E-40 is the latest rapper to sit in the hot seat for a VladTV interview. Par for the course, the host broached a myriad of topics, including the 1996 shooting of the late Tupac Shakur.
During the conversation, Forty Water looked back on the “Rapper’s Ball” video set and recalled kicking it with Mack 10, Ice-T, ‘Pac, Too $hort, Richie Rich and Jodeci’s K.C. that day. As they were chopping it up, 40 learned ‘Pac had multiple albums in the vault — just in case.
“He just loved to make music,” he said. “That’s why his music lasted so long after his passing. ‘Cause all he did was stay in the studio. All he was doing was building up the catalog and putting them in the vault. Few months later, I get a phone call saying Tupac been shot in Vegas. My heart dropped. I didn’t know it was that severe. He had got shot before and survived. Pretty tough dude.”
As the Bay Area OG continued, he offered an interesting take on ‘Pac’s death.
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“‘Til this day, I want to tell you this: if he wanted to live, he could have lived, but he would have sold his soul,” he added. “He wasn’t gone sell his soul. God say, you can come with me or I can let you live and you can go on with the devil. He went up there with the rest of the talent, the rest of the good people.”
Elsewhere in the interview, 40 talked about the moment he found out ‘Pac was adopting an alter-ego.
“He said, ‘I got a new name. I’m calling myself Makavelli,'” 40 recalled. “Of course, I didn’t know what he meant. That’s a trip, I’m Fonzarelli, you know what I’m saying. When I found out what it meant and what it was about, I said this dude is way ahead of his time.”
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2Pac Murder Weapon Was Recovered — But Now Mysteriously Missing
‘Pac’s murder remains one of Hip Hop’s biggest unsolved mysteries. On September 7, 1996, ‘Pac and former Death Row CEO Suge Knight left the Bruce Seldon versus Mike Tyson fight at the MGM Grand in Vegas where’d ‘Pac had gotten into a scuffle with Southside Compton Crip Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson. Security ultimately broke up the brawl and ‘Pac continued to Club 662.
While stopped at a red light, Anderson pulled up in a white, late model Cadillac and allegedly fired multiple shots, striking ‘Pac twice in the chest, once in the thigh and once in the arm. ‘Pac was rushed to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada and soon put into a medically-induced coma. He died six days later on September 13.
Anderson, who was a prime suspect, denied he had anything to do with the murder and was never charged. Roughly two years after ‘Pac’s death, Anderson was shot and killed during a gang-related shootout.
