PAC & BIGGIE STILL FORCES TO BE RECKONED WITH...
On any given night in any given city during any given hip-hop concert, there usually comes a point when the performer salutes hip-hop's most famous fallen heroes. It's a codified ritual. Audience members are instructed to "put your twos in the air," raising two fingers in honor of Tupac Shakur. Inevitably, the memory of the Notorious B.I.G. also is invoked.
Shakur's mother has witnessed the scene, again and again.
"I'll tell you something -- I don't want to say it's still overwhelming, but it's always surprising," said Afeni Shakur, formerly a high-profile member of the Black Panther Party.
"When Tupac died, we thought it was just us mourning," she said. "Then we realized Tupac didn't just belong to us, his family. He belonged to the world."
Rival rappers Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G., aka Biggie Smalls, were gunned down in drive-by shootings in September 1996 and March 1997, respectively. Shakur was 25; the Notorious B.I.G. was 24. Their deaths remain unsolved, even as the shadows cast across the pop-culture landscape by these multiplatinum rap superstars grow longer with each passing year.
Their legacies live on
Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. "were the first people in hip-hop to reach icon status," said Bakari Kitwana, a hip-hop lecturer and author of "The Hip Hop Generation," among other books.
"They had cross-cultural appeal," Kitwana said. "People liked Run-DMC, but it wasn't the same. They weren't posting those kinds of [sales] numbers."
The hits keep coming for Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G., too. Both MCs have sold more albums posthumously than when they were alive.
Shakur left behind nearly 300 unreleased songs when he died, said Tre Maxie, director of the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts.
Most of those songs eventually saw the light of day, although enough material remains to fill a couple more albums, Maxie said.
"There's talk of doing a boxed set, too, but it's not confirmed," he said.
Sales of Shakur's albums help support the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation, established by Afeni Shakur in 1997, and the arts center bearing his name, which opened three years ago outside Atlanta. The foundation and the center specialize in youth-oriented arts programs, although they're also involved with other initiatives, ranging from nonviolent conflict resolution to organic gardening.
"Who would've thought -- Tupac and the environment!" Maxie said. "We want to use his impact all over the world to help young people all over the world."
Voletta Wallace, mother of the Notorious B.I.G. (whose real name was Christopher Wallace), also established a foundation in memory of her son, dedicated to educating inner-city youth. She declined to be interviewed for this story.
Huge numbers and strong lyrics
Tupac Shakur is the top hip-hopper on the Recording Industry Association of America's list of best-selling artists, with 36.5 million records sold -- more than the career totals for the likes of the Doors, Willie Nelson or Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers.
The Notorious B.I.G. ranks further down the list, with 17 million records sold.
He may not be on equal footing with Shakur when it comes to commercial success, but some would say the Notorious B.I.G. was the more gifted MC.
"In terms of his lyrical ability, Biggie was definitely superior," Kitwana said. "He captured a sense of street culture in a way that other people weren't able to articulate.
"In black-power circles, people refer to the struggle as the political movement, but he began to refer to the struggle as just the struggle to survive out here every day."
Latter-day admirers such as 50 Cent, Chingy and Bobby Valentino sing the Notorious B.I.G.'s praises on "Can I Speak to Biggie," a new tribute song.
His profile stands to get an even greater boost in January, when the biopic "Notorious" arrives in theaters. Filming began last month, with up-and-coming rapper Jamal Woolard (alias Gravy) in the lead role. George Tillman Jr., whose previous credits include "Soul Food" and "Men of Honor," is directing the movie.
A Shakur biopic is also in the works, although the project is still in the development stage, Maxie said.
No stranger to the big screen, Shakur made several films, including 1993's "Poetic Justice," in which he starred opposite Janet Jackson.
Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. "touched a lot of people when they were here," said Wish Bone (real name: Charles Scruggs) of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Cleveland's Grammy-winning rap group.
"If their music came out today, it would still be relevant," Wish Bone said. "It's just good music."
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony recorded songs with Shakur ("Thug Love") and the Notorious B.I.G. ("Notorious Thugs"), despite the bad blood between the Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. camps.
"It definitely got out of hand," Wish Bone said of the West Coast-East Coast feud personified by Shakur (representing the West) and the Notorious B.I.G. (representing the East).
"We always stayed neutral," Wish Bone said. "When we had a beef with somebody, we would take our beef straight to them. We were never into battling on songs.
