Fredro Starr has recalled the time 2Pac tried to subtly warn him that signing with Suge Knight was a bad idea.
In a new interview withĀ The Art of DialogueĀ that dropped on Thursday (March 14), the Onyx rhymer recalled a moment with Pac and Suge at the āpremiere of the movieĀ Sunset Park.
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At a party celebrating the release of the 1996 film which starred Fredro and featured 2Pacās āHigh āTil I Dieā on the soundtrack, Fredro recalled āPac and Suge showing up.
ā2Pac, he was like the sun. When he came around, you felt his energy,ā Fredro said. āWhen he walks in, you could feel powerā¦ [A]t that time, he was the biggest star in Hip Hop.ā
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The New York City native said that after the movie, Suge Knight asked to speak to him privately.
āSo me, 2Pac and Suge Knight, we take a walk, just us three,ā he continued. āThen Suge was like, āI want to sign you to Death Row.ā And Iām like, āHuh? What are you talking about?ā
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āSuge Knight had a reputation for beingā¦when I talked about energy, āPac is the sun, Suge Knight is the moon. He got the dark energy. So when he was like, āI want to sign you to Death Row,ā I got kind of shook.
āI was like, āBut Iām already signed to Def Jam.ā I was trying to figure my way out the shit. āNah, donāt worry about that. Iāll figure that shit out. I know [Jam Master] Jay. I know Russell [Simmons]. Iāll take care of that. Aināt nothing to worry about.āā
Then, Fredro claimed, āPac made his move.
ā[T]he n-gga 2Pac was looking at me, he was giving me that side-eye. He wasnāt encouraging the shit. He wasnāt like, āYeah, n-gga! Sign with Death Row, n-gga! We got it popping!ā I didnāt hear none of that from that n-gga. That n-gga was quiet.
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ā[He was giving me a look like], āYou donāt want to do this, my brother. Stay where you at, my n-gga.'ā
Fredro said he extricated himself from the conversation, and that was that. He left determined to stay on Def Jam, in large part because of his loyalty to the man who discovered Onyx in the first place, Run-DMCās Jam Master Jay.
ā[M]y loyalty to Jam Master Jay, I would never even think about some shit like that, unless Jay was with it. ā¦ Because Jay put me in the game. There was no reason to do some shit like that,ā he concluded.
The new interview comes a little over a year after Fredro Starr announced he was retiring.
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Appearing on an episode of The Dr. Greenthumb Show in early January 2023, the Onyx co-founder commented onĀ Westside Gunnās retirement announcementĀ before explaining that the time has come for him to exit the game also.
āYou supposed to say: āIām gonna retire.ā You gotta make the comeback. Michael Jordan did it. Guess what? Iām retiring too this year. After this year, Iām done. All jokes in side pocket,ā Fredro said.
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He added: āIām retiring, man. Thirty years of Hip Hop. This is the last year. Iām retiring. Donāt call me for no verses, nothing. I might do a show here and there.ā