2Pac 1994 Shooting Revisited

Chuck Phillips, former writer for the Los Angeles Times, spoke out in 2008 about music manager Jimmy "Henchman" Rosemond and his alleged involvement in the 1994 shooting of the late 2Pac Shakur. Phillips used falsified documents in the report back then, but shared his side of the story with the Village Voice recently.

"With guidance from street sources, I was able to determine who the assailants were and where they lived," he says. "I tracked them down in prison and interviewed them. Two of the men I suspected confirmed Tupac's suspicions about who had set him up in hand-written letters mailed to me in the summer of 2007. One even offered to sell me Tupac's stolen gold chain. According to the assailants, the man who ordered and financed Tupac's beating was a federal snitch and close associate of Sean Combs named James Rosemond, better known in Hip Hop circles as Jimmy Henchman."

"Days before Henchman's arrest last summer, his former best friend, Dexter Isaac, the convict who led the attack at the Quad in 1994, confessed publicly that it was Henchman who hired him to rob and pistol-whip Tupac," Phillips continued. "Dexter, who has known Henchman since they were 14, was the lead source for my 2008 Quad story. He is one of a handful of disgruntled street soldiers who taught me how to navigate the treacherous world of Jimmy Henchman."

Jadakiss Wants More Holograms?

The aftermath of the 2Pac hologram performance at Coachella a few weeks ago has left all of hip hop talking about holograms. While many have criticized the idea of dead rappers taking the stage, rapper Jadakiss seems to love the notion. In fact, Kiss says that there are other deceased hip hop figures that should be brought back to the stage via technology.

"It cost a lot, so I think Diddy with his connection to Interscope and Jimmy, I still think he got the resources to do a Big joint whenever he goes out to do a big tour; that'll be cool," Jadakiss said. "I think it was good for the 'Pac lovers and for these young cats that ain't really get the chance to see him or understand him. But I think if they gonna do it, we should try to do Big L, Pun -- let's do all of the fallen soldiers of hip-hop and let the people get a chance to see 'em at one of these big venues."

Suge Knight Says 2Pac Called Out Dr. Dre

Suge Knight has never been known to shy away from throwing dirt on former associates and revisiting old feuds. The former Death Row Records head says that, not only is the music business full of homosexuality, but also the late 2Pac once called out Dr. Dre for his alleged sexuality.

"Ninety-five percent of them is closet cases," Knight told radio host Howard Stern. "I wouldn't say ninety-five percent because I don't know all of them, I know the ones that was on my label [Death Row] was like that -- recently, [Dr.] Dre went to my P.O. and tried to get me violated, he snitched on me. I haven't even seen the guy since I've been home. I'm on parole -- anyway, he went to my P.O. ... He basically put a restraining order on me. Only people I know put a restraining order on somebody, unless it's a battered woman, wife, baby mama, I don't know a so-called gangster rapper going to put a restraining order against another man. I'm saying he's gay because there's a guy named Bruce and they've been together for years."

"We had meetings in the red room and once we had these meetings, you had to put everything on the table," Knight continued. "Everybody had some drinks and wasn't nobody lying. Anybody got caught lying, it was always a consequence. So Tupac stood up and said, 'I'm tired of this, I'm tired of this. Dre, you's a f*ggot.' Dre said, 'First of all, I'm not a f*ggot.' He said, 'OK, then you're a homosexual.' He said, 'I'm not a homosexual.' .... Dre, you's a f*ggot."

Dr. Dre Says No Hologram Tour

Dr. Dre has shut down any lingering speculation that he had any intentions of taking the infamous 2Pac hologram on a tour. While thanking fans for their enthusiastic reaction to his performance at Coachella and the hologram, Dre said that a tour just won't be happening.

"What up, it's Doc Dre, backstage, Coachella, 2012 and I want to thank everybody out there for all the love and support," Dre said in an interview. "As you know, we had a hologram of Tupac Shakur show up as a part of our show. I want to thank a couple of companies out there that made my idea come to life. I want to say what's up to AV Concepts which actually projected the hologram. I want to say what's up to Digital Domain for actually putting the image together. They did an incredible job -- it was strictly for Coachella, get it right. I want to get rid of all the rumors out there. This was not done for a tour. If a tour happens, we'll see. This was done strictly for Coachella 2012, baby, just for you."

Dr. Dre "Not Sure" About Hologram Tour

Dr. Dre has stated that the infamous 2Pac hologram could possibly hit the road for a 'tour' of sorts, but urged fans to not hold their breath. Dre said that the experts are working on refurbishing the hologram technology, however, and that nothing should be ruled out.

"I’m not sure right now, because right now, it’s a technology that’s happening where the hologram could be 360 degrees. Right now, it’s flat," he said. "It just looks like it’s three-dimensional from the front. But working on some new and different things for the future. Everybody’s in love with it right now, we’re having fun."