"For us to be able to get together with two legendary artists was a blessing."
Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. are still touching people, and not just in the hip-hop realm.
Flip through the new book "Tupac Remembered: Bearing Witness to a Life and Legacy," and you'll find testimonials from professional athletes Baron Davis and Chris Hayes, politician Cynthia McKinney and poet Nikki Giovanni, who sports a "Thug Life" tattoo like the one Shakur had.
"I want people to know Tupac's legacy is not a legacy of violence," Afeni Shakur said. "It's not the legacy of a gangsta rapper. He's bigger than that.
"He was a musician. He was a poet. He was an actor. And he was an activist."
Unsolved slayings leave many wondering
Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. continue to receive the requisite shout-outs from today's rappers, too.
"They've taken on this larger-than-life personification, especially among people who really weren't their contemporaries," said lecturer/author Kitwana. "Many artists who are out now were still kids when Tupac and Biggie were killed. They don't really know them. They just know what they've heard about them.
"In terms of invoking their memories . . . it's almost like the way activists may invoke Huey Newton. Or it's like people rocking a Che Guevara shirt."
While interest in Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. never seems to wane, it flared up again when The Los Angeles Times published a story last month about a 1994 assault on Shakur, purportedly orchestrated by associates of Sean "Diddy" Combs, the Notorious B.I.G.'s mentor. The newspaper has retracted the story, which turned out to be based on forged FBI documents.
"That stuff in the L.A. Times was nothing new -- same thing they said when he was shot," Afeni Shakur said.
"Did they tell you who did it? No. So it's nothing new.
"The legacy is what he left for us to do. So we deal with the work. We don't do a lot of wondering."
Others can't help but still wonder about the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. Nobody has been charged in their shootings.
"If a conspiracy can hit a president, you know it can hit the rap game," Wish Bone said. "Every time black folks in general do something good, something that makes money for the black race, it's always looked upon as something bad. . . . They try to shut it down.
"I definitely think the murders were related. Who was behind it? Who knows? We know it was the powers-that-be, people who didn't want those messages out there."
Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. "were getting too powerful," Wish Bone said. "Anytime you're selling millions and millions of records and your message is heard, it means people are believing what you believe in -- and that's very dangerous in today's world."
Of course, pop culture tends not to allow its legends to rest in peace; just ask those people who swear Elvis Presley is alive and well and frequently patronizing fast-food joints. Whether you choose to accept it, however, at least the King's death is a closed case.
The same can't be said of the slayings of Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G.
"If you can reach the status of a Tupac or a Biggie and someone kills you and no one in government says, 'We're going to find these murderers no matter what,' or no one in law enforcement says, 'We're not going to sleep until the murders are solved,' what does that say to you?" Kitwana said.
"That, to me, is the real tragedy of Tupac and Biggie. . . . Could you imagine Paris Hilton getting shot and we never find out who killed her? Or Britney Spears?
"It shows you how black men are not taken seriously."
In the eyes of some, Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. have attained martyr status.
Shakur's mother will leave it to others to decide if the tag fits.
"His fans dictate whether or not he's a martyr," Afeni Shakur said. "I don't know, nor do I care. . . . I'm a mama who lost a son."
EMINEM INVITED TO PERFORM AT NELSON MANDELLA'S 90TH B'DAY
sohh.com
ALICIA KEYS THE CONSPIRACY THEORIST?
Shakur's mother has witnessed the scene, again and again.
"I'll tell you something -- I don't want to say it's still overwhelming, but it's always surprising," said Afeni Shakur, formerly a high-profile member of the Black Panther Party.
"When Tupac died, we thought it was just us mourning," she said. "Then we realized Tupac didn't just belong to us, his family. He belonged to the world."
Rival rappers Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G., aka Biggie Smalls, were gunned down in drive-by shootings in September 1996 and March 1997, respectively. Shakur was 25; the Notorious B.I.G. was 24. Their deaths remain unsolved, even as the shadows cast across the pop-culture landscape by these multiplatinum rap superstars grow longer with each passing year.
Their legacies live on
Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. "were the first people in hip-hop to reach icon status," said Bakari Kitwana, a hip-hop lecturer and author of "The Hip Hop Generation," among other books.
"They had cross-cultural appeal," Kitwana said. "People liked Run-DMC, but it wasn't the same. They weren't posting those kinds of [sales] numbers."
The hits keep coming for Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G., too. Both MCs have sold more albums posthumously than when they were alive.
