Tupac Shakur
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We now have clarity on how Madonna and 2Pac originally met thanks to Rosie Perez. The actress revealed how she introduced the two prior to them dating.
As per Page Six the Brooklyn, NY native paid a recent visit to the Drew Barrymore Show where she discussed a variety of topics relating to her storied career. Midway during the interview the White Men Can’t Jump star spoke about her friendship with the late great Tupac Shakur. She went on to say that she was the one who introduced him to Madonna. Perez stated that her original date to the 1993 Soul Train Music Awards cancelled on her 30 minutes before the event. Luckily 2Pac stepped up and escorted her to ceremony. “He said, ‘You know what, I’m going [to] go with you, we’re going [to] walk up in there, we’re going [to] act like we’re on a date, and he’s going to die,’” she explained.
While at the awards show Madonna checked in with her and asked about Pac. “She was there and she came up to me and she was like, ‘Yo, what’s up? Y’all are together?’” Rosie added. “And I said, ‘No.’ She goes, ‘Really?’ I go, ‘Yeah.’” The “Material Girl” singer asked then asked Rosie Perez to “hook [her] up,” to which she replied You got it.” Madonna and 2Pac briefly dated from 1993 to 1994 but kept their relationship relatively secret. It wasn’t until many years later the self proclaimed Queen of Pop admitted the two were an official item.
You can see Rosie Perez discuss that evening with 2Pac and Madonna below.
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Keefe D will have to sit behind bars heading into trial. A judge overseeing the Tupac murder trial has rejected his most recent bail request.
As reported by Newsweek, Clark District Court Judge Carli Kierny did not approve Duane Keith “Keefe D” Davis’ plea for bond. Earlier this summer, record executive Cash “Wack 100” Jones offered to post the $750,000. On Tuesday, Aug. 27, the magistrate made it clear he has doubts why the entertainment manager would support the self-proclaimed Southside Crip shot caller during his legal troubles. “I have a sense that things are trying to be covered up,” Judge Kierny said while alluding to him having more questions than answers about where the money came from.
After his formal rejection Keefe D’s lawyer asked the court to postpone the trial date to 2025 as the state has a new discovery that his team has yet to review. “Based upon conversations with Mr. Davis there’s certain motions that he needs to file in regards to potentially dismissing the case which I will not be able to prepare until sometime in October,” Carl Arnold added.
Later in the proceedings, Keefe D claimed that two correctional officers assaulted him in his cell. The trial has been rescheduled to March 2025. You can watch footage from the court session below.
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While Tupac was known for making music in which he rapped about bedding multiple women and getting his player on, the man was actually in a committed relationship with the daughter of music legend Quincy Jones, Kidada.
While not much detail is known about their relationship, as the two dated way before social media was a thing, Kidada’s sister, Rashida Jones, opened up about a heated exchange which took place between herself and Tupac before he went on to date her older sister. According to Huffpost, the animosity between herself and Pac began when the iconic rapper was interviewed in an 1993 issue of The Source magazine and criticized her father, Qunicy Jones, for having children with white women and “make[ing] fucked up kids.”
A then 17-year-old Rashida Jones wrote a response to Tupac in a follow-up issue and apparently it resonated with the rapper in such a way he felt the need to apologize to the Jones family.
In a recent interview with the New Yorker, Jones recalls how Shakur approached her sister, Kidada, in New York City thinking it was her and asked for forgiveness for his harsh words about her father and his children.
From the New Yorker:
“And then my sister was out somewhere in New York, and Tupac came up to apologize to her, because he thought it was me,” Rashida Jones said. “It resolved itself really nicely, because when I met him, he immediately apologized to me, immediately apologized to my dad. We sat down and had a really good conversation about it, and then he was family.”
Tupac and Kidada went on to date and even live together for a while before the rapper was murdered in 1996. In Q: The Autobiography Of Qunicy Jones, Kidada recalled the moment that Tupac approached her about the situation and admitted she knew it was much more than an apology at the moment.