"Hopefully, different artists are able to bring out their favorite artists," he added. "Hopefully, we can see Jimi Hendrix and Marvin Gaye. We’ll see what happens."

2Pac Hologram Creator Speaks

The designer who spearheaded the creation of the already-infamous 2Pac hologram that appeared onstage at Coachella discussed the concept and revealed that it was Dr. Dre that pushed for the innovative technology to bring one of hip hop's most beloved figures to the festival.

"We worked with Dr. Dre on this and it was Dre's vision to bring this back to life," said Nick Smith, president of AV Concepts, a company based in San Diego that projected and staged the hologram. "It was his idea from the very beginning and we worked with him and his camp to utilize the technology to make it come to life." Smith said he wasn't allowed to talk about the creative aspects of the production -- including how the hologram was able to seemingly perform the set in synch with Snoop and whether all the vocals were 'Pac's -- but he did say that his company has the ability to recreate long-dead figures and visually recreate them in the studio. "You can take their likenesses and voice and ... take people that haven't done concerts before or perform music they haven't sung and digitally recreate it," he said.

2Pac Rocks Coachella

Dr. Dre had the most talked-about set at the Coachella festival. Dre performed Sunday (April 15th) night, with a bevy of superstar guest appearances--including Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, 50 Cent, Kurupt, Wiz Khalifa, Eminem and, amazingly, 2Pac. A hologram of the legendary rapper was projected onstage and performed ‘Hail Mary’ and the 2Pac/Snoop Dogg duet "Two Of American’s Most Wanted."

The image sent the crowd into a frenzy and Twitter buzzed with fans' reactions.

The set list was packed with numerous classic tracks--which is to be expected given Dre's lengthy run of hits and the numerous acts he's produced hits for. "The Next Episode, "Ain’t No Fun," "Drop It Like It’s Hot," and several other songs were a part of the set, before the Doctor ended the show with "Still D.R.E."

Nas Revisits 2Pac Conflict?

In a recent interview, rapper Nas recollected a tense confrontation he had with the late 2Pac and members of Death Row Records during a 'meeting' in NYC's Central Park. The incident reportedly took place after the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards.

"What [Tupac] said to me was, 'Me and you are brothers. Me and you are never supposed to go at it. But I heard you was dissing me on mixtapes'," recounted Nas. "I'm like, 'I heard you was dissing me on this new Makaveli album.' You were there, you know how none of us could be sitting here, me and you right now because it was a very dangerous situation right there and greater heads prevailed. We both knew we were supposed to continue that conversation and probably just squash the whole thing. I was scheduled to meet him in Vegas; you and Jimmy Iovine called me at 4AM and told me he might not make it."

2Pac Movie Contract Surfaces

The movie contract for late rapper/actor Tupac Shakur to appear in the 1992 film Juice has surfaced on popular auction site eBay. The contract is brief-but-authentic and includes some references and facts that fans may not have been aware of; like Shakur could have been given the role of either "Bishop" or "Q" in the film. Shakur would go on to play Bishop, with actor Omar Epps taking the role of Q.

Shakur's role also earned him "$1647.80 per 'studio week' for no less than seven (7) weeks," according to the contract.

There have reportedly been no offers for the contract. .

DJ Whoo Kid's Suge Knight Story

DJ Whoo Kid shared an old story that involved an altercation between his G-Unit compadres and notorious hip hop mogul Suge Knight. Whoo Kid said that the incident occurred because Knight was angry with 50 Cent for using an unreleased 2Pac verse on his song "Tha Realest Killaz."

"I got paid five G's to DJ at a club in [Los Angeles], but I didn't know that they were promoting [the event] on LA radio, so good old Suge Knight is in his car tuning in," he explained. "It was [at] the time that I leaked the 50 Cent and 2Pac song 'Tha Realest Killaz,' which was a record that Snoop Dogg couldn't clear on his album, so whoever they [originally] gave the record to, they gave it to me, so I kinda spliced it up [with a verse from 50 Cent] and made it a bigger record, 'cus it was a verse [from 2Pac] that nobody ever heard, and the fact that [Snoop] couldn't clear it, he gave it to me to leak."

