Fame Kills: Tupac (2023) Movie Script
(suspenseful music)
[Narrator] September 7th, 1996.
Tupac Shakur arrives by car in Las Vegas.
He's about to attend the
Bruce Seldon versus Mike Tyson
boxing match at the MGM Grand.
8:30 PM people start leaving the fight.
Shakur spots Orlando Anderson,
a member of the Southside
Crips and punches him in the face,
knocking him to the ground.
11:00 PM, following the altercation,
Suge Knight and Tupac drove off in Knight's car,
followed by the rest of Tupac's crew.
Only 15 minutes later,
a total of 13 shots were fired at the car Shakur was in.
An ambulance then, picked up Shakur and Knight
taking them to University Medical Center,
where Shakur underwent
the first of three operations.
Six days later, Tupac Shakur is pronounced dead.
(suspenseful music)
All the papers they building me up.
Now they destroying me on the same image
that they perpetuated.
Don't get it twisted. This is not my real life.
This is not how my real life is supposed to be.
[Reporter] Gangster rap star, Tupac Shakur,
underwent a third operation last night
to correct internal complications
stemming from the drive-by shooting.
Police say shots were fired
from a passing white Cadillac.
[Tupac] I have no patience for anybody to doubts me.
None, at all.
It's too hard out here, you know what I'm saying?
If my people don't stand up for me, who is?
(suspenseful music)
(somber music)
(slow groovy music)
[Narrator] Born June 16th, 1971
in the East Harlem section of Manhattan,
Lasane Parish Crooks was renamed
just before his first birthday after Tupac Amaru,
an 18th century South American revolutionary
who was executed after leading
an uprising against Spanish rule.
Tupac, this me determined overcome my obstacles.
[Narrator] This renaming comes as no surprise
when you learn that his parents,
Afeni Shakur and Billy Garland
were revolutionaries themselves
as active members of the
Black Panther Party in New York.
Afeni, Tupac's mother, was on trial in New York City
as part of the Panther 21 criminal case
just one month before the rapper was born.
So when the Panthers hit,
the government panicked
and they had a thing called a COINTELPRO.
And they felt like the Panthers
were detrimental to American society.
So they raided every Panthers house,
especially the ones who they felt like
could do the most damage as an orator.
So my mother was nine months pregnant, you know,
seven months pregnant.
They put a match to the door and said, "Fire, fire."
And you know, it's like five in the morning.
So my mother opened the door and they just burst in,
put a shotgun to her pregnant belly,
and put a gun to her head and said, "Don't move.
Bye, bye, bye."
He said, "You're under arrest."
[Narrator] In New York City,
two police stations and an education office
were the targets of planned synchronized bombings
and long range rifle attacks.
21 Black Panther members were detained.
The trial ultimately came to an end
with all 21 defendants acquitted of all charges.
Tupac Shakur was born just a month
after his mother was set free.
[Interviewer] So you were right
in the middle of the storm in the early up.
I'm still in the storm.
As a matter of fact, my mother was in a book.
There's a book about my mother called,
"Look For Me in the Whirlwind."
And I like to think that's my motto.
[Narrator] His intense hip hop songs
about the brutal reality of
existence for so many people
would go on to make him a
revolutionary in his own right,
altering the musical landscape.
Life was challenging.
Tupac initially hated his mother
since she was active in the movement
and never had time for her son
because she was out delivering speeches,
touring campuses, and attending demonstrations.
"I always seemed like she cared more
"about the people than her people," He claimed.
Tupac was a shy and reserved
child who read extensively,
wrote poetry, and kept a diary.
He liked to watch TV by himself,
picturing himself as a part
of the worlds he observed.
In his impressionable mind,
becoming an actor would allow him
to escape and share people's happiness.
Even joining a fictional television family
would make him not feel so alone.
I did a play at the Apollo Theater for Jesse Jackson
when he was running for
president, was for his campaign.
[Interviewer] Was this always
kind of an ambition of yours?
Did you have the show business bug as a youngster?
I mean, I caught it then,
but at the time it just seemed like the fun thing to do.
'Cause I was 13, I mean.
But I caught the bug when I got on stage
and all those people was clapping.
So that's when I got it.
But really, I just enjoy expressing myself.
Anytime I can express myself,
I can let some of the pain
go from a child to it like mine.
So that's why I enjoy acting.
[Narrator] A move to Baltimore, Maryland,
happened in the same year
when Tupac's mother lost her job.
After two years at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School,
there was a welcome transfer
to the Baltimore School for
the Arts, where acting, ballet,
poetry and jazz were on
offered to the creative teenager
who often performed in Shakespeare plays,
depicting the timeless themes of power,
politics, violence, and love.
He had seen firsthand in his early years.
The School for the Arts opened up Tupac
to an unexpectedly eclectic range of music,
including U2 Culture Club and Sinead O'Connor.
Tupac was a popular student at Baltimore Arts,
known for his humor and ability to mix with everyone.
His mother moved again into Marin City, California,
just north of San Francisco.
Tupac thought by moving away from Baltimore,
he would be leaving behind a life of poverty
in a neighborhood riddled with crime.
But California proved to be even worse.
He said that the poverty he
encountered in his early years
helped him relate to so many people.
And it was here that his mother, Afeni,
succumbed to crack addiction.
(soft upbeat music)
Tupac said that he and his mother
went through many stages in their relationship.
At first it was mother and son,
then drill sergeant and cadet,
then it was like a dictator and a tiny country.
With his mother's crack addiction hard to bear,
it finally became too much and he moved out.
The fact that he was on his own, broke
and with nowhere to stay
meant that he fell in with bad company, smoking weed,
staying with drug dealers, criminals and pimps,
naively believing that they
cared about his welfare.
He wished that he had a father, a male role model.
But instead, these people were his influencers.
They became his role models.
And listening to his music, it is clear the influence
the time he spent on the streets had.
A new record label called Interscope,
was looking for upcoming hip hop performers
in the summer of 1991.
Tupac signed the Interscope deal in August,
ironically, before any of his comrades
from digital underground got solo deals.
It was a stroke of good fortune
because the daughter of the multi-millionaire
who started the firm, Ted Field,
had heard his demo and loved it.
Tupac recorded his debut album "2Pacalypse Now"
while reciting in Oakland.
The album includes the singles.
"Brenda's got a Baby" and "Trapped."
He went from being unknown
to having a record that's sold platinum.
The album follows a young black man's life
from beginning to end,
detailing teenage pregnancies, poverty,
drug use, and police brutality.
It also includes references
to the artist's personal issues.
With the thrill of his first record Appearing on MTV,
a shocking incident occurred when Tupac
was badly beaten in the head.
In this press conference,
Pac goes into detail about what had happened to him.
Basically, I walked across
the street, 17th and Broadway.
The police officer stopped me on the sidewalk
and asked to see my ID.
They sweated me about my name.
The officers said, "You have to learn your place."
They were charging me with jaywalking.
So I was riffing, arguing about
why would they charge me with such a petty crime.
So I kept yelling, asking him to gimme my citation
and let me go about my business.
Next thing I know,
my face was being buried into the concrete
and I was laying face down in the gutter,
waking up from being unconscious in cuffs
with blood on my face,
and I'm going to jail for resisting arrest.
That's harassment to me,
that I have to be stopped in the middle of the street
and checked like we in South
Africa and asked for my ID.
Officer Boyovich repeatedly
slammed my face into the floor
while Rodgers just put the cuffs on me.
That's not called for, for jaywalking.
[Narrator] He had a 10 million lawsuit,
which they said they would settle,
but Tupac said, "Nobody cared."
What people cared about was
what blew up over the news.
They didn't see him being beaten up for jaywalking,
images of him with his head
and eye bloodied and bruised.
All they wanted to see
were the images of him
coming out of jail in handcuffs.
It was a traumatic experience,
but a rite of passage for him.
Pac came from a family where police
had killed the people close to him.
After the Oakland police had
beaten him up, he changed.
He settled for $42,000 because he was tired
of being in court, knowing
he could have got more money,
but settling for it to be over.
(soft piano music)
Often complaining that he was misunderstood,
Tupac remarked, "Everything
in life is not all beautiful."
There is lots of killing and drugs.
A perfect album talks about the hard stuff
and the fun and caring stuff.
The thing that bothers me is that,
it seems like a lot of the sensitive stuff I write
"just goes unnoticed."
His debut album "2Pacalypse Now"
captures the plight of the black individual
in an era marked by Reaganomics
and the 80s crack epidemic,
highlighting the oppression, anger,
and reality of a world that unfortunately,
does not feel all that much different
from the current climate.
These themes sparked controversy.
"Soldier's Story" tells the tale of a young black man
who shoots a police officer in retaliation
for his marginalized place in society.
In April of 1992,
Ronald Howard fatally shot a state trooper in Texas
after he was pulled over
for driving a stolen vehicle.
Howard's attorney cited Tupac's "Soldier Story"
as his influence to shoot.
Howard was convicted of capital murder
and sentenced to death.
Later that September then,
Vice President Dan Quayle,
demanded that Interscope records
remove the album from retail shelves,
describing it as an irresponsible corporate act
and adding that there is absolutely no reason
for a record like this to be published.
Tupac was only 22 when his fame soared
to unprecedented heights.
He described the burden of having
so many young people
listening to every word he spoke
as feeling like a dear caught in the headlights.
People love to, you know,
have mercy and sympathy for everything
from the animals, to the whales,
to fur, to everything except us, your youth,
the ones who you've had give no attention to,
who become adults with no compassion.
You know what I mean?
And I feel like if you walk by a street
and you was walking on concrete
and you saw a rose growing outta concrete,
even if it had messed up petals
and it was a little, you know, to the side,
you would marvel at just seeing
a rose grow through concrete.
So why is it that when you see some ghetto kid
grow outta all of the dirtiest circumstances
and he can talk and he can sit across from you,
make you smile, make you cry, make you laugh,
all you can talk about is my dirty rose,
my dirty stems, and how I'm leaning crooked to the side.
You can't even see that I came up out of that.
[Narrator] He had coined the phrase, "Thug Life"
to characterize a fresh take on black power.
The word thug did not refer to a bad person.
Rather, it indicated an underdog.
He described it as the thug who achieves
despite having nothing.
They face all of life's challenges.
T-H-U-G-L-I-F-E,
the hate you gave little infants,
Fu-C-K, everybody meaning,
what you feed us as seeds
grows and blows up in your face.
That's Thug Life.
Names like Tupac Shakur, Flavor Flav, Snoop Doggy Dog,
[Reporter] Reverend Calvin Butts
is leading a crusade against violent rap
from his pulpit in Harlem.
We're not against rap, we're not against rappers,
but we are against those thugs.
Yes I am gonna say that I'm a thug,
that's because I came from
the gutter and I'm still here.
I'm not saying I'm a thug
'cause I wanna rob you and rape people and things.
I'm a business man.