“I met Tupac at a club after that and he said, ‘I want to apologize to you. I didn’t mean that about your dad or you. I didn’t see you as real human beings. Now that I see you…,’” she said. “He was all game. He was trying to get a play, let’s face it, but I liked him.”
Yeah, that sounds about right. Ladies might’ve loved Cool James in the early 90s, but they loved them some Tupac as well.
Helluva era.
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Tupac murder suspect Keefe D will have to ride things out in jail as he awaits trial. A judge has denied his bail over him potentially selling his life story.
As reported by Huffington Post the Compton, Los Angeles native did not receive favorable news regarding his freedom. On Wednesday, June 26 Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny ruled against the request citing concerns he would profit from his freedom. Last week his legal team asked for their client to be released after they secured the $750,000 bond. In recent weeks controversial music executive Cash “Wack 100” Jones has teased the idea of bonding Keefe D in exchange for the rights to his story. The business proposition seemed to have some legs to it as Wack discussed the business deal with Duane Davis Jr., Keefe D’s son, on Clubhouse. This seems to have concerned Judge Keirny as she expressed her concerns that Wack 100 is serving “‘front’ or ‘middleman’ for the true bond poster.”
Keefe D’s attorney expressed his dismay in a statement to Newsweek. “We are disappointed with the court’s decision to deny bail to Mr. Davis, especially considering the thorough vetting by Konvict Bail Bonds of the funding source conducted before the source hearing,” Carl Arnold said. “We firmly believe there is a lack of substantive proof that Mr. Davis intended to profit from his alleged connections to the case.”
Keefe D’s trial is expected to commence in November. He could face life imprisonment if found guilty for his role in Tupac’s murder.
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The Rap beef of the century has left Sheryl Crow feeling a ways. She recently slammed Drake for resurrecting Tupak Shakure via AI.
Recently BBC conducted an interview with the singer. While the Kennett, Missouri native touched on a variety of topics regarding her artistry and storied career, it was her opinion on artificial intelligence that became her hottest take. On her newest album Evolution she touches on the technology on the title track. When asked about it she says that artificial intelligence is a “betrayal” and “goes against everything humanity is based on.”
She became aware of it last year when one of her colleagues used AI to recreate John Meyer sing her vocals. As a big Meyer, Sheryl Crow was stunned when she heard the final product saying “there would be no way you’d have been able to tell that he was not singing that song.” But it wasn’t until Drake and Kendrick’s recent Rap battle where Crow things were taken too far.
“Taylor Made Freestyle” featured artificial vocals from Snoop Dogg and 2Pac which apparently was like a punch to the gut for Sheryl. “You cannot bring people back from the dead and believe that they would stand for that,” she said. “I’m sure Drake thought, ‘Yeah, I shouldn’t do it, but I’ll say sorry later’. But it’s already done, and people will find it even if he takes it down. She went on to add “it’s hateful. It is antithetical to the life force that exists in all of us.”
Drake eventually removed “Taylor Made Freestyle” from his social media channels. You can listen to the track below.
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Keefe D will seek to prepare for his upcoming trial from the comfort of his home. He has asked to be set free on bail.
As reported by The Grio the former Los Angeles gang leader has asked the presiding judge to let him out of jail while he waits for trial. On Thursday, June 20 his legal representatives formally submitted a request on the behalf of their client. In response the judge has scheduled a hearing to review the request where Duane “Keffe D” Davis’ attorney will ask for bail. If approved the alleged Southside Crip shot caller will be free on house arrest with electric monitoring.
Recently media personality and entertainment entrepreneur Wack 100, born Cash Jones, has toyed with the idea of putting up the bail money for Keffe D. In a recent livestream on Clubhouse he spoke to his Keefe’s son, Duane Davis Jr., seemingly confirming he would help them secure the bond in exchange for Keefe’s story rights. It has not been confirmed by Keffe D’s attorney Carl Arnold whether or not Wack 100 contributed to the bail monies.
In September 2023 Davis was arrested and charge for first degree murder for his involvement in the drive by shooting that left Tupac Shakur dead. He has since been held at Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. His trial is expected to commence in November.