Shakur left behind nearly 300 unreleased songs when he died, said Tre Maxie, director of the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts.
Most of those songs eventually saw the light of day, although enough material remains to fill a couple more albums, Maxie said.
"There's talk of doing a boxed set, too, but it's not confirmed," he said.
Sales of Shakur's albums help support the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation, established by Afeni Shakur in 1997, and the arts center bearing his name, which opened three years ago outside Atlanta. The foundation and the center specialize in youth-oriented arts programs, although they're also involved with other initiatives, ranging from nonviolent conflict resolution to organic gardening.
"Who would've thought -- Tupac and the environment!" Maxie said. "We want to use his impact all over the world to help young people all over the world."
Voletta Wallace, mother of the Notorious B.I.G. (whose real name was Christopher Wallace), also established a foundation in memory of her son, dedicated to educating inner-city youth. She declined to be interviewed for this story.
Huge numbers and strong lyrics
Tupac Shakur is the top hip-hopper on the Recording Industry Association of America's list of best-selling artists, with 36.5 million records sold -- more than the career totals for the likes of the Doors, Willie Nelson or Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers.
The Notorious B.I.G. ranks further down the list, with 17 million records sold.
He may not be on equal footing with Shakur when it comes to commercial success, but some would say the Notorious B.I.G. was the more gifted MC.
"In terms of his lyrical ability, Biggie was definitely superior," Kitwana said. "He captured a sense of street culture in a way that other people weren't able to articulate.
"In black-power circles, people refer to the struggle as the political movement, but he began to refer to the struggle as just the struggle to survive out here every day."
Latter-day admirers such as 50 Cent, Chingy and Bobby Valentino sing the Notorious B.I.G.'s praises on "Can I Speak to Biggie," a new tribute song.
His profile stands to get an even greater boost in January, when the biopic "Notorious" arrives in theaters. Filming began last month, with up-and-coming rapper Jamal Woolard (alias Gravy) in the lead role. George Tillman Jr., whose previous credits include "Soul Food" and "Men of Honor," is directing the movie.
A Shakur biopic is also in the works, although the project is still in the development stage, Maxie said.
No stranger to the big screen, Shakur made several films, including 1993's "Poetic Justice," in which he starred opposite Janet Jackson.
Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. "touched a lot of people when they were here," said Wish Bone (real name: Charles Scruggs) of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Cleveland's Grammy-winning rap group.
"If their music came out today, it would still be relevant," Wish Bone said. "It's just good music."
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony recorded songs with Shakur ("Thug Love") and the Notorious B.I.G. ("Notorious Thugs"), despite the bad blood between the Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. camps.
"It definitely got out of hand," Wish Bone said of the West Coast-East Coast feud personified by Shakur (representing the West) and the Notorious B.I.G. (representing the East).
"We always stayed neutral," Wish Bone said. "When we had a beef with somebody, we would take our beef straight to them. We were never into battling on songs.
"For us to be able to get together with two legendary artists was a blessing."
Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. are still touching people, and not just in the hip-hop realm.
Flip through the new book "Tupac Remembered: Bearing Witness to a Life and Legacy," and you'll find testimonials from professional athletes Baron Davis and Chris Hayes, politician Cynthia McKinney and poet Nikki Giovanni, who sports a "Thug Life" tattoo like the one Shakur had.
"I want people to know Tupac's legacy is not a legacy of violence," Afeni Shakur said. "It's not the legacy of a gangsta rapper. He's bigger than that.
"He was a musician. He was a poet. He was an actor. And he was an activist."
Unsolved slayings leave many wondering
Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. continue to receive the requisite shout-outs from today's rappers, too.
"They've taken on this larger-than-life personification, especially among people who really weren't their contemporaries," said lecturer/author Kitwana. "Many artists who are out now were still kids when Tupac and Biggie were killed. They don't really know them. They just know what they've heard about them.
"In terms of invoking their memories . . . it's almost like the way activists may invoke Huey Newton. Or it's like people rocking a Che Guevara shirt."
While interest in Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. never seems to wane, it flared up again when The Los Angeles Times published a story last month about a 1994 assault on Shakur, purportedly orchestrated by associates of Sean "Diddy" Combs, the Notorious B.I.G.'s mentor. The newspaper has retracted the story, which turned out to be based on forged FBI documents.
"That stuff in the L.A. Times was nothing new -- same thing they said when he was shot," Afeni Shakur said.