I mean, you know, I'm a business man
because you find me at my place of business.
You don't find me up in,
you know what I'm saying?
I don't understand this. I don't understand this.
[Interviewer] What do you think about?
[Narrator] He said that he
had people in the penitentiary
big time OG criminals calling him,
telling him they wanted him to lead their movement.
He felt as though his power
was getting out of control.
The fans were more than fans,
they were devoted followers.
They would do anything he said.
And this scared him.
At the truce picnic in Watts, California,
Tupac was instrumental in getting rival members
of the Crips and Bloods gangs
to sign the code of Thug Life,
which details dos and don'ts
of being a righteous thug and man.
It was written by Tupac,
together with his stepfather, Mutulu Shakur
and with the help of some original gangsters.
This code was his way of maintaining some control
within his devoted following
who may have interpreted thug more literally.
People that are not involved
with the street gang, with the drug trade
or the illegal business and all, you know,
all that kidnapping and
shooting drive-bys out the car.
We against that.
And people who perpetrate that,
they have to deal with the
consequences when they go to jail
'cause that's who's gonna enforce this code
and the Thug Life that's on the street.
It's like we cleaning up the dirt.
I can't change what the dirt that's here,
but I can put all this dirt in one corner.
You know what I'm saying?
Somehow I have some order here.
And for that they need to gimme a little leg room.
You know what I'm saying?
Let me do what I wanna do
because nobody else is gonna do it.
Nobody else wants to do it.
[Narrator] Undoubtedly, Tupac often ran
into problems with his words.
Lyrically he felt like he
would and could not hold back
on what he wanted to say.
He did not always consider his words
before speaking in interviews because he was young
and still relatively new to appearing in the media.
One example of this is when Tupac appeared on TV
to explain his side of the story
as to why he was fired from a movie.
It all stemmed from when the Hughes brothers
took Tupac to court after he assaulted them
during a music video shoot they were directing.
Tupac had initially been slated to star
in "Menace to Society,"
but was replaced after the assault incident.
The show's host, Ed Lover, tried to cover his mouth
so that Tupac would not dig
himself an even deeper hole
when he appeared on
television and expressed his views
about why he had been sacked from the role.
However, it was too late.
I beat up the directors to "Menace to Society."
Let me tell the whole world, all right.
[Friend] Tell me why you did what you had did today.
He's chump, punk, slump, you know what I'm saying?
[Crowd] Hey, hey.
Y'all don't have a chance to come here and rebuttal,
No they won't. They better come now.
Check this out.
They fired me but did it in a
roundabout punk snitch way.
So I caught 'em on the streets and beat they behind.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, I was with them niggas to the east but,
and it ain't over.
I still got more,
(crowd chattering)
[Narrator] The MTV video was used
by the Hughes brothers in court
to support Tupac's conviction for assault.
He spent 15 days behind bars.
There was more trouble to come.
In New York, Tupac and three other guys
were accused of assaulting a woman in a hotel room.
[Interviewer] Hi, Tupac. How you doing?
Can you tell me how you doing today?
Well, I just had to listen to the prosecution's
closing argument and it
was just so far from the truth
that it really just has me
drained at the end of the day.
But I'm leaving it in the hands of the jury.
I'm learning a lot about people's innermost fears
in this trial because as far,
it's not even about my trial no more.
It's just about loud rap music, tattoo, having thugs.
It's not even about me no more.
It's about, you know,
some nightmare that these people having.
[Interviewer] She's talking about Thug Life
and all that, trying to.
She's like, "He's definitely guilty.
Anybody with thug life tattooed
on their stomach is guilty."
What type of reasoning is that?
You know what I'm saying?
We got different backgrounds.
We come from two different places.
Just because I look different than her
doesn't mean that I'm a sodomizer or a raper.
They've said it in the,
I can't understand why it's this close.
They talking about,
there's no evidence that I ever sodomized.
That even though you put that all over the paper,
and every time they take a
quote out of this courtroom,
they take a quote from outta
her mouth, which is, you know,
the stuff to put me in jail.
It was nothing that's been true.
Print the facts so everybody can sort it out.
My life is ruined
because nobody has a chance to get the facts.
[Interviewer] And the facts is that
there was no semen found.
No semen found, no forcible entry,
no entry into the anal, no
nothing, none of that, you know.
[Interviewer] No fingerprints on the gun.
No fingerprints on the guns, you know what I'm saying?
The only time ever there was an act side of me,
she admitted she did it to me.
I should be, you know,
putting charges on this girl who sodomized me
on the floor of a dance club.
Why am I in court? You know what I'm saying?
Getting my life ripped apart.
But I'm here.
I'm gonna go through it just to show
that I have faith in the America system.
But for me to have faith in the America system,
these juries and everybody else has to,
you know what I'm saying,
play the same role and to keep an open mind.
I'm already convicted. My whole
life has been turned around.
I lost every job.
I lost everything, every opportunity.
Can't buy cars, can't get rent,
can't get none of that.
But I'm still a survivor, you know.
I'm still coming to court, still smiling,
still signing autographs.
But soon I'm gonna go crazy. You know what I'm saying?
And it's up to the world, you know.
America eats its babies.
No matter what y'all think
about me, I'm still your child.
You know what I'm saying?
You can't just turn me off like that.
[Interviewer] How old are you? 23.
I'm 23.
[Interviewer] So you feel that your career is.
Yeah, it is.
Why would I own a gun?
I have registered guns, you know what I'm saying?
- I'm a legal owner of guns.
- In California.
In California.
So I came to New York.
I wanted to be an illegal gun runner now, you know?
That's what they want you to believe.
I wanna start erasing.
Why? Come on man.
This is all about my image.
This has nothing to do with
me. This is all about my image.
It's like MTV, all the papers they building me up,
now they destroying me on the same image
that they perpetuated.
You know what I'm saying?
I'm selling records. This is what I do for a living.
I'm selling records. Don't get it twisted.
This is not my real life.
This is not how my real life is supposed to be.
I'm not supposed to be really having
all these villains in my life.
[Narrator] Tupac was given a $50,000 bail and released.
But on November 30th, 1994,
the night before that trial's decision was to be made,
he was shot five times, twice in the head,
twice in the groin,
and most seriously with a
bullet that went through his hand
and struck an artery in his thigh.
Shakur was apparently attacked by robbers
as he and three other men arrived
in a New York City recording
studio Early this morning.
A man identified as Shakur's
manager was also wounded.
Shakur and his road manager
are currently on trial on sex abuse charges.
[Narrator] He was robbed and assaulted
by two armed guys wearing army fatigues.
As he entered the Quad Recording
Studios foyer in Manhattan.
He would later accuse fellow recording artists,
Sean Combs, Andre Harrell and Biggie Smalls,
whom he saw after the shooting, of setting him up.
Also suspected of being involved in the attack,
was his close friend and associate.
Randy Stretch Walker.
In his defense, Biggie said that
they were in the recording studio
and did not know Tupac would be there.
Once they heard he was downstairs,
Lil Cease went to get him,
but returned with news that he had just been shot.
When Biggie's entourage
went downstairs to investigate,
Tupac was being taken out on a stretcher,
still conscious and giving
the finger to those around.
They brung him out - Stretcher.
On the elevator right past us.
He come out and look around,
stick up the middle finger,
put him in the ambulance.
And we was just curious like,
what was that supposed to mean?
Like what that middle finger to us.
[Reporter] From Tupac's perspective,
he said, "Nobody would look into the eye,"
and that the people that were upstairs
must have known that he was
gonna be ambushed and robbed.
And so, he basically accused
all the people in that room
of being part of the conspiracy.
[Narrator] Tupac allegedly checked himself out
of Bellevue Hospital against
the advice of the medical staff
because he felt unsafe there
and that it was time for him to leave.
His paranoia was fueled by unsolicited calls
and he had trouble falling asleep.
At this point, Tupac even claimed he wanted to die
because he felt like a prisoner of fame.
[Reporter] Shakur was found guilty
of sexually abusing a woman last November
in a New York hotel room.
The jury acquitted him of more serious charges,
sodomy and illegal carrying a weapon.
Shakur who was shot five times Wednesday
during an apparent robbery attempt
was not in the courtroom when the verdict was read.
I'm not guilty. People should look me in my eyes.
They should look me in my eyes.
And anybody that thinks I've committed that rape
should go get "Brenda's Got a Baby"
and keep your head out and listen to 'em thoroughly.
I have no patience for anybody to doubt me.
None at all.
It's too hard out here. You know what I'm saying?
If my people don't stand up for me, who is?
I understand these white
folks looking at me like that
'cause they don't know me.
They didn't hear "Keep Your Head Up."
That ain't no fluke, you know.
"Keep Your Head Up" ain't no goddamn come up.
I didn't do that for to be smiling in my face
to say, "Oh, he's cool."
I did that from my heart,
so that they do try to put a rape charge on me
my sisters could say, "He ain't doubt that."
Now, if my sisters can't say that.
You won't hear none of them.
Keep your head up out my mouth.
[Narrator] He received a sentence
of 18 months to four and a half years in jail
in February of the following year,
from a judge who condemned
this act of brutal violence
against a helpless woman.
He believed that because of his celebrity,
the case was pushed towards a guilty finding
even though the defense had no proof
and that this would not have happened to anyone else.
Could not be here breathing and be comfortable
if I was really as bad as they was making it, you know.
Nobody could be around me.
So for me to be this calm,
I must have some kind of inner peace.
And my inner peace is knowing that once everybody
take the time to really see what type of person I am,
you'd be surprised.
[Narrator] "Me Against the World" is referred to
as Tupac's most introspective album.
It's lyrics are inspired by
his nearing prison sentence,
poverty and run-ins with the law.
While he was still incarcerated,
the album was released,
which helped change the perception of him
from a gangster rapper to more of a gangster poet.
The album crafts a world
equal parts, truth and fiction,
featuring news broadcasts
that recount court drama,
shootings, robberies, and
the media storm that followed.
There are tender introspective times
when he transforms into a street poet
who wants to uplift his
community and the ladies in it
as in the song, "Dear Mama,"
where Tupac expresses empathy for the challenges
his mother faced while raising him.
He discusses his mother's crack cocaine addiction
and his childhood poverty,
but argues that his love and respect for his mother
outweigh any negative memories.
In the early years,
there was certainly
turbulence in their relationship.
And after Tupac lost respect for her
and left home at her insistence at the age of 17,
they lost contact.
She engaged in a 12 step program
at a drug and alcohol treatment facility in 1990,
after finding her habit was out of control.
She and her son, who at the time
was a successful recording artist, reconciled.
Afeni, makes an appearance in the "Dear Mama: video"
where she recreates her reconciliation
with a doppelganger of her son as Tupac,
who was still incarcerated at the time.