"Suge Knight took it upon himself to 'find me' that day…he set it up [so] that everybody in [the club I was DJing in] was in [the 34th Street Gang]…the promoter got tricked, too," Whoo Kid continued. "The promoter gave me the five G's and once I got to the stage, of course, at the time 'In Da Club' was the biggest record, so of course the first record I played was 'In Da Club.' So as soon as I played 'In Da Club,' the whole club turned and looked at me…[then] the promoter came up to me and was like, 'We gotta get you out of here…Suge Knight's in the front. We're trying to call the cops so he don't come in, but he wants to come in'…we started running out the back, I'm jumping in the van, and then for some reason - I don't know where, but C-Lo got the dirtiest looking gun I ever seen in my life…so I'm looking up and I see the 34th Street Gang running up to us with knives, so I'm like, 'Holy sh*t, I'm about to get stabbed for some 50 sh*t!' I'm like, 'Yo, get the gun!' By the time [C-Lo] grabs it…the police come [up]…[C-Lo] throws the gun all the way to back of the van. The cops grab the 34th Street Gang, and we peel off."

Prodigy On 2Pac Beef

Mobb Deep's Prodigy revisited the turbulent mid-90s and his feud with 2Pac. In a recent interview, the rapper discussed just how the beef began and how deep their contempt for each other ran. 2Pac dissed Mobb Deep in several rhymes and Mobb Deep fired words at Pac in their 1996 song "Drop A Gem On 'Em."

"He had his Thug Life sh*t going on," Prodigy said in an interview, "When we made our Infamous album, we had a song called 'Survival of the Fittest,' and on that song, in the beginning, one of my mans that just came home from jail doing a 15 years [bid], his name is Ferg. That's Havoc's cousin, actually. Ferg is on that album and in the beginning of the song, he says, 'The Thug Life, we still living it.' ... 2Pac, you know, is the one most known for saying that. I think that pissed 2Pac off a little bit. He took that as disrespect, like, 'Oh, these n*ggas trying to say Thug Life da-da-da-da-da. That's our sh*t.' He didn't really come out and say nothing about it though until Snoop [Dogg] and Dogg Pound made a song, ['New York, New York'] we did the ['LA, LA'] sh*t. So when they made that, we were looking at it like, 'What? These n*ggas are kicking over our buildings in the video, stomping through the city.' It was real disrespectful sh*t."

"They knew that was disrespectful. So we went back at them n*ggas. And we made our version, 'LA, LA.' ... This is when 2Pac first signed to Death Row so I guess when he seen that, he was like, 'Aight, I'm going at these n*ggas. Hard body. He went at us.' So that's what that was about. [Any ill feelings?] Oh yeah, I wanted to kill that n*gga. Yeah, h*ll yeah. I wanted to f*ck that n*gga up, jump him, cut hm, shoot him, all that sh*t. It was beef. They were sh*tting on n*ggas and we were sh*tting on them and it was going to be a problem if we ever saw each other. I might have got killed, I might have got beat up, either way it was going to go down. ... Thankfully it never went down but it's bad that he had to die through all that petty beef bullsh*t. It was corny."

Treach Has 2Pac Sex Footage?

Treach has revealed that there may be other 2Pac sex tape footage floating around out there. The two rappers were close friends back in the day, and Treach says he filmed 2Pac doing illicit activities when they were both in a hotel room with young women.

He shared the story in a recent interview.

"We hung out and found a couple of chicks and everything and head back to the hotel," Treach said. "We had a double room, I had my room and he has his room. I had a little video camera, so me and my little chicky we taping sh*t, getting all wild and everything. Pac in the other room and the door is cracked. So I told my chick to shhh. So I go up in there and I start taping it from the door and he just banging it out on the bed, banging it out."

Lil Wayne Idolized 2Pac

Lil Wayne discussed his love for tattoos in a recent interview. Weezy admitted that his initial tat fixation came from idolizing 2Pac as a youngster.

"I have no problem with people going and getting a billion tattoos," Weezy said in a video. "But why are you doing it? I know my first tattoo I got, I got because my dad died. I was 14 years old and I knew, not for nothing, God forgive me, I did want to represent my dad in a way but I knew that, 'Man, I could get my first tattoo at 14 if I asked my mom, 'Can I go get my dad's name?' She's not gonna be against that.'"

"The next tattoo that I got said 'Original Hot Boy' with a star," he continued. "Then I went and got my tat across my stomach 'cause I wanted to be like Tupac. I got my [stomach] tattoo because I wanted to be like Tupac and at the time, I would tell the tattoo dude that's why I was getting it."

The Outlawz Lied About Smoking 2Pac?

The Outlawz may have claimed that they smoked the late, great 2Pac's ashes on a beach with the rapper's mother, Afeni Shakur, present--but Afeni herself is denying that such an event ever took place.

A spokesperson for Afeni and the rest of the Shakur family said that the Outlawz "would have had to sneak the remains past the family member in charge of keeping an eye on the ashes at the memorial."

This story is so weird, let's hope it's not true. Just record tribute songs, fellas. No need to go smoking martyrs.

Outlawz Smoked 2Pac's Ashes?