"Did they tell you who did it? No. So it's nothing new.
"The legacy is what he left for us to do. So we deal with the work. We don't do a lot of wondering."
Others can't help but still wonder about the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. Nobody has been charged in their shootings.
"If a conspiracy can hit a president, you know it can hit the rap game," Wish Bone said. "Every time black folks in general do something good, something that makes money for the black race, it's always looked upon as something bad. . . . They try to shut it down.
"I definitely think the murders were related. Who was behind it? Who knows? We know it was the powers-that-be, people who didn't want those messages out there."
Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. "were getting too powerful," Wish Bone said. "Anytime you're selling millions and millions of records and your message is heard, it means people are believing what you believe in -- and that's very dangerous in today's world."
Of course, pop culture tends not to allow its legends to rest in peace; just ask those people who swear Elvis Presley is alive and well and frequently patronizing fast-food joints. Whether you choose to accept it, however, at least the King's death is a closed case.
The same can't be said of the slayings of Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G.
"If you can reach the status of a Tupac or a Biggie and someone kills you and no one in government says, 'We're going to find these murderers no matter what,' or no one in law enforcement says, 'We're not going to sleep until the murders are solved,' what does that say to you?" Kitwana said.
"That, to me, is the real tragedy of Tupac and Biggie. . . . Could you imagine Paris Hilton getting shot and we never find out who killed her? Or Britney Spears?
"It shows you how black men are not taken seriously."
In the eyes of some, Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. have attained martyr status.
Shakur's mother will leave it to others to decide if the tag fits.
"His fans dictate whether or not he's a martyr," Afeni Shakur said. "I don't know, nor do I care. . . . I'm a mama who lost a son."
EMINEM INVITED TO PERFORM AT NELSON MANDELLA'S 90TH B'DAY
| Eminem has been invited to perform at the former South African president Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday party in June. According to New York's Daily News, Em was contacted by event coordinator Brian May - formerly of the rock band Queen - about a month ago to appear at the South African freedom fighter's celebration. The bash is to be held in London this June and will be hosted by Will Smith and organizers have extended initations to Slim Shady and Stevie Wonder to perform. If Eminem accepts, it will mark the first time Em has performed live since his surprise appearance at the 2006 BET Awards, where he joined Busta Rhymes to perform "Touch It." |
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ALICIA KEYS THE CONSPIRACY THEORIST?
NEW YORK — There's another side to Alicia Keys: conspiracy theorist. The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter tells Blender magazine: "`Gangsta rap' was a ploy to convince black people to kill each other. `Gangsta rap' didn't exist."
Keys, 27, said she's read several Black Panther autobiographies and wears a gold AK-47 pendant around her neck "to symbolize strength, power and killing 'em dead," according to an interview in the magazine's May issue, on newsstands Tuesday.
Another of her theories: That the bicoastal feud between slain rappers Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. was fueled "by the government and the media, to stop another great black leader from existing."
Keys' AK-47 jewelry came as a surprise to her mother, who is quoted as telling Blender: "She wears what? That doesn't sound like Alicia." Keys' publicist, Theola Borden, said Keys was on vacation and unavailable for comment.
Though she's known for her romantic tunes, she told Blender that she wants to write more political songs. If black leaders such as the late Black Panther Huey Newton "had the outlets our musicians have today, it'd be global. I have to figure out a way to do it myself," she said.
The multiplatinum songstress behind the hits "Fallin'" and "No One" most recently had success with her latest CD, "As I Am," which sold millions.
Keys, 27, said she's read several Black Panther autobiographies and wears a gold AK-47 pendant around her neck "to symbolize strength, power and killing 'em dead," according to an interview in the magazine's May issue, on newsstands Tuesday.
Another of her theories: That the bicoastal feud between slain rappers Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. was fueled "by the government and the media, to stop another great black leader from existing."
Keys' AK-47 jewelry came as a surprise to her mother, who is quoted as telling Blender: "She wears what? That doesn't sound like Alicia." Keys' publicist, Theola Borden, said Keys was on vacation and unavailable for comment.
Though she's known for her romantic tunes, she told Blender that she wants to write more political songs. If black leaders such as the late Black Panther Huey Newton "had the outlets our musicians have today, it'd be global. I have to figure out a way to do it myself," she said.
The multiplatinum songstress behind the hits "Fallin'" and "No One" most recently had success with her latest CD, "As I Am," which sold millions.
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