And even as a crack fiend, Mama
You always was a black queen, Mama
I finally understand
For a woman it ain't easy tryin' to raise a man
You always was committed
A poor single mother on
welfare, tell me how you did it
There's no way I can pay you back
But the plan is to show you that I understand
You are appreciated
Lady, don't you know we love you
Sweet lady Dear Mama
Place no one above you
You are appreciated
Sweet lady, don't you know we love you
After serving 11 months in prison, Suge Knight,
the CEO of Death Row Records paid a 1.4 million bond
in October, 1995, pending a legal appeal.
Tupac was then freed fro the
Clinton Correctional Facility.
Freedom brought creativity.
And within two weeks he had recorded 24 tracks
saying that it was the best way to vent
instead of paying some psychotherapist 50 million.
As part of his come back,
Tupac released the single, "California Love."
It was one of his best known and most popular singles,
spending two weeks at the
top of the Billboard Hot 100.
It is currently regarded
as one of the greatest rap songs of all time
and appears on numerous lists
of the greatest songs of all
time from notable publications.
Out on bail fresh outta jail, California dreamin
Soon as I stepped on the scene
I'm hearin hoochies screamin
Fiendin for money and alcohol
The life of a west side playa where cowards die
Only in Cali where we riot not rally to live and die
In L.A. we wearin Chucks not Ballies
Dressed in locs and khaki
suits and ride is what we do
Flossin but have caution
we collide with other crews
Famous because we program worldwide
Let 'em recognize from Long Beach to Rosecrans
Bumpin and grindin like a slow jam, it's west side
So you know the row won't bow down to no man
His release from prison
seemed almost like a rebirth
for Tupac's creativity.
Up to that point, he'd mostly been an insular artist
with ideas and thoughts
aimed in specific directions.
"California Love" gave him
the stellar widescreen treatment
that the Notorious B.I.G would get later.
It was just a glimpse of what he might achieve
as a rap superstar.
I probably need to stay true to the streets.
Rap could do whatever it gotta do to make money.
Just stay alive.
But hip hop gotta stay true to the streets.
Keep your head up, you know. Don't give up.
[Narrator] Tupac's new deal wasn't only about music
since Suge Knight of Death Row Records
was one of the most influential and feared guys
in the music business and was a key player
in gangster rap's ascend to
massive commercialization.
It also signaled his acceptance
into Suge's powerful crew,
which is well known for having strong gang ties.
As soon as Tupac was led out of prison,
the West Coast versus East Coast rivalry ramped up.
Bad Boy was the nickname for the East Coast
and Death Row for the West.
Like everything else, business
success was based on sales.
So the success of the musicians
and how many records they sold were crucial.
Hip hop originated in New York City
and LA musicians believed they weren't afforded
the same media exposure and fan base
as those on the East Coast.
But for Tupac, it was more personal than this.
Tupac had a strong connection to the region
and he disapproved of East Coast rappers
like Diddy and Biggie who, in his opinion,
wanted to dirty up everything
he had worked so hard to achieve.
Tupac said some crude
remarks about P Diddy and Biggie
in an interview given to Vibe Magazine.
He claimed that Biggie knew he was getting set up
when he was shot and failed to warn him.
Since he was now associated
with Suge Knight and Death Row,
the situation changed entirely
and turned into a conflict
with bloodshed and threats.
The source awards in New York were where it all began.
Knight flew in a significant
amount of the Death Row crew.
That evening Suge Knight's infamous comments
served as the first shot in a deadly conflict.
I'd like to tell Tupac, keep his guards up.
We ride with him.
(crowd cheering)
And one other thing I'd like to say,
any artist out there wanna be a artist,
they wanna stay a star,
won't have to worry about the executive producer
trying to be all in the video, all on the record,
dancing, come to Death Row.
(crowd cheering)
[Narrator] Another thing that infuriated Tupac
was Biggie's release of "Who Shot Ya"
just a few months after the shooting occurred.
Even though it didn't
specifically mention him by name,
Tupac felt it was a dig at him.
Soon after he composed "Hit 'Em Up"
a legendary battle record.
He used the song as an
opportunity to express his belief
that Biggie had copied his wrapping style
and was essentially imitating his way of life.
Tupac originally included
a jab at Jay-Z at the end of the song,
but he later took it out after being persuaded
by members Outlaws that Carter
had nothing to do with the dispute
between Death Row and Bad Boy.
In the music video,
performers who had previously
appeared in his music videos
played some of the characters
who were attacked in the song.
That's why I fuck with your bitch
You fat motherfucker
Take money
Westside, Bad Boy killers
You know who the realest is niggas
We hit you
Take money
First off, fuck your bitch and the click you claim
Westside when we ride come equipped with game
You claim to be a player but I fucked your wife
We bust on Bad Boy niggaz fucked for life
Plus Puffy tryin' ta see me weak hearts I rip
Biggie Smalls and Junior MAFIA.
Some mark-ass bitches
We keep on comin' while we runnin' for yo' jewels
Steady gunnin, keep on bustin at them fools
How I became Tupac's bodyguard,
I was working security at Club 662.
I got a phone call from Reggie earlier that day
and he said, "Hey, Suge wants to talk to you."
"I think that we got a proposition for you."
And I go, "What is it? What is it?"
And he goes, "I'll talk to you when I get there."
And I was like, "No, what is it?"
He goes, "It's concerning Tupac."
They got there that night, at 662
and Pac rolled up with Suge.
And I went and greeted him
and I opened up the the door to let him out.
He was like, "Yo Big Frank, you here, man. You here?"
I was like, "No man, what's up?"
He goes, "Man, you gonna be my bodyguard man.
I chose you to be my bodyguard."
I was like, "Oh, cool man," right.
I had no idea prior to that
until he actually had told me.
I had the idea of what Reggie had told me
that I was gonna be working with Tupac,
but I didn't know I was gonna be his main security.
As he's explained it to me,
I wanna be your, his main security.
Right after that we did the fight in Vegas
and they performed and everything that night.
We went back to LA after that weekend.
And immediately after going back to la that Monday,
I was assigned to Tupac.
From that moment on, it was Pac and I, you know.
Everywhere he went, I was with him
and we were rolling, pictures rolling.
(cheerful music)
[Narrator] September 7th, 1996, 2:30 PM,
Tupac Shakur arrives by car in Las Vegas.
5:30 PM people start lining up
at Club 662 on Flamingo Road,
where Tupac Shakur and Mike Tyson are to appear
after the boxing match.
That day we were told
not to bring our weapons
into the club after the fight.
Not to have our weapons on our person.
To either leave them in our hotel room
or to leave them in our vehicles.
[Interviewer] Has there ever been a situation
where you were told to leave
your weapon prior to this?
We were never told prior to September the 7th
to leave our weapons anywhere
other than the fact, if we were going
out of the state of California by airplane
to a video shoot or on tour.
We knew common sensely,
we couldn't carry a weapon on an airplane.
So more than likely,
we would've left our weapons at that time.
But we were never told,
there was never a meeting held
specifically to tell us to leave our weapons, period.
The fight was boom, boom, boom, boom.
The fight was over.
After the fight, Tupac and Suge's thing
was to go to the back where, you know,
Mike's dressing room.
So we went backstage.
We go backstage and we're waiting on Tyson
to come back there.
And Pac's back there.
He is all excited, you know.
His boy just knocked out Seldon, you know.
"50 blows, 50 blows.
He just hit him 50 times.
You count em? You count him?"
So you know, I'm back there with him and everything
and Suge is back there.
So Suge says something to Pac,
and then, the next thing I know we're leaving.
Tyson didn't even make it out the ring to come down it.
Everyone shows up.
And one of the homeboys, one of Suge's homeboys,
name is Travon.
He comes over and he whispers
something in Pac's right ear
'cause I'm on his left.
He whispers something.
Next thing I know, Pac takes off running.
He took off running and I went off running behind him.
And when he turned the corner,
there was this guy standing there.
Little did I know who he was.
He ran up to him and he swung.
And then the guy swung back.
And then Pac weaved and Pac swung again.
And at this time there was
like three or four blows thrown.
Tupac hit this medallion on
that he had recently purchased and it broke.
When it broke, he went down to pick it up.
When he went down to pick it up, I grabbed him.
When I grabbed him, I threw him against the wall.
So I had him out of the fight.
At this time everyone else is running up
as clearly the MGM footage shows.
The guy's Orlando Anderson, now that we know who he is.
They're into this brawl.
And I have Tupac against the wall now at this point.
The fight ended. We had to get out of there.
Little did I know earlier when they had left me,
I had already walked all through the MGM.
So everybody's taking off,
going in the wrong direction.
I go, "No, Suge, Suge. This way, this way," right?
And then he was like, "No, this way."
And I go, "Suge, I was just here all day. This way."
So they followed and we followed.
We got our way out and we took off
and walked back over to the Luxor.
We get back over to the Luxor.
Suge said, "Hey, I'm gonna go up and change."
Pac said, "I'm gonna go up and change.
We'll meet back down in the valet."
"All right. Cool."
We're down in the, at this time we left his room,
we're down in the valet park and we're waiting on Suge.
Suge shows up.
While we're down in the valet,
all of the hoochies, all of the groupies,
everybody that knew Tupac and Suge, was like,
"Suge, can we go to the club?
Suge, Pac, can we go?"
Suge said, "Let's go."
He and Pac was walking to Suge's BMW.
I'm walking with them.
When we get to their car,
Pac turned to me and goes, "Yo Frank,"
he pulled the keys out and he handed me the keys.
He goes, "Drive the little homies
because we're gonna be drinking tonight
and you'll be able to drive us back."
So I was like, "What car do you want me to drive?"
He goes, "Drive Cadata's car."
And I didn't even know where the car was.
I go, "Where is it?"
He goes, "It's right there."
He goes, "The homies show you where it's at."
So I was like, "All right."
So Suge gets in his car, he and Pac
and the entourage is starting to form now.
Suge takes off.
I'm right behind him. I'm the bodyguard on point.
Theoretically and honestly,
there should have been
three or four more bodyguards
with us that particular time,
going from there, going to Suge's house
and going back to the club
that night for the after party.
Later on I found out that with security that there,
it was 22, about 20 to 22
security personnel for this night.
Everyone was called at
Club 662 to set up the security
and get the people rolling in over there.
So all of the security was there.
Michael Moore, who was with me earlier that evening,
supposedly had met us at the MGM.
His story to me was Al Giddens,
who was the supervisor
now for security at this point.
Al Giddens told Michael Moore to fuck that.
You go and come to the club.
And he was like, "Well, Tupac told me
to come over to the MGM."
He was like, "No, we need you over here. You get over here."
So Mike went over to the club.
So I was the only one left with Pac.
Keep in mind, my weapon was in my car.
I didn't have a phone. I had no way of communication.
Reggie was also over at the club.
Reggie normally is Suge's bodyguard
and Reggie is always with Suge.
That night why he wasn't with
Suge, only Reggie knows that.
(car engine revving)
At this time, everyone in the car, not just me,
looked at the gas and was like,
"Yo, Frank, we gonna run out of gas."
