Arguably the greatest hustler in Hip Hop history, Master P revealed to HipHopDX yesterday (January 31st) that, had it happened, his most impressive score would have been adding the legendary Tupac Shakur to his once mighty No Limit Records roster.
“To be honest wit’chu, at one time, I was thinking about signing Tupac,” replied P when asked by DX if there were any other big-name free agents, in addition to Snoop Dogg, that The Colonel tried to bring over to Hip Hop’s most successful label of the 1990s.
According to Master P, he attempted to sign the Oakland-based Tupac several years before No Limit’s commercial explosion, when the label had yet to center its operations in P’s native New Orleans, Louisiana and was still headquartered in Richmond, California as one of several up-and-coming Bay Area independent labels.
“[Tupac] was liking the movement of what we was doing,” explained P, “but we wasn’t fully there yet. … That was one little piece that I was looking at like, ‘You know what? This could be alright.’”
While there is no known video footage or photos of Master P and Tupac together, the head honcho of the rechristened No Limit Forever label revealed that he and his currently incarcerated brother C-Murder were once opening acts for the future icon of Reality Rap, and additionally confirmed to DX that he subsequently spoke to Tupac directly regarding Interscope Records’ then biggest Hip Hop signee possibly joining “the tank.”
“Everybody was interested in No Limit,” replied P when asked if ‘Pac personally expressed interest in enlisting as a No Limit soldier. “I don’t think there was one person in the music business that wasn’t interested in being a part of that movement.”
Stay tuned to HipHopDX for Master P’s full feature interview, in which The Colonel explains the stray shots at dress-wearing, skateboard-riding youth culture included on his just-released Al Capone mixtape, his parental relationship to Chief Keef and why he “can’t change” who he is and was forced to abandon his attempt at curse-free, positive Rap. The man who was once responsible for over 75 million albums sold also revisits No Limit Records’ past – including if P’s hoop dreams destroyed the tank, why he refused to negotiate with Beats By The Pound and what the real origins of “Bout It” are, contrary to Mannie Fresh’s version of events.
RELATED: Master P, Alley Boy & Fat Trel Form Super Group Louie V Mob
wtf. Slow day on HHDX? P just states that he ‘thought about signing him’.
glad he didnt, no limit were terrible. They only got prominent because between 1997 and 1999 hip hop was becoming the precursor to the remedial school it now is
what a lying sack of sh*t.
No Limit sucked. Master P sucks.
most successful label of the ’90s? Wouldn’t that be D.R.?
or if 2pac never went commercial
if ever rapper stayed tru the game would be perfect
You guys can pretend No Limit sucked all you want, but they actually came out with some great shit. Silkk the Shocker is still the best-worst rapper of all time, lmao. Charge it 2 da Game is damn near classic
silly k what ever the fuck his worthless ass name is, is garb and thats a compliment.
I actually put his name right in the sentence, so your slow ass shouldn’t have had any problems typing that out. And I said he was the best worst rapper, even his fans know he sucks. Dumb ass nigga
No Limit was like the Death Row of the South, but less succesful, 2pac on No Limit would’ve been tight though.
less sucessfull??? no limit has over 75 mil worldwide.. deathrow has 50 mil worldwide.. you might wanna rethink that fuck boy
Less successful back then, Death Row ran the rap industry in the 90s. No Limit want nothing like Death Row back then, No Limit really started popping towards like 96 and late 90s early 2000s. I didnt mean no derespect to No Limit. Shut ya sensitive ass up.. lol
Yo second @anonymous I hope you know Tupac has sold over 70 million records while he was at Death Row. That’s almost more then No Limit’s artists combined. SO you might wanna shut your dumb ass up!
I bought some No Limit albums when Snoop joined them
Before Snoop’s move I had never heard a thing of them before
Except maybe a few Master P (West Coast influenced) tracks that is
It was fun for awhile, but looking back, that was the beginning of the end
The end of successful talented MC’s & the beginning of successful un-talented “rappers”
Glad Tupac didn’t sign with them
The beginning of the end REALLY started with the deaths of Biggie & Tupac, along the urgent prominence of Diddy circa 1997 with his jiggy/flashy and materialistic bullshit.
And after Big & Pac were merked Diddy’s wack ass was in board meetings with old white men talkin about “that gangsta garbage” will not get anymore play. True story, right up to this day he still hates on West Coast rappers who he thinks is “gangsta”. Bad Boy ain’t been shit after Biggie’s death & after Diddy played Shine to take a plea to save him. This gay muhfucka supports an identity thieving fat ex-cop frontin to be dope dealer. Only puppets to the Jews stay relevant in Hip Hop.
Pac wouldn’t have been a good fit. Snoop’s time there was responsible for some his worst music. There was no questioning P’s business sense, but none of his former artists went on to do anything special. They were assembly line rappers and that was fine, back then.
i think pac would have been str8 with them as long as he aint try to fit into there mold of music. Not that they wont hot its just his style was diffrent and he would have needed diffrent types of beats then them niggaz was crankin off
Snoop only dropped 3 albums on No Limit. Two were garbage, but Tha Last Meal was his 2nd best album behind Doggystyle.
boy lyin…he knw dm well Pac wasnt EVA gonna sign to knw dam no limit….and the reason y they sold so many records??? We was ALL hypnotize lol think about it…it was rite after Pac&Big died rite the streets was starvin remember? Then suddenly it aint no limit uhhh…er week an album then Mystikal…oh shit gone drank the punch…If dnt blieve me try this…go play one of them sorry ass albums NOW lmao!!!! My best post yet! RiQRuDEBEATS soundclick me…
The real reason Snoop even went to No Limit is cuz they had a distrubution deal with Priority & did Death Row after their other distrubuters dropped them. Its all business when will yall learn?
MASTER P PAID A HUGE LUMP SUM TO GET SNOOP OUT OF HIS CONTRACT, HE