was end everything and walk away from the shit. I wanted to get out the game. I'm trying to get out the game and they wanna dirty up my memory. They wanna dirty up everything I worked for. So instead of quitting, it made me wanna come back and be more relentless to destroy who used to be my comrades and homeboys. These guys were my closest click. I worked hard all my life as far as this music business to bring about east coast west coast love and make everybody feel comfortable. I dreamed of the day when I could go to New York and feel comfortable and they could come out here and be comfortable. So when people ask me about this east coast/west coast thing it's not silly at all. But you can't disrespect the love. You can't disrespect the peace treaty. That's just like when the Indians made deals with the white dudes and they would just come and rape their women and shoot' em up and leave. Of course the Indians aren't gonna love white people no more. They're gonna want to kick up some dust until people think about it and renegotiate the terms of the treaty and that's where this East Coast/West Coast stuff is at right now. We gotta have this beef and these words and this dialogue until we can re negotiate the terms of the treaty. I love the East Coast. I from the east coast, but they have to understand you just can't be saying shit about us and think we're not gonna take it personally. You just can't be calling us fakers and pretenders and non-creative and say we can't freestyle, and we just sit back and say "Nah it's cool 'cause we love them because they started hip hop." Hell no, we're gonna take it personal, just like a kid would when his bigger brother who ain't doing his shit steps to him. That's like a little brother making lots of cash and the bigger brother comin' along and sayin' "You owe it all to me." That's wrong. Don't be mad because the little nigga is comin' up. You know what I mean?
Sway: Now, do you think the East Coast/West Coast rivalry is like both coasts? Because a lot of people think it's more Bad Boy/Death Row.
2Pac: It's not both coasts. What it is... is the people on the East coast are real proud and real cultural and real strong like we are on the west coast. What happen was Biggie came at a time just like Hitler did with the Jews. Biggie came at a time when they were open to somebody saying "We're the master race and these guys are nothing. They're pretenders and this is why we're not makin' it in the business. It's because of these guys. This is why we're not doing nothing." So the east coast really not hatin' us or knowing anything about us... have just been listening to their supposed to be leader. They were listening to the person who's supposed to be representing' for them. They didn't know that what they were doing was ending our culture. We held it down for you all. That's how I felt. I was in tears.. When LL was out there dancin' with women in silver suits which I'm not mad at because I might do that one day. But when the East coast was trying to be creative and test other boundaries we were holdin' it down with this hardcore shit. It might not have been what you wanted but it kept rap alive for years. It kept money comin' in. It let them notice us. So how could you look at us and say "You're not good enough?" We're from a broken home. Y'all didn't teach us this. We ain't got no subways and graffiti. In spite of the gangs and all of that we still came up with this culture. I feel like we never got what we deserved. I took it personal because I'm from the East coast and I know about that culture but I know about this culture because I was here when it was being put down. So now I'm doing what the East coast would've did if the west coast did this to them. I'm riding for my side. You're wrong. It's not right. Recognize us. The only way the east coast is gonna recognize us if for us to do it on record, by money, by sales and by representing. Just like KRS-One. When PM Dawn got on stage and he had been talking shit about him..what did KRS-One do? So why are people telling me I'm wrong for doing what I'm doing. They love KRS-One.. He is hip hop..am I correct? I'm mad at Biggie and I'm rushin' the nigga. What's the problem? As soon as the east coast separate themselves from Biggie we will do shows in the east. Everything is beautiful. But so far the east coast has been with him. Everything I read..every letter I read. every interview I read. Niggas keep saying "Fuck 2Pac" Biggie Biggie this and Biggie Biggie that like he's representin' everyone from the east coast. That's why I attack the way I do. I'm a general and I'm a smart general and I'm not gonna attack at no blind soldier. I'm gonna attack those who attack me. The only reason why people was mad was because I came out of jail and made this a reality. When I got out of jail the east coast west coast shit was really started. California Love, when I was singin' put it down. and now niggas is mad because money is fucked up, attitudes have changed. It's not as safe as it used to be. Nigguhs gotta think about their business and that's what I wanted to happen. Now let's go to the table. Let's talk. Let's make peace. Let's work it out. Let's give the community the money.
Sway: So you're saying with a conversation with guys like Puffy, Biggie, and that whole East Coast-
2Pac: I wouldn't sit down and have a conversation with Puffy and Biggie because that's like Scarface sitting down with the dude he overthrew. They are not on my level. But I can sit down with the OG's and from there which we are doing. People need to know we're not beefing with the East coast. We're about to start Death Row East with Eric B and all the OG niggas out there. We got Big Daddy Kane, Christopher Williams... we're trying to get Bobby Brown. We're trying to get the East coast Death Row to be like the West Coast Death Row and make it major. We're not doing that until we get this business settled. Even while we're doing this we're trying to get the Wu-Tang niggas. I love them niggas. I feel as though they represent the east coast the way we represent the west coast and I love them. If everybody's raps is what they really think then everybody should understand what I'm doing. It's gangsta shit, number one. It's warrior shit, number two, and it's all by the rules of the game. I'm calling for dialogue. I'm gathering attention for dialogue which is what you do in a struggle for power.
Sway: That's real, that's real. We still chillin' with Tupac. It's intense. I love this brother. I like this. My man keepin' it real. We're gonna come back with more Tupac...
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