I was like, "What y'all want me to do?
Pull over and get gas?"
I go, "You know if we pull over, we lost them, right?"
So I said, "I can't pull over.
I might as well take the
chance and run out of gas, right?"
Thinking we're just gonna go to Suge's
and from Suge's back to the club.
But the light had been on forever at this point
on the gas light.
[Interviewer] How long were you on, at Suge's?
When we got to SU's house,
we were at Suge's house, probably a good 30 minutes.
Suge went in, he changed clothes, you know.
And they were all just BSing a little bit.
When Suge finally came out, hopped in his car,
when we came through the security guard
that guards the homes going into Suge's place.
There had to been 20, 30 cars out on the road
just waiting for us to come out to follow us.
We leave outta Suge's.
Again, we're flying 70, 80 miles an hour
going back toward Las Vegas strip.
We get back on the strip at this point,
and why a car didn't run out of gas,
it is a miracle right now to me because it should had.
We get back on the strip,
we're proceeding to go down the strip.
It's a fight night.
The fight's over. The strip is jam packed crowded.
We're probably about in front of the Excalibur Hotel,
which is right by Tropicana on a Las Vegas strip.
Tupac and Suge was in the car in front of me.
And their music was playing pretty loud
'cause we could hear it.
And there was bicycle cops,
a couple of bicycle cops pulled
up and one of them went over
to Suge side and asked him, I
guess, to turn down the music.
I'm assuming.
And then the next thing I know,
Suge opens the door, steps out of the car.
He and the cop walks to the back of the car
and he opens up the trunk.
The car was brand new. Didn't have a license plate on it.
So he looked in the trunk and you know,
I'm just sitting there and I'm thinking,
oh shit, I hope they don't get popped.
They let him go.
So now we're still in gridlock traffic.
So we, you know, proceed to go down the strip.
We're going down the strip.
Pac and Suge are up there doing their thing, talking.
Myself and outlaws, were in there, you know,
listening to their music.
We get to Flamingo off of Las Vegas strip.
We gotta turn right.
We make a right off of the strip.
The next light is Covo.
Little did we know that anything was about to happen.
(suspenseful music)
We pull up to the light.
I am the second car.
Actually, I'm the third car.
One of Suge's Homeboys was in front of Suge,
which never, ever, ever happened
with anyone being in front of Suge.
Then another one of his homeboys, Travon,
was to the left of Suge,
which would've been to his side of the car.
So you got Travon to the left,
you have K-Dove in the front, and you have me in the back.
We were sitting at this light.
September, it's hot, sticky.
We're all just sitting there
pretty much, just vegging out,
waiting on a light to change.
Then all of a sudden, I noticed this white Cadillac.
Cadillac pulls up and it was
not like a thought of mine
that something was about to happen
because in the entourages,
we're proceeding to go to Club 662,
I mean, women are like, "Yo, Pac, Pac."
Suge, Suge.
And, "Can we go. Can we go," you know.
Groupies and things like that.
So it was not anything out of the ordinary
for this car to be pulling up
thinking that something's gonna happen.
And as soon as the car pulled up,
my head turned back and I'm looking
and I'm watching the car.
Malcolm, who is sitting in the seat behind Yak Fula.
Yak Fula was in a passenger
seat with me up in the front.
And K who's K. Kastro was directly behind me.
Before the Cadillac pulled up,
we're all just vegging, near
looking out toward the right.
Cadillac pulls up, we noticed it.
Then all of a sudden his arm comes out
and the arm comes out.
And he just started firing immediately.
And I'm like, "Oh my God."
And all you see, and all you hear is,
(gun firing)
(somber music)
(siren wailing)
They had Suge out of the vehicle on the ground,
and as I was approaching him,
the blood was shooting up out of his head.
So I'm yelling, "Let him up. Let him up.
He's with us. He's part of the entourage."
And when they let him up,
Tupac is still sitting in the passenger seat.
The door is still closed.
So Suge says, I could do it. I could do it.
"It's my car. I'll open it."
The door was actually stuck.
So Suge got over there, opened the door,
and we pulled Pac out of the car.
When we pulled him out of the car,
we line him down on the side of the car,
and I'm kneeling down at this time
and I'm talking to him like "Pac, man.
Pac. Pac."
And he's like, (breathing heavily)
he's trying to breathe.
And then he goes, "I can't breathe."
[Narrator] A former sergeant
from the Las Vegas Police Department
named Chris Carroll came out in 2014,
18 years after the shooting,
to claim that he was the first person on the scene.
He claimed that when the door was opened,
Tupac fell out of the car, drenched in blood.
The question was, who shot you?
Tupac reportedly took a
breath to answer before saying,
"Fuck you," to the police officer
before losing consciousness.
Those were Tupac's final words.
After the shooting, Shakur's car made a U-turn
and headed west on Flamingo.
Police reached the car on the strip
where it was caught in traffic at Harman Avenue.
An ambulance then picked up Shakur at night
taking them to University Medical Center,
where Shakur underwent
the first of three operations.
His right lung is removed to stop internal bleeding.
Sunday, September 8th, 11:00 AM,
Knight is released from the
University Medical Center.
At 6:20 PM, Shakur undergoes a second operation at UMC
to repair damage from the bullet wounds.
September 13th, 1996, 4:03
PM, sadly nothing could be done.
Tupac passed away from his injuries
just six days after the shooting.
He was only 25 years old.
Las Vegas Police failed to
follow up with Yaki Kadafi,
a member of Tupac Entourage
who was present that evening
and who said he could identify the attacker.
And as a result, no one was ever detained
in connection with the brutal killing.
It seems too much of a
coincidence that two months later,
Kadafi was murdered
before he could give his damning statement.
Former LAPD detective, Russell Poole, has one theory.
He thinks Suge Knight
orchestrated the killing of Tupac.
Given that Knight was wounded in the shooting,
it might seem implausible considering Knight
was hit in the shooting.
But Detective Poole thinks
that he had his own motives for the contract killing.
Knight reportedly owing
Tupac a sizeable sum of money,
some estimates put the amount at 10 million.
Afeni Shakur, Tupac's mother, supports the theory.
She sued Death Row records in 1997
for mismanaging her son's assets
and depriving Tupac of millions of dollars.
Seemingly more proof for this theory
comes by way of the fact that Tupac
intended to leave Death Row Records,
firing his lawyer at the time, David Kenner,
who in addition to being Suge Knight's lawyer,
also wrote up Tupac's agreement
with Death Row Records.
Just a week after the lawyer was fired,
Knight invited Tupac to the fateful boxing match.
Another warning sign is how,
following the altercation in the MGM lobby,
Knight calmly made a phone call
while everyone else ran away.
A further important note to mention
is his insistence that Tupac rides
in his car after the fight.
Orlando Anderson first testified that Suge Knight
was involved in the lobby fighting,
but later revised his account to indicate that Suge
had attempted to break up the altercation.
He said, "I see him pulling people off of me."
According to one account,
Anderson modified his story
as a result of a payoff from Knight.
The detective added that neither the hospital,
any witnesses nor the police
ever confirmed that night
had been shot that evening.
Chuck Phillips, a former LA Times journalist,
has a different theory.
He thought the South Side Crips gang,
Biggie Smalls and Orlando
Anderson were behind the killing.
The LA Times spent more than a year
looking into the murder
and came to the following conclusions.
The Crips shot Tupac as
retaliation for beating Anderson.
The shooter was Anderson.
Biggie Smalls paid $1 million
for the pistol that was provided in Tupac's murder.
What drives Biggie to want Tupac dead?
His yearlong battle was well-documented.
His admission in "Hit 'Em Up"
that he had an affair with Faith Evans,
Biggie's wife, was enough proof.
According to the investigative journalist,
Biggie nor anyone who was affiliated with him
was not questioned by the police.
Six months later in March, 1997,
Christopher Wallace, AKA Biggie Smalls,
was fatally shot in a drive-by
shooting in Los Angeles
by an unknown assailant.
With Orlando Anderson shot to death in May, 1998
another avenue of investigation closed.
Though he had always denied responsibility
for Tupac's death and was never charged.
Greg Kading, a former LAPD detective
assigned to the investigation in 2006,
10 years after the incident
put out a different theory.
He blamed East Coast Bad Boy Record CEO, Sean Combs,
often known as P Diddy, for
orchestrating Tupac's murder.
When Detective Kading spoke with Keith Davis,
a member of the Crips gang,
Davis confessed on camera that P Diddy
had given him 1 million to kill Tupac and Suge Knight.
Additionally, he acknowledged
that Orlando Anderson,
Davis' actual nephew, was the one who fired the shot.
He also admitted to being in Anderson's car
when the murder occurred.
Orlando rolled down the window and popped him.
According to Davis,
Diddy's motivation was his dread
and anxiety that Suge Knight would attack first.
Additionally, he claimed that Tupac
was only added to the hit as a result
of P Diddy's outrage over his disc track "Hit 'Em Up."
Because of the shooting in 1994
and the aftermath with
Tupac repeatedly stated that
he suspected Diddy to be
the perpetrator of the incident,
also helped ground this theory.
In 2011, Dexter Isaac, who was serving life in prison,
confessed that a P Diddy associate
hired him to rob Tupac that night.
P Diddy has consistently refuted the assertion,
saying that it is pure
fiction and totally ridiculous.
The case has not been resolved.
It appears unlikely that the
exact details of Tupac's death
will ever be proved beyond
a reasonable doubt in court,
given that most of the key players
are currently either dead or
serving lengthy prison terms.
However, that won't stop others from seeking answers.
Tupac had a prophecy about his death stating,
"That's why I go in the studio
and do three songs a day, get things ready.
If I die, it can happen.
If anything were to happen to
me, that album's ready to go."
Believing that his death would be a tragedy,
he envisioned it being like something
from a Shakespeare play.
Tupac Shakur endures as one of hip hop's
most iconic figures and its most potent enigma.
No other artist does a greater job
of highlighting the tensions in hip hop
between local pride and national success,
as well as the fight to rise above
and honor one's humble beginnings.
You know, out of the love for black people.
So that's how I gotta live and that's how I have to die,
and that's how my music has to be
and my acting and my producing and my interviews,
everything has to be for the love of black people.
[Narrator] Tupac transformed rap
from a simple street trend into an elite art form.
He laid the foundation for the present iteration
of the hip hop movement
and continued its evolution as a poet
whose tales of alienation
captivated young people
of all races and backgrounds.
I'm stealing this film.
As a matter of fact, my mother was in a book.
There's a book about my mother
called "Look for Me in the whirlwind."
I like to think that's my motto.
(somber music)
[Narrator] From the beginning.
He was aware of his very short window of time to live
and his desire to create a body of work.
He was always writing, always making something,
and always in the studio.
Even in prison, he was writing a screenplay.
Knowing that he would not be on this earth
for any length of time, he
came with a specific purpose,
contradictions, complexities and all.
And he left behind something
that has touched a generation of people.
