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."

Guru Jazzmatazz Tribute Planned

While often overshadowed in the annals of hip hop history by his work as the frontman of Gang Starr, the late Guru's acclaimed Jazzmatazz series is almost as revered among fans of jazz-rap.

A show is planned for April 21 to showcase the work he created and the collaborators he worked with on the Jazzmatazz series. He released four volumes with such legendary figures as Roy Ayers, Herbie Hancock and J. Dilla.

The show takes place at New York City's Le Poisson Rouge, a little over a year after the untimely death of the emcee.