The Outlawz, former affiliates to the late rapper Tupac Shakur, are confirming long-standing rumors that they smoked the ashes of their fallen leader. Current members E.D.I. Mean, Young Noble and Hussein Fatal claim that they cut marijuana with ‘Pac’s remains and smoked it during a beach memorial.

“Yes, it’s definitely true. Think it was the night of his… Had a little memorial for him with his mom and his family and sh*t. We had hit the beach, threw [in] a lot of shit he liked at the beach. Some weed, some chicken wings, he loved orange soda, all that kind of sh*t,” said Young Noble. “‘Pac loved that kind of sh*t, so we were giving him our own farewell and that night, I forgot which one of us came up with it. Had his ashes and sh*t. […] We twisted up some of that great granddaddy California kush and mixed the big homie with it. Flowing through our system, you heard?”

“I came up with that sh*t,” said E.D.I. Mean. “If you listen to ‘Black Jesus,’ he said, ‘Last wishes, n***as smoke my ashes.’ That was a request that he had. Now, how serious he was about it? We took it serious.”

Suge Knight Disses Diddy

Suge Knight hasn't let go of the 1990s. The former Death Row Records head took a shot at Sean "Diddy" Combs in a recent spontaneous interview with TMZ. Suge called Diddy "Bucky" and ranted a little about 2Pac's death. [video here]

"We working on these movies right now. Documentaries..." Suge said when asked about his current projects--before adding, "I ain't like those other dudes in the business. I'm th eone who don't go snitching. Everybody else is telling. That's why I'm the only one to do time [and] everybody else never go. "

A lot of those dudes say they love 'Pac but at the same time, they be doin' sh*t for, like, Bucky--I mean, Puffy--whatever it is," Suge said in an obvious dig to his former rival. Knight also added cryptically, "Once now all the truth comes out on all the people who did 'Pac wrong--we still gotta be back on that mission."

2Pac's "Greatest Hits" Goes Diamond

2Pac's popularity still shows no signs of flagging. The rapper's 1998 posthumous release,Greatest Hits, has crossed the ten-million sales mark. Just weeks after what would have been the rapper's 40th birthday, the double-album has reached diamond certification--making it the best-selling album of his career.

The album has passed 2Pac's popular All Eyez On Me, released in 1996.

The album's single "Changes" was also one of the rapper's most popular posthumous recordings, earning him a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance.

2Pac Honored In Atlanta

On what would've been the 40th anniversary of the late rapper Tupac Shakur, several celebrities and artists gathered at the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center in Stone Mountain, GA to pay tribute to the fallen rapper/actor, who was shot and later died in September 1996.

Meek Mill, Bun B, Warren G, Too Short, jazz singer/producer Roy Ayers, Rick Ross and Erykah Badu were among those in attendance. The event was hosted by Mike Epps.

"For a lot of lil' dudes in a single parent home [like me] with my mother, Tupac played father for a lot of dudes like me," Rick Ross said to the crowd. "Tupac was the first one that showed me how to be fully committed. I took [aspects of him like] his [loyalty], to his hard work, his ethic, his family with me. When we talk about his record sales, let's not forget the role he played to all the little Black boys around the world."

"My first reaction to Tupac was he's not a rapper, he's not an actor, he's a savior of sorts. But he came at a time when people weren't looking for a savior, they were looking for someone who looked like them," she said. "But saviors, sometimes are just doing the work, they are just doing their job."

Erykah Badu, Mike Epps Celebrate 2Pac

Several notable rappers will be participating in Afeni Shakur's celebration of 2Pac's 40th birthday this June. Bun B., 8 Ball and MJG, DJ Drama, Too $hort and Erykah Badu will all be taking part in the festivities in Atlanta on June 16th.

Actor/comedian Mike Epps has been named host of the celebration, and officials have officially declared June 16th "Tupac Shakur Day."

"I am greatly honored to have been invited by Afeni Shakur to celebrate her son's 40th birthday," Bady said via statement. "I do not take this honor for granted."

“I’m looking forward to another year of preserving Tupac’s legacy by celebrating his life with his fans and furthering his causes by supporting his organization,” Mike Epps said.

2Pac Screenplay Hitting the Screen

The only screenplay written by rapper/actor Tupac Shakur is currently being developed for the big screen. Pac's original script, called Live 2 Tell, will go into production in 2012.

Afeni Shakur, along with Preston Holmes and Ivan Juzang's NStar Studios, are spearheading the project. They also worked together to produce the acclaimed 2003 documentary Tupac: Resurrection.

"[Tupac] was a genius, and the net of it is, he was from this community, he knew the struggles these young people were dealing with," Juzang told Variety. "And he's able to talk to young people in 2011, 2012, the same way he was able to talk to young people in 1995."

The film tells the story of a drug dealer looking to abandon his life of crime.