(soft piano music)
[Narrator] September 7th, 1996.
Tupac Shakur arrives by car in Las Vegas.
He's about to attend the
Bruce Seldon versus Mike Tyson
boxing match at the MGM Grand.
8:30 PM people start leaving the fight.
Shakur spots Orlando Anderson,
a member of the Southside
Crips and punches him in the face,
knocking him to the ground.
11:00 PM, following the altercation,
Suge Knight and Tupac drove off in Knight's car,
followed by the rest of Tupac's crew.
Only 15 minutes later,
a total of 13 shots were fired at the car Shakur was in.
An ambulance then, picked up Shakur and Knight
taking them to University Medical Center,
where Shakur underwent
the first of three operations.
Six days later, Tupac Shakur is pronounced dead.
(suspenseful music)
All the papers they building me up.
Now they destroying me on the same image
that they perpetuated.
Don't get it twisted. This is not my real life.
This is not how my real life is supposed to be.
[Reporter] Gangster rap star, Tupac Shakur,
underwent a third operation last night
to correct internal complications
stemming from the drive-by shooting.
Police say shots were fired
from a passing white Cadillac.
[Tupac] I have no patience for anybody to doubts me.
None, at all.
It's too hard out here, you know what I'm saying?
If my people don't stand up for me, who is?
(suspenseful music)
(somber music)
(slow groovy music)
[Narrator] Born June 16th, 1971
in the East Harlem section of Manhattan,
Lasane Parish Crooks was renamed
just before his first birthday after Tupac Amaru,
an 18th century South American revolutionary
who was executed after leading
an uprising against Spanish rule.
Tupac, this me determined overcome my obstacles.
[Narrator] This renaming comes as no surprise
when you learn that his parents,
Afeni Shakur and Billy Garland
were revolutionaries themselves
as active members of the
Black Panther Party in New York.
Afeni, Tupac's mother, was on trial in New York City
as part of the Panther 21 criminal case
just one month before the rapper was born.
So when the Panthers hit,
the government panicked
and they had a thing called a COINTELPRO.
And they felt like the Panthers
were detrimental to American society.
So they raided every Panthers house,
especially the ones who they felt like
could do the most damage as an orator.
So my mother was nine months pregnant, you know,
seven months pregnant.
They put a match to the door and said, "Fire, fire."
And you know, it's like five in the morning.
So my mother opened the door and they just burst in,
put a shotgun to her pregnant belly,
and put a gun to her head and said, "Don't move.
Bye, bye, bye."
He said, "You're under arrest."
[Narrator] In New York City,
two police stations and an education office
were the targets of planned synchronized bombings
and long range rifle attacks.
21 Black Panther members were detained.
The trial ultimately came to an end
with all 21 defendants acquitted of all charges.
Tupac Shakur was born just a month
after his mother was set free.
[Interviewer] So you were right
in the middle of the storm in the early up.
I'm still in the storm.
As a matter of fact, my mother was in a book.
There's a book about my mother called,
"Look For Me in the Whirlwind."
And I like to think that's my motto.
[Narrator] His intense hip hop songs
about the brutal reality of
existence for so many people
would go on to make him a
revolutionary in his own right,
altering the musical landscape.
Life was challenging.
Tupac initially hated his mother
since she was active in the movement
and never had time for her son
because she was out delivering speeches,
touring campuses, and attending demonstrations.
"I always seemed like she cared more
"about the people than her people," He claimed.
Tupac was a shy and reserved
child who read extensively,
wrote poetry, and kept a diary.
He liked to watch TV by himself,
picturing himself as a part
of the worlds he observed.
In his impressionable mind,
becoming an actor would allow him
to escape and share people's happiness.
Even joining a fictional television family
would make him not feel so alone.
I did a play at the Apollo Theater for Jesse Jackson
when he was running for
president, was for his campaign.
[Interviewer] Was this always
kind of an ambition of yours?
Did you have the show business bug as a youngster?
I mean, I caught it then,
but at the time it just seemed like the fun thing to do.
'Cause I was 13, I mean.
But I caught the bug when I got on stage
and all those people was clapping.
So that's when I got it.
But really, I just enjoy expressing myself.
Anytime I can express myself,
I can let some of the pain
go from a child to it like mine.
So that's why I enjoy acting.
[Narrator] A move to Baltimore, Maryland,
happened in the same year
when Tupac's mother lost her job.
After two years at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School,
there was a welcome transfer
to the Baltimore School for
the Arts, where acting, ballet,
poetry and jazz were on
offered to the creative teenager
who often performed in Shakespeare plays,
depicting the timeless themes of power,
politics, violence, and love.
He had seen firsthand in his early years.
The School for the Arts opened up Tupac
to an unexpectedly eclectic range of music,
including U2 Culture Club and Sinead O'Connor.
Tupac was a popular student at Baltimore Arts,
known for his humor and ability to mix with everyone.
His mother moved again into Marin City, California,
just north of San Francisco.
Tupac thought by moving away from Baltimore,
he would be leaving behind a life of poverty
in a neighborhood riddled with crime.
But California proved to be even worse.
He said that the poverty he
encountered in his early years
helped him relate to so many people.
And it was here that his mother, Afeni,
succumbed to crack addiction.
(soft upbeat music)
Tupac said that he and his mother
went through many stages in their relationship.
At first it was mother and son,
then drill sergeant and cadet,
then it was like a dictator and a tiny country.
With his mother's crack addiction hard to bear,
it finally became too much and he moved out.
The fact that he was on his own, broke
and with nowhere to stay
meant that he fell in with bad company, smoking weed,
staying with drug dealers, criminals and pimps,
naively believing that they
cared about his welfare.
He wished that he had a father, a male role model.
But instead, these people were his influencers.
They became his role models.
And listening to his music, it is clear the influence
the time he spent on the streets had.
A new record label called Interscope,
was looking for upcoming hip hop performers
in the summer of 1991.
Tupac signed the Interscope deal in August,
ironically, before any of his comrades
from digital underground got solo deals.
It was a stroke of good fortune
because the daughter of the multi-millionaire
who started the firm, Ted Field,
had heard his demo and loved it.
Tupac recorded his debut album "2Pacalypse Now"
while reciting in Oakland.
The album includes the singles.
"Brenda's got a Baby" and "Trapped."
He went from being unknown
to having a record that's sold platinum.
The album follows a young black man's life
from beginning to end,
detailing teenage pregnancies, poverty,
drug use, and police brutality.
It also includes references
to the artist's personal issues.
With the thrill of his first record Appearing on MTV,
a shocking incident occurred when Tupac
was badly beaten in the head.
In this press conference,
Pac goes into detail about what had happened to him.
Basically, I walked across
the street, 17th and Broadway.
The police officer stopped me on the sidewalk
and asked to see my ID.
They sweated me about my name.
The officers said, "You have to learn your place."
They were charging me with jaywalking.
So I was riffing, arguing about
why would they charge me with such a petty crime.
So I kept yelling, asking him to gimme my citation
and let me go about my business.
Next thing I know,
my face was being buried into the concrete
and I was laying face down in the gutter,
waking up from being unconscious in cuffs
with blood on my face,
and I'm going to jail for resisting arrest.
That's harassment to me,
that I have to be stopped in the middle of the street
and checked like we in South
Africa and asked for my ID.
Officer Boyovich repeatedly
slammed my face into the floor
while Rodgers just put the cuffs on me.
That's not called for, for jaywalking.
[Narrator] He had a 10 million lawsuit,
which they said they would settle,
but Tupac said, "Nobody cared."
What people cared about was
what blew up over the news.
They didn't see him being beaten up for jaywalking,
images of him with his head
and eye bloodied and bruised.
All they wanted to see
were the images of him
coming out of jail in handcuffs.
It was a traumatic experience,
but a rite of passage for him.
Pac came from a family where police
had killed the people close to him.
After the Oakland police had
beaten him up, he changed.
He settled for $42,000 because he was tired
of being in court, knowing
he could have got more money,
but settling for it to be over.
(soft piano music)
Often complaining that he was misunderstood,
Tupac remarked, "Everything
in life is not all beautiful."
There is lots of killing and drugs.
A perfect album talks about the hard stuff
and the fun and caring stuff.
The thing that bothers me is that,
it seems like a lot of the sensitive stuff I write
"just goes unnoticed."
His debut album "2Pacalypse Now"
captures the plight of the black individual
in an era marked by Reaganomics
and the 80s crack epidemic,
highlighting the oppression, anger,
and reality of a world that unfortunately,
does not feel all that much different
from the current climate.
These themes sparked controversy.
"Soldier's Story" tells the tale of a young black man
who shoots a police officer in retaliation
for his marginalized place in society.
In April of 1992,
Ronald Howard fatally shot a state trooper in Texas
after he was pulled over
for driving a stolen vehicle.
Howard's attorney cited Tupac's "Soldier Story"
as his influence to shoot.
Howard was convicted of capital murder
and sentenced to death.
Later that September then,
Vice President Dan Quayle,
demanded that Interscope records
remove the album from retail shelves,
describing it as an irresponsible corporate act
and adding that there is absolutely no reason
for a record like this to be published.
Tupac was only 22 when his fame soared
to unprecedented heights.
He described the burden of having
so many young people
listening to every word he spoke
as feeling like a dear caught in the headlights.
People love to, you know,
have mercy and sympathy for everything
from the animals, to the whales,
to fur, to everything except us, your youth,
the ones who you've had give no attention to,
who become adults with no compassion.
You know what I mean?
And I feel like if you walk by a street
and you was walking on concrete
and you saw a rose growing outta concrete,
even if it had messed up petals
and it was a little, you know, to the side,
you would marvel at just seeing
a rose grow through concrete.
So why is it that when you see some ghetto kid
grow outta all of the dirtiest circumstances
and he can talk and he can sit across from you,
make you smile, make you cry, make you laugh,
all you can talk about is my dirty rose,
my dirty stems, and how I'm leaning crooked to the side.
You can't even see that I came up out of that.
[Narrator] He had coined the phrase, "Thug Life"
to characterize a fresh take on black power.
The word thug did not refer to a bad person.
Rather, it indicated an underdog.
He described it as the thug who achieves
despite having nothing.
They face all of life's challenges.
T-H-U-G-L-I-F-E,
the hate you gave little infants,
Fu-C-K, everybody meaning,
what you feed us as seeds
grows and blows up in your face.
That's Thug Life.
Names like Tupac Shakur, Flavor Flav, Snoop Doggy Dog,
[Reporter] Reverend Calvin Butts
is leading a crusade against violent rap
from his pulpit in Harlem.
We're not against rap, we're not against rappers,
but we are against those thugs.
Yes I am gonna say that I'm a thug,
that's because I came from
the gutter and I'm still here.
I'm not saying I'm a thug
'cause I wanna rob you and rape people and things.
I'm a business man.
I mean, you know, I'm a business man
because you find me at my place of business.