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Drake may be willing to go to war with the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Rick Ross and whoever else may have a problem with him, but he doesn’t want any smoke with Tupac Shakur’s estate.
Less than a week after releasing his “Taylor Made Freestyle” which featured an AI version of the late-great Makaveli, Tupac Shakur’s estate threatened Drizzy with a lawsuit for using Pac’s “vocals” on his Kendrick Lamar diss record. They gave him 24 hours to take the song down or face the legal consequences. Sho’nuff, the song has now been removed from Drizzy’s Instagram page with no explanation (not that one was needed).
Last weekend, Drake shocked the Hip-Hop world when he released the aforementioned song, which not only featured an AI generated verse from Tupac, but also Snoop Dogg who’s alive and well. With many fans bemoaning the artificially created verse from one of the biggest Hip-Hop icons of all-time, others praised Drake for the surprise move and crowned him the GOAT for taking rap battles into the digital age.
Needless to say, Snoop Dogg was shocked that he somehow ended up on a new record without his knowledge. Tupac Shakur’s estate wasn’t amused at all and slapped Drake with a cease-and-desist letter, which threatened him with a lawsuit if he didn’t take the song down from his page.
According to USA Today, the message was received and the song is now as ghost as the spirit of the man who was featured on it.
Per USA Today:
In a letter obtained by USA TODAY Wednesday, the estate of Tupac and his mother, Afeni Shakur, says it’s “deeply dismayed and disappointed by your unauthorized use of Tupac’s voice and personality in the ‘Taylor Made (Freestyle)’ record.”
The letter continues, “We demand that you immediately cease and desist from any further publication and exploitation of the Record, and that you immediately take ALL NECESSARY steps to remove it from all platforms where it is publicly available.”
The release is “a flagrant violation of Tupac’s publicity and the Estate’s legal rights. … The Estate would never have given its approval for this use,” the letter states. “The unauthorized, equally dismaying use of Tupac’s voice against Kendrick Lamar, a good friend to the Estate who has given nothing but respect to Tupac and his legacy publicly and privately, compounds the insult.”
And with that, the King of the North had to bow down to the rap legend’s representatives as he had no desire to take this battle to the courts.
Meanwhile, the Hip-Hop world continues to await a response from Kendrick Lamar. His silence has fans wondering if he’ll even continue to participate in the battle that he set off with his verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That” just last month.
We’re starting to lose faith that he will, but to each his own.
What do y’all think of this situation? Did y’all even like the song? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Source: L. Busacca / Getty / Tupac Shakur
Drake’s clever attempt at a Kendrick Lamar diss record could land him in legal hot water.
Spotted on HuffPost, the Estate of the late iconic rapper Tupac Shakur is threatening Drake with legal action for using an AI-generated voice of Shakur.
The Estate is giving the Canadian Hip-Hop star 24 hours to take down his latest Kendrick Lamar diss track, “Taylor Made Freestyle.” The track features AI-generated voices of Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg urging their West Coast brethren to defend his honor on wax. Drake’s verse uses the 8-mile tactic of taking all the possible insults Lamar can use off the table by pointing them out.
In the song, the fake Tupac tells K.Dot, “You asked for the smoke, now it seems you too busy for the smoke.”
Per Billboard, the cease-and-desist letter that the Shakur estate slapped Drake, real name Aubrey Graham.
The HuffPost Reports:
“The Estate is deeply dismayed and disappointed by your unauthorized use of Tupac’s voice and personality,” attorney Howard King wrote in the letter, according to Billboard. “Not only is the record a flagrant violation of Tupac’s publicity and the Estate’s legal rights, it is also a blatant abuse of the legacy of one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time. The Estate would never have given its approval for this use.”
Snoop Dogg Also Had Something To Say
Following the Friday release of “Taylor Made Freestyle,” Snoop Dogg took to his Instagram account to drop a hilarious reaction to Drake using an AI version of his voice.
“They did what? When? How? Are you sure? [Sigh] Y’all have a good night,” Snoop said in the Instagram clip. “Why everybody calling my phone, blowing me up? What the fuck— what happened? What’s going on? I’m going back to bed. Good night.”
