What Happened That Night
Suge Knight shook his head. There had been a lot of talk, a lot of theorizing. It was one of rap's biggest unsolved mysteries: Who killed Tupac Shakur?
Knight, now incarcerated and wearing cuffs, was with Tupac on that evening in September 1996. They were sitting in the same car that was riddled with bullets, many of which hit Tupac. Knight had been silent for 21 years. Now he was clearing his throat. It was time to reveal who committed this heinous crime.
Destined For Greatness
Tupac was always set for great things. His mother and father were members of the Black Panther movement and educated their son to have a social conscience as well as critical thinking skills. These teachings can be found in Tupac's most acclaimed work with activism and social unity being strong themes.
As a child, Tupac loved to perform. He acted in school plays and impressed in talent shows. Greatness was to be his destiny.
A Star Is Born
After beginning his recording career in 1987, it was only a matter of time before Tupac made his mark on the music industry.
His big break came when his track "Same Song" made it on the soundtrack of 1991 classic Nothing But Trouble. A first solo album, 2Pacalypse Now, followed, marking this young lyricist out as one of the rising stars of the rap game.
Rivalry With Biggie
There's a belief that you can't get to the top without making a few enemies along the way. This was true for Tupac.
Biggie Smalls was also climbing the hip-hop ladder around that time. He enjoyed a friendly relationship with Tupac initially but that gave way to a bitter rivalry fuelled by the West Coast (Tupac) vs East Coast (Biggie) beef going on at the time. Tupac soon found out that choosing sides came at a price.
Choosing Sides
A talent as hot as Tupac was always going to have his pick of suitors. Bad Boy CEO Sean Combs (also known as Puff Daddy or P. Diddy) wanted Tupac on his side initially but they had a falling out. This gave Knight the opportunity to convince Tupac to join his Death Row label.
Tupac was in jail on a sexual assault charge at the time. Knight came to his rescue by paying his $1.4 million bail, instantly securing himself an ally that he could put on his label. Death Row wanted Tupac to embrace his gangsta rap persona and encouraged him to write diss tracks about the likes of Biggie.
Foot Locker Incident
The beefs that Tupac collected brought him into conflict with people outside of the music industry too.
It was early 1996 when Tupac heard about Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson robbing a member of Death Row's crew at a Foot Locker. In retribution, Tupac and a group of Death Row members attacked Anderson. This was a mistake. Anderson was a dangerous man affiliated with the Crips of Compton.
Trouble At The MGM Grand
The attack on Anderson was still on the minds of Death Row members later that year. The threat was looming. They were on guard.
Cut to September 1996. Tupac and Knight were at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas watching Bruce Seldon fight Mike Tyson. However, the conflict didn't end when the final bell rang. One of Knight's associates informed him that Anderson was in the lobby of the building. They unwisely dismissed the threat.
Drive-By Shooting
There was no fracas with Anderson in the lobby. Tupac never crossed paths with him. At least, not on foot.
At around 11 PM that night, Suge and Tupac were driving down Las Vegas Blvd before being stopped by police. The officers pulled them over because of their excessively loud music and the fact that they didn't have licence plates. A short talk and they were allowed to go. Fifteen minutes later, they were stopped again. But not by police officers. No, they were brought to a halt by a drive-by shooting, an attack that ended the life of rap's brightest star.
A Life Taken
Tupac appeared to be the target of the attack. The gunman aimed every shot at him. He hit Tupac twice in the chest, once in his arm, and once in his thigh.
Cuts from smashed glass aside, Knight escaped unharmed, fuelling rumours about his involvement in the attack. Tupac was rushed to hospital and kept in sedation for 15 hours. Unfortunately, his injuries were too great and he passed away at 4 PM. People were shocked and they wanted to catch who did it.
Confirmation
Knight had never gone on the record to speak about who killed Tupac. Not until now. The jailed Knight felt he had nothing to lose by speaking.
The documentary Tupac Assassination: Battle for Compton tried to examine who may have killed Tupac. It gave Knight food for thought. The film's director Richard Bond got in touch with Knight's attorney Thaddeus Culpepper to tell him his theories. Knight looked shocked. Then he began to nod his head.
Valid Theories
Knight looked stunned, according to sources. He then admitted to Culpepper that the theories in the movie were true. How Bond knew what happened was what Knight could not understand. He decided to hire private investigators to get information on Bond's sources.
Bond claimed that Knight was the real target of the attack and that Tupac was in the wrong place at the wrong time. In that case, who were the killers?
The Real Killers
What Knight's investigators would have shocked most people but not him. He always had his suspicions. All the signs pointed to two people close to him.
Knight claims that Tupac's murder was orchestrated by former Death Row Records security chief Reggie White Jr and his own ex-wife Sharitha. This admission was shocking to say the least. Why would they want to kill Tupac?
Troubled Marriage
'The target of the hit wasn't Tupac,' Knight said. 'It was me.' Sharitha and Knight had a troubled marriage to put it mildly.
According to former LAPD detective Russell Poole, Wright Jr. and Sharitha set up the hit to take over Death Row Records. "Suge wasn't divorced yet and if he died in that hit, she'd get most of everything," Poole said. "So she went to Wright Jr., who was in charge of Death Row and ran it while Suge was in prison."
All The Death
White Jr was never brought to justice. Poole died without seeing him behind bars. White Jr noticed this, telling AllHipHop that a lot of people had accused him of Tupac's murder and a lot of people were dead, Poole included. It sounded like a failed threat to anyone else accusing him of murder.
Then Wright JR turned his gaze on Bond directly. "The next person [to die] is probably going to be R.J. Bond. I ain't predicting no death on anybody, but they better get their selves right," he said. "They better stop with all this bullcrap they've been promoting, because they're all dying like flies around here."
His Memory Lives On
We can't let the final word go to Wright Jr. Nor can we close by focusing on Knight. Let's instead close by remembering Tupac.
Tupac preached for social change and while he didn't always practice what he preached, his ideals can have a positive impact on his listeners for generations to come. The man is not with us anymore but his music is eternal. May he rest in peace.