You don't find me up in,
you know what I'm saying?
I don't understand this. I don't understand this.
[Interviewer] What do you think about?
[Narrator] He said that he
had people in the penitentiary
big time OG criminals calling him,
telling him they wanted him to lead their movement.
He felt as though his power
was getting out of control.
The fans were more than fans,
they were devoted followers.
They would do anything he said.
And this scared him.
At the truce picnic in Watts, California,
Tupac was instrumental in getting rival members
of the Crips and Bloods gangs
to sign the code of Thug Life,
which details dos and don'ts
of being a righteous thug and man.
It was written by Tupac,
together with his stepfather, Mutulu Shakur
and with the help of some original gangsters.
This code was his way of maintaining some control
within his devoted following
who may have interpreted thug more literally.
People that are not involved
with the street gang, with the drug trade
or the illegal business and all, you know,
all that kidnapping and
shooting drive-bys out the car.
We against that.
And people who perpetrate that,
they have to deal with the
consequences when they go to jail
'cause that's who's gonna enforce this code
and the Thug Life that's on the street.
It's like we cleaning up the dirt.
I can't change what the dirt that's here,
but I can put all this dirt in one corner.
You know what I'm saying?
Somehow I have some order here.
And for that they need to gimme a little leg room.
You know what I'm saying?
Let me do what I wanna do
because nobody else is gonna do it.
Nobody else wants to do it.
[Narrator] Undoubtedly, Tupac often ran
into problems with his words.
Lyrically he felt like he
would and could not hold back
on what he wanted to say.
He did not always consider his words
before speaking in interviews because he was young
and still relatively new to appearing in the media.
One example of this is when Tupac appeared on TV
to explain his side of the story
as to why he was fired from a movie.
It all stemmed from when the Hughes brothers
took Tupac to court after he assaulted them
during a music video shoot they were directing.
Tupac had initially been slated to star
in "Menace to Society,"
but was replaced after the assault incident.
The show's host, Ed Lover, tried to cover his mouth
so that Tupac would not dig
himself an even deeper hole
when he appeared on
television and expressed his views
about why he had been sacked from the role.
However, it was too late.
I beat up the directors to "Menace to Society."
Let me tell the whole world, all right.
[Friend] Tell me why you did what you had did today.
He's chump, punk, slump, you know what I'm saying?
[Crowd] Hey, hey.
Y'all don't have a chance to come here and rebuttal,
No they won't. They better come now.
Check this out.
They fired me but did it in a
roundabout punk snitch way.
So I caught 'em on the streets and beat they behind.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, I was with them niggas to the east but,
and it ain't over.
I still got more,
(crowd chattering)
[Narrator] The MTV video was used
by the Hughes brothers in court
to support Tupac's conviction for assault.
He spent 15 days behind bars.
There was more trouble to come.
In New York, Tupac and three other guys
were accused of assaulting a woman in a hotel room.
[Interviewer] Hi, Tupac. How you doing?
Can you tell me how you doing today?
Well, I just had to listen to the prosecution's
closing argument and it
was just so far from the truth
that it really just has me
drained at the end of the day.
But I'm leaving it in the hands of the jury.
I'm learning a lot about people's innermost fears
in this trial because as far,
it's not even about my trial no more.
It's just about loud rap music, tattoo, having thugs.
It's not even about me no more.
It's about, you know,
some nightmare that these people having.
[Interviewer] She's talking about Thug Life
and all that, trying to.
She's like, "He's definitely guilty.
Anybody with thug life tattooed
on their stomach is guilty."
What type of reasoning is that?
You know what I'm saying?
We got different backgrounds.
We come from two different places.
Just because I look different than her
doesn't mean that I'm a sodomizer or a raper.
They've said it in the,
I can't understand why it's this close.
They talking about,
there's no evidence that I ever sodomized.
That even though you put that all over the paper,
and every time they take a
quote out of this courtroom,
they take a quote from outta
her mouth, which is, you know,
the stuff to put me in jail.
It was nothing that's been true.
Print the facts so everybody can sort it out.
My life is ruined
because nobody has a chance to get the facts.
[Interviewer] And the facts is that
there was no semen found.
No semen found, no forcible entry,
no entry into the anal, no
nothing, none of that, you know.
[Interviewer] No fingerprints on the gun.
No fingerprints on the guns, you know what I'm saying?
The only time ever there was an act side of me,
she admitted she did it to me.
I should be, you know,
putting charges on this girl who sodomized me
on the floor of a dance club.
Why am I in court? You know what I'm saying?
Getting my life ripped apart.
But I'm here.
I'm gonna go through it just to show
that I have faith in the America system.
But for me to have faith in the America system,
these juries and everybody else has to,
you know what I'm saying,
play the same role and to keep an open mind.
I'm already convicted. My whole
life has been turned around.
I lost every job.
I lost everything, every opportunity.
Can't buy cars, can't get rent,
can't get none of that.
But I'm still a survivor, you know.
I'm still coming to court, still smiling,
still signing autographs.
But soon I'm gonna go crazy. You know what I'm saying?
And it's up to the world, you know.
America eats its babies.
No matter what y'all think
about me, I'm still your child.
You know what I'm saying?
You can't just turn me off like that.
[Interviewer] How old are you? 23.
I'm 23.
[Interviewer] So you feel that your career is.
Yeah, it is.
Why would I own a gun?
I have registered guns, you know what I'm saying?
- I'm a legal owner of guns.
- In California.
In California.
So I came to New York.
I wanted to be an illegal gun runner now, you know?
That's what they want you to believe.
I wanna start erasing.
Why? Come on man.
This is all about my image.
This has nothing to do with
me. This is all about my image.
It's like MTV, all the papers they building me up,
now they destroying me on the same image
that they perpetuated.
You know what I'm saying?
I'm selling records. This is what I do for a living.
I'm selling records. Don't get it twisted.
This is not my real life.
This is not how my real life is supposed to be.
I'm not supposed to be really having
all these villains in my life.
[Narrator] Tupac was given a $50,000 bail and released.
But on November 30th, 1994,
the night before that trial's decision was to be made,
he was shot five times, twice in the head,
twice in the groin,
and most seriously with a
bullet that went through his hand
and struck an artery in his thigh.
Shakur was apparently attacked by robbers
as he and three other men arrived
in a New York City recording
studio Early this morning.
A man identified as Shakur's
manager was also wounded.
Shakur and his road manager
are currently on trial on sex abuse charges.
[Narrator] He was robbed and assaulted
by two armed guys wearing army fatigues.
As he entered the Quad Recording
Studios foyer in Manhattan.
He would later accuse fellow recording artists,
Sean Combs, Andre Harrell and Biggie Smalls,
whom he saw after the shooting, of setting him up.
Also suspected of being involved in the attack,
was his close friend and associate.
Randy Stretch Walker.
In his defense, Biggie said that
they were in the recording studio
and did not know Tupac would be there.
Once they heard he was downstairs,
Lil Cease went to get him,
but returned with news that he had just been shot.
When Biggie's entourage
went downstairs to investigate,
Tupac was being taken out on a stretcher,
still conscious and giving
the finger to those around.
They brung him out - Stretcher.
On the elevator right past us.
He come out and look around,
stick up the middle finger,
put him in the ambulance.
And we was just curious like,
what was that supposed to mean?
Like what that middle finger to us.
[Reporter] From Tupac's perspective,
he said, "Nobody would look into the eye,"
and that the people that were upstairs
must have known that he was
gonna be ambushed and robbed.
And so, he basically accused
all the people in that room
of being part of the conspiracy.
[Narrator] Tupac allegedly checked himself out
of Bellevue Hospital against
the advice of the medical staff
because he felt unsafe there
and that it was time for him to leave.
His paranoia was fueled by unsolicited calls
and he had trouble falling asleep.
At this point, Tupac even claimed he wanted to die
because he felt like a prisoner of fame.
[Reporter] Shakur was found guilty
of sexually abusing a woman last November
in a New York hotel room.
The jury acquitted him of more serious charges,
sodomy and illegal carrying a weapon.
Shakur who was shot five times Wednesday
during an apparent robbery attempt
was not in the courtroom when the verdict was read.
I'm not guilty. People should look me in my eyes.
They should look me in my eyes.
And anybody that thinks I've committed that rape
should go get "Brenda's Got a Baby"
and keep your head out and listen to 'em thoroughly.
I have no patience for anybody to doubt me.
None at all.
It's too hard out here. You know what I'm saying?
If my people don't stand up for me, who is?
I understand these white
folks looking at me like that
'cause they don't know me.
They didn't hear "Keep Your Head Up."
That ain't no fluke, you know.
"Keep Your Head Up" ain't no goddamn come up.
I didn't do that for to be smiling in my face
to say, "Oh, he's cool."
I did that from my heart,
so that they do try to put a rape charge on me
my sisters could say, "He ain't doubt that."
Now, if my sisters can't say that.
You won't hear none of them.
Keep your head up out my mouth.
[Narrator] He received a sentence
of 18 months to four and a half years in jail
in February of the following year,
from a judge who condemned
this act of brutal violence
against a helpless woman.
He believed that because of his celebrity,
the case was pushed towards a guilty finding
even though the defense had no proof
and that this would not have happened to anyone else.
Could not be here breathing and be comfortable
if I was really as bad as they was making it, you know.
Nobody could be around me.
So for me to be this calm,
I must have some kind of inner peace.
And my inner peace is knowing that once everybody
take the time to really see what type of person I am,
you'd be surprised.
[Narrator] "Me Against the World" is referred to
as Tupac's most introspective album.
It's lyrics are inspired by
his nearing prison sentence,
poverty and run-ins with the law.
While he was still incarcerated,
the album was released,
which helped change the perception of him
from a gangster rapper to more of a gangster poet.
The album crafts a world
equal parts, truth and fiction,
featuring news broadcasts
that recount court drama,
shootings, robberies, and
the media storm that followed.
There are tender introspective times
when he transforms into a street poet
who wants to uplift his
community and the ladies in it
as in the song, "Dear Mama,"
where Tupac expresses empathy for the challenges
his mother faced while raising him.
He discusses his mother's crack cocaine addiction
and his childhood poverty,
but argues that his love and respect for his mother
outweigh any negative memories.
In the early years,
there was certainly
turbulence in their relationship.
And after Tupac lost respect for her
and left home at her insistence at the age of 17,
they lost contact.
She engaged in a 12 step program
at a drug and alcohol treatment facility in 1990,
after finding her habit was out of control.
She and her son, who at the time
was a successful recording artist, reconciled.
Afeni, makes an appearance in the "Dear Mama: video"
where she recreates her reconciliation
with a doppelganger of her son as Tupac,
who was still incarcerated at the time.