We are curious to see how this plays out.
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It seems there is more to learn about 2Pac and Notorious B.I.G.’s story. Busta Rhymes reveals that a popular Biggie Smalls verse was actually going at Pac.
As spotted on Vibe, the Rap legend recently paid a visit to the All The Smoke podcast. While the “Touch It” MC discussed a variety of topics, ranging from his storied career to current events, it was a story he told about a studio session with B.I.G. that has since gone viral. Back in the mid-’90s Busta Rhymes was aiming to secure Biggie, Method Man and Nas as features on one song. While the track didn’t come together like how he originally intended, it birthed a very memorable performance by the King of New York.
“So there’s a song in the middle of the Biggie and 2Pac beef and he [Biggie] recorded the verse in my studio session. At the time I thought it would be brilliant to have these three MC’s on a J Dilla beat. I think B.I.G. just got into the car accident with [Lil’] Cease and his leg was messed up and the elevator wasn’t working,” Busta explained. “I got to Soundtracks [on] the third day. Elevators fine,” Busta continues. “Big and [Lil’] Cease come. They pull up. Meth and Nas came two days in a row now. No Biggie. So, they was not coming on the third day.”
The former Leaders of the New School member would go on to detail seeing B.I.G.’s creative process for the first time ever. “One hour, two hours; he just smoking. He ain’t writing nothing. About three hours in I’m like ‘My ni**a you ain’t going to do this verse my ni**a?’ That ni**a said, ‘I’m ready Buss.’”
Busta Rhymes would go on to recite the verse and emphasize the lines directed at 2Pac via his cadence and pitch. “Diamonds on my neck, chrome drop-top / Chillin’ on the scene, smoking pounds of green / Oooh-wee, you see, the ugliest / Money-hungriest, Brooklyn Loch Ness / Nine millimeter cock test, wan fi’ test? / And the winner is, not that thinner kid / Bandanas, tattoos, my fists never bruise / Land still cruise.”
At the time, Bus was good friends with 2Pac thus he told B.I.G. he would not be releasing the song. Years later, the verse would reappear on the posthumous Notorious B.I.G. album Born Again on “Dangerous MC’s.” You can hear the original verse below.
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Source: Pool / Getty / Duane “Keefe D” Davis
Duane “Keefe D” Davis, who was charged with the murder of Tupac Shakur, was granted bail and house arrest.
Spotted on The HuffPost, a Las Vegas judge set bail for Davis at $750,000 for the Los Angeles gang leader who was charged with orchestrating the murder of the legendary Hip-Hop star in 1996.
The judge also said Davis could go on house arrest after Davis’ attorneys successfully argued their client doesn’t pose a danger to society due to his health issues.
Per The HuffPost:
Court-appointed attorneys for Duane “Keffe D” Davis told The Associated Press after the hearing in Las Vegas that they believe he can post bail. They had asked for bail of not more than $100,000.
The lawyers argued in a court filing a day before that their client — not witnesses, as prosecutors had said — faced danger. And they say that their 60-year-old client is in poor health after battling cancer, which is in remission, and that he won’t flee to avoid trial.
“We believe he can” post bail, public defender Robert Arroyo said after Tuesday’s hearing.
Attorneys For Duane “Keefe D” Davis Had A Solid Argument
Davis’ attorneys also called out lawyers for misrepresenting a jail phone call and a list of names that went to the Davis family.
The attorneys pointed to the prosecutors Marc DiGiacomo and Binu Palal’s use of the term “green light” during the October jail call, calling it “flat out wrong.”
The prosecution argued to the judge that “In (Davis’) world, a ‘green light’ is an authorization to kill.”
Prosecutors argue that Davis’ own words since 2008 from police interviews, a 2019 tell-all memoir, and in the media implicated him in one of the world’s most popular cold cases.
Davis’ legal team says that his descriptions of Shakur’s killing were “done for entertainment purposes and to make money.”
We will continue to monitor how this case pans out.
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Photo: Pool / Getty