And even as a crack fiend, Mama
You always was a black queen, Mama
I finally understand
For a woman it ain't easy tryin' to raise a man
You always was committed
A poor single mother on
welfare, tell me how you did it
There's no way I can pay you back
But the plan is to show you that I understand
You are appreciated
Lady, don't you know we love you
Sweet lady Dear Mama
Place no one above you
You are appreciated
Sweet lady, don't you know we love you
After serving 11 months in prison, Suge Knight,
the CEO of Death Row Records paid a 1.4 million bond
in October, 1995, pending a legal appeal.
Tupac was then freed fro the
Clinton Correctional Facility.
Freedom brought creativity.
And within two weeks he had recorded 24 tracks
saying that it was the best way to vent
instead of paying some psychotherapist 50 million.
As part of his come back,
Tupac released the single, "California Love."
It was one of his best known and most popular singles,
spending two weeks at the
top of the Billboard Hot 100.
It is currently regarded
as one of the greatest rap songs of all time
and appears on numerous lists
of the greatest songs of all
time from notable publications.
Out on bail fresh outta jail, California dreamin
Soon as I stepped on the scene
I'm hearin hoochies screamin
Fiendin for money and alcohol
The life of a west side playa where cowards die
Only in Cali where we riot not rally to live and die
In L.A. we wearin Chucks not Ballies
Dressed in locs and khaki
suits and ride is what we do
Flossin but have caution
we collide with other crews
Famous because we program worldwide
Let 'em recognize from Long Beach to Rosecrans
Bumpin and grindin like a slow jam, it's west side
So you know the row won't bow down to no man
His release from prison
seemed almost like a rebirth
for Tupac's creativity.
Up to that point, he'd mostly been an insular artist
with ideas and thoughts
aimed in specific directions.
"California Love" gave him
the stellar widescreen treatment
that the Notorious B.I.G would get later.
It was just a glimpse of what he might achieve
as a rap superstar.
I probably need to stay true to the streets.
Rap could do whatever it gotta do to make money.
Just stay alive.
But hip hop gotta stay true to the streets.
Keep your head up, you know. Don't give up.
[Narrator] Tupac's new deal wasn't only about music
since Suge Knight of Death Row Records
was one of the most influential and feared guys
in the music business and was a key player
in gangster rap's ascend to
massive commercialization.
It also signaled his acceptance
into Suge's powerful crew,
which is well known for having strong gang ties.
As soon as Tupac was led out of prison,
the West Coast versus East Coast rivalry ramped up.
Bad Boy was the nickname for the East Coast
and Death Row for the West.
Like everything else, business
success was based on sales.
So the success of the musicians
and how many records they sold were crucial.
Hip hop originated in New York City
and LA musicians believed they weren't afforded
the same media exposure and fan base
as those on the East Coast.
But for Tupac, it was more personal than this.
Tupac had a strong connection to the region
and he disapproved of East Coast rappers
like Diddy and Biggie who, in his opinion,
wanted to dirty up everything
he had worked so hard to achieve.
Tupac said some crude
remarks about P Diddy and Biggie
in an interview given to Vibe Magazine.
He claimed that Biggie knew he was getting set up
when he was shot and failed to warn him.
Since he was now associated
with Suge Knight and Death Row,
the situation changed entirely
and turned into a conflict
with bloodshed and threats.
The source awards in New York were where it all began.
Knight flew in a significant
amount of the Death Row crew.
That evening Suge Knight's infamous comments
served as the first shot in a deadly conflict.
I'd like to tell Tupac, keep his guards up.
We ride with him.
(crowd cheering)
And one other thing I'd like to say,
any artist out there wanna be a artist,
they wanna stay a star,
won't have to worry about the executive producer
trying to be all in the video, all on the record,
dancing, come to Death Row.
(crowd cheering)
[Narrator] Another thing that infuriated Tupac
was Biggie's release of "Who Shot Ya"
just a few months after the shooting occurred.
Even though it didn't
specifically mention him by name,
Tupac felt it was a dig at him.
Soon after he composed "Hit 'Em Up"
a legendary battle record.
He used the song as an
opportunity to express his belief
that Biggie had copied his wrapping style
and was essentially imitating his way of life.
Tupac originally included
a jab at Jay-Z at the end of the song,
but he later took it out after being persuaded
by members Outlaws that Carter
had nothing to do with the dispute
between Death Row and Bad Boy.
In the music video,
performers who had previously
appeared in his music videos
played some of the characters
who were attacked in the song.
That's why I fuck with your bitch
You fat motherfucker
Take money
Westside, Bad Boy killers
You know who the realest is niggas
We hit you
Take money
First off, fuck your bitch and the click you claim
Westside when we ride come equipped with game
You claim to be a player but I fucked your wife
We bust on Bad Boy niggaz fucked for life
Plus Puffy tryin' ta see me weak hearts I rip
Biggie Smalls and Junior MAFIA.
Some mark-ass bitches
We keep on comin' while we runnin' for yo' jewels
Steady gunnin, keep on bustin at them fools
How I became Tupac's bodyguard,
I was working security at Club 662.
I got a phone call from Reggie earlier that day
and he said, "Hey, Suge wants to talk to you."
"I think that we got a proposition for you."
And I go, "What is it? What is it?"
And he goes, "I'll talk to you when I get there."
And I was like, "No, what is it?"
He goes, "It's concerning Tupac."
They got there that night, at 662
and Pac rolled up with Suge.
And I went and greeted him
and I opened up the the door to let him out.
He was like, "Yo Big Frank, you here, man. You here?"
I was like, "No man, what's up?"
He goes, "Man, you gonna be my bodyguard man.
I chose you to be my bodyguard."
I was like, "Oh, cool man," right.
I had no idea prior to that
until he actually had told me.
I had the idea of what Reggie had told me
that I was gonna be working with Tupac,
but I didn't know I was gonna be his main security.
As he's explained it to me,
I wanna be your, his main security.
Right after that we did the fight in Vegas
and they performed and everything that night.
We went back to LA after that weekend.
And immediately after going back to la that Monday,
I was assigned to Tupac.
From that moment on, it was Pac and I, you know.
Everywhere he went, I was with him
and we were rolling, pictures rolling.
(cheerful music)
[Narrator] September 7th, 1996, 2:30 PM,
Tupac Shakur arrives by car in Las Vegas.
5:30 PM people start lining up
at Club 662 on Flamingo Road,
where Tupac Shakur and Mike Tyson are to appear
after the boxing match.
That day we were told
not to bring our weapons
into the club after the fight.
Not to have our weapons on our person.
To either leave them in our hotel room
or to leave them in our vehicles.
[Interviewer] Has there ever been a situation
where you were told to leave
your weapon prior to this?
We were never told prior to September the 7th
to leave our weapons anywhere
other than the fact, if we were going
out of the state of California by airplane
to a video shoot or on tour.
We knew common sensely,
we couldn't carry a weapon on an airplane.
So more than likely,
we would've left our weapons at that time.
But we were never told,
there was never a meeting held
specifically to tell us to leave our weapons, period.
The fight was boom, boom, boom, boom.
The fight was over.
After the fight, Tupac and Suge's thing
was to go to the back where, you know,
Mike's dressing room.
So we went backstage.
We go backstage and we're waiting on Tyson
to come back there.
And Pac's back there.
He is all excited, you know.
His boy just knocked out Seldon, you know.
"50 blows, 50 blows.
He just hit him 50 times.
You count em? You count him?"
So you know, I'm back there with him and everything
and Suge is back there.
So Suge says something to Pac,
and then, the next thing I know we're leaving.
Tyson didn't even make it out the ring to come down it.
Everyone shows up.
And one of the homeboys, one of Suge's homeboys,
name is Travon.
He comes over and he whispers
something in Pac's right ear
'cause I'm on his left.
He whispers something.
Next thing I know, Pac takes off running.
He took off running and I went off running behind him.
And when he turned the corner,
there was this guy standing there.
Little did I know who he was.
He ran up to him and he swung.
And then the guy swung back.
And then Pac weaved and Pac swung again.
And at this time there was
like three or four blows thrown.
Tupac hit this medallion on
that he had recently purchased and it broke.
When it broke, he went down to pick it up.
When he went down to pick it up, I grabbed him.
When I grabbed him, I threw him against the wall.
So I had him out of the fight.
At this time everyone else is running up
as clearly the MGM footage shows.
The guy's Orlando Anderson, now that we know who he is.
They're into this brawl.
And I have Tupac against the wall now at this point.
The fight ended. We had to get out of there.
Little did I know earlier when they had left me,
I had already walked all through the MGM.
So everybody's taking off,
going in the wrong direction.
I go, "No, Suge, Suge. This way, this way," right?
And then he was like, "No, this way."
And I go, "Suge, I was just here all day. This way."
So they followed and we followed.
We got our way out and we took off
and walked back over to the Luxor.
We get back over to the Luxor.
Suge said, "Hey, I'm gonna go up and change."
Pac said, "I'm gonna go up and change.
We'll meet back down in the valet."
"All right. Cool."
We're down in the, at this time we left his room,
we're down in the valet park and we're waiting on Suge.
Suge shows up.
While we're down in the valet,
all of the hoochies, all of the groupies,
everybody that knew Tupac and Suge, was like,
"Suge, can we go to the club?
Suge, Pac, can we go?"
Suge said, "Let's go."
He and Pac was walking to Suge's BMW.
I'm walking with them.
When we get to their car,
Pac turned to me and goes, "Yo Frank,"
he pulled the keys out and he handed me the keys.
He goes, "Drive the little homies
because we're gonna be drinking tonight
and you'll be able to drive us back."
So I was like, "What car do you want me to drive?"
He goes, "Drive Cadata's car."
And I didn't even know where the car was.
I go, "Where is it?"
He goes, "It's right there."
He goes, "The homies show you where it's at."
So I was like, "All right."
So Suge gets in his car, he and Pac
and the entourage is starting to form now.
Suge takes off.
I'm right behind him. I'm the bodyguard on point.
Theoretically and honestly,
there should have been
three or four more bodyguards
with us that particular time,
going from there, going to Suge's house
and going back to the club
that night for the after party.
Later on I found out that with security that there,
it was 22, about 20 to 22
security personnel for this night.
Everyone was called at
Club 662 to set up the security
and get the people rolling in over there.
So all of the security was there.
Michael Moore, who was with me earlier that evening,
supposedly had met us at the MGM.
His story to me was Al Giddens,
who was the supervisor
now for security at this point.
Al Giddens told Michael Moore to fuck that.
You go and come to the club.
And he was like, "Well, Tupac told me
to come over to the MGM."
He was like, "No, we need you over here. You get over here."
So Mike went over to the club.
So I was the only one left with Pac.
Keep in mind, my weapon was in my car.
I didn't have a phone. I had no way of communication.
Reggie was also over at the club.
Reggie normally is Suge's bodyguard
and Reggie is always with Suge.
That night why he wasn't with
Suge, only Reggie knows that.
(car engine revving)
At this time, everyone in the car, not just me,
looked at the gas and was like,
"Yo, Frank, we gonna run out of gas."
I was like, "What y'all want me to do?
Pull over and get gas?"
I go, "You know if we pull over, we lost them, right?"
So I said, "I can't pull over.
I might as well take the
chance and run out of gas, right?"
Thinking we're just gonna go to Suge's
and from Suge's back to the club.
But the light had been on forever at this point
on the gas light.
[Interviewer] How long were you on, at Suge's?
When we got to SU's house,
we were at Suge's house, probably a good 30 minutes.
Suge went in, he changed clothes, you know.
And they were all just BSing a little bit.
When Suge finally came out, hopped in his car,
when we came through the security guard
that guards the homes going into Suge's place.
There had to been 20, 30 cars out on the road
just waiting for us to come out to follow us.
We leave outta Suge's.
Again, we're flying 70, 80 miles an hour
going back toward Las Vegas strip.
We get back on the strip at this point,
and why a car didn't run out of gas,
it is a miracle right now to me because it should had.
We get back on the strip,
we're proceeding to go down the strip.
It's a fight night.
The fight's over. The strip is jam packed crowded.
We're probably about in front of the Excalibur Hotel,
which is right by Tropicana on a Las Vegas strip.
Tupac and Suge was in the car in front of me.
And their music was playing pretty loud
'cause we could hear it.
And there was bicycle cops,
a couple of bicycle cops pulled
up and one of them went over
to Suge side and asked him, I
guess, to turn down the music.
I'm assuming.
And then the next thing I know,
Suge opens the door, steps out of the car.
He and the cop walks to the back of the car
and he opens up the trunk.
The car was brand new. Didn't have a license plate on it.
So he looked in the trunk and you know,
I'm just sitting there and I'm thinking,
oh shit, I hope they don't get popped.
They let him go.
So now we're still in gridlock traffic.
So we, you know, proceed to go down the strip.
We're going down the strip.
Pac and Suge are up there doing their thing, talking.
Myself and outlaws, were in there, you know,
listening to their music.
We get to Flamingo off of Las Vegas strip.
We gotta turn right.
We make a right off of the strip.
The next light is Covo.
Little did we know that anything was about to happen.
(suspenseful music)
We pull up to the light.
I am the second car.
Actually, I'm the third car.
One of Suge's Homeboys was in front of Suge,
which never, ever, ever happened
with anyone being in front of Suge.
Then another one of his homeboys, Travon,
was to the left of Suge,
which would've been to his side of the car.
So you got Travon to the left,
you have K-Dove in the front, and you have me in the back.
We were sitting at this light.
September, it's hot, sticky.
We're all just sitting there
pretty much, just vegging out,
waiting on a light to change.
Then all of a sudden, I noticed this white Cadillac.
Cadillac pulls up and it was
not like a thought of mine
that something was about to happen
because in the entourages,
we're proceeding to go to Club 662,
I mean, women are like, "Yo, Pac, Pac."
Suge, Suge.
And, "Can we go. Can we go," you know.
Groupies and things like that.
So it was not anything out of the ordinary
for this car to be pulling up
thinking that something's gonna happen.
And as soon as the car pulled up,
my head turned back and I'm looking
and I'm watching the car.
Malcolm, who is sitting in the seat behind Yak Fula.
Yak Fula was in a passenger
seat with me up in the front.
And K who's K. Kastro was directly behind me.
Before the Cadillac pulled up,
we're all just vegging, near
looking out toward the right.
Cadillac pulls up, we noticed it.
Then all of a sudden his arm comes out
and the arm comes out.
And he just started firing immediately.
And I'm like, "Oh my God."
And all you see, and all you hear is,
(gun firing)
(somber music)
(siren wailing)
They had Suge out of the vehicle on the ground,
and as I was approaching him,
the blood was shooting up out of his head.
So I'm yelling, "Let him up. Let him up.
He's with us. He's part of the entourage."
And when they let him up,
Tupac is still sitting in the passenger seat.
The door is still closed.
So Suge says, I could do it. I could do it.
"It's my car. I'll open it."
The door was actually stuck.
So Suge got over there, opened the door,
and we pulled Pac out of the car.
When we pulled him out of the car,
we line him down on the side of the car,
and I'm kneeling down at this time
and I'm talking to him like "Pac, man.
Pac. Pac."
And he's like, (breathing heavily)
he's trying to breathe.
And then he goes, "I can't breathe."
[Narrator] A former sergeant
from the Las Vegas Police Department
named Chris Carroll came out in 2014,
18 years after the shooting,
to claim that he was the first person on the scene.
He claimed that when the door was opened,
Tupac fell out of the car, drenched in blood.
The question was, who shot you?
Tupac reportedly took a
breath to answer before saying,
"Fuck you," to the police officer
before losing consciousness.
Those were Tupac's final words.
After the shooting, Shakur's car made a U-turn
and headed west on Flamingo.
Police reached the car on the strip
where it was caught in traffic at Harman Avenue.
An ambulance then picked up Shakur at night
taking them to University Medical Center,
where Shakur underwent
the first of three operations.
His right lung is removed to stop internal bleeding.
Sunday, September 8th, 11:00 AM,
Knight is released from the
University Medical Center.
At 6:20 PM, Shakur undergoes a second operation at UMC
to repair damage from the bullet wounds.
September 13th, 1996, 4:03
PM, sadly nothing could be done.
Tupac passed away from his injuries
just six days after the shooting.
He was only 25 years old.
Las Vegas Police failed to
follow up with Yaki Kadafi,
a member of Tupac Entourage
who was present that evening
and who said he could identify the attacker.
And as a result, no one was ever detained
in connection with the brutal killing.
It seems too much of a
coincidence that two months later,
Kadafi was murdered
before he could give his damning statement.
Former LAPD detective, Russell Poole, has one theory.
He thinks Suge Knight
orchestrated the killing of Tupac.
Given that Knight was wounded in the shooting,
it might seem implausible considering Knight
was hit in the shooting.
But Detective Poole thinks
that he had his own motives for the contract killing.
Knight reportedly owing
Tupac a sizeable sum of money,
some estimates put the amount at 10 million.
Afeni Shakur, Tupac's mother, supports the theory.
She sued Death Row records in 1997
for mismanaging her son's assets
and depriving Tupac of millions of dollars.
Seemingly more proof for this theory
comes by way of the fact that Tupac
intended to leave Death Row Records,
firing his lawyer at the time, David Kenner,
who in addition to being Suge Knight's lawyer,
also wrote up Tupac's agreement
with Death Row Records.
Just a week after the lawyer was fired,
Knight invited Tupac to the fateful boxing match.
Another warning sign is how,
following the altercation in the MGM lobby,
Knight calmly made a phone call
while everyone else ran away.
A further important note to mention
is his insistence that Tupac rides
in his car after the fight.
Orlando Anderson first testified that Suge Knight
was involved in the lobby fighting,
but later revised his account to indicate that Suge
had attempted to break up the altercation.
He said, "I see him pulling people off of me."
According to one account,
Anderson modified his story
as a result of a payoff from Knight.
The detective added that neither the hospital,
any witnesses nor the police
ever confirmed that night
had been shot that evening.
Chuck Phillips, a former LA Times journalist,
has a different theory.
He thought the South Side Crips gang,
Biggie Smalls and Orlando
Anderson were behind the killing.
The LA Times spent more than a year
looking into the murder
and came to the following conclusions.
The Crips shot Tupac as
retaliation for beating Anderson.
The shooter was Anderson.
Biggie Smalls paid $1 million
for the pistol that was provided in Tupac's murder.
What drives Biggie to want Tupac dead?
His yearlong battle was well-documented.
His admission in "Hit 'Em Up"
that he had an affair with Faith Evans,
Biggie's wife, was enough proof.
According to the investigative journalist,
Biggie nor anyone who was affiliated with him
was not questioned by the police.
Six months later in March, 1997,
Christopher Wallace, AKA Biggie Smalls,
was fatally shot in a drive-by
shooting in Los Angeles
by an unknown assailant.
With Orlando Anderson shot to death in May, 1998
another avenue of investigation closed.
Though he had always denied responsibility
for Tupac's death and was never charged.
Greg Kading, a former LAPD detective
assigned to the investigation in 2006,
10 years after the incident
put out a different theory.
He blamed East Coast Bad Boy Record CEO, Sean Combs,
often known as P Diddy, for
orchestrating Tupac's murder.
When Detective Kading spoke with Keith Davis,
a member of the Crips gang,
Davis confessed on camera that P Diddy
had given him 1 million to kill Tupac and Suge Knight.
Additionally, he acknowledged
that Orlando Anderson,
Davis' actual nephew, was the one who fired the shot.
He also admitted to being in Anderson's car
when the murder occurred.
Orlando rolled down the window and popped him.
According to Davis,
Diddy's motivation was his dread
and anxiety that Suge Knight would attack first.
Additionally, he claimed that Tupac
was only added to the hit as a result
of P Diddy's outrage over his disc track "Hit 'Em Up."
Because of the shooting in 1994
and the aftermath with
Tupac repeatedly stated that
he suspected Diddy to be
the perpetrator of the incident,
also helped ground this theory.
In 2011, Dexter Isaac, who was serving life in prison,
confessed that a P Diddy associate
hired him to rob Tupac that night.
P Diddy has consistently refuted the assertion,
saying that it is pure
fiction and totally ridiculous.
The case has not been resolved.
It appears unlikely that the
exact details of Tupac's death
will ever be proved beyond
a reasonable doubt in court,
given that most of the key players
are currently either dead or
serving lengthy prison terms.
However, that won't stop others from seeking answers.
Tupac had a prophecy about his death stating,
"That's why I go in the studio
and do three songs a day, get things ready.
If I die, it can happen.
If anything were to happen to
me, that album's ready to go."
Believing that his death would be a tragedy,
he envisioned it being like something
from a Shakespeare play.
Tupac Shakur endures as one of hip hop's
most iconic figures and its most potent enigma.
No other artist does a greater job
of highlighting the tensions in hip hop
between local pride and national success,
as well as the fight to rise above
and honor one's humble beginnings.
You know, out of the love for black people.
So that's how I gotta live and that's how I have to die,
and that's how my music has to be
and my acting and my producing and my interviews,
everything has to be for the love of black people.
[Narrator] Tupac transformed rap
from a simple street trend into an elite art form.
He laid the foundation for the present iteration
of the hip hop movement
and continued its evolution as a poet
whose tales of alienation
captivated young people
of all races and backgrounds.
I'm stealing this film.
As a matter of fact, my mother was in a book.
There's a book about my mother
called "Look for Me in the whirlwind."
I like to think that's my motto.
(somber music)
[Narrator] From the beginning.
He was aware of his very short window of time to live
and his desire to create a body of work.
He was always writing, always making something,
and always in the studio.
Even in prison, he was writing a screenplay.
Knowing that he would not be on this earth
for any length of time, he
came with a specific purpose,
contradictions, complexities and all.
And he left behind something
that has touched a generation of people.
(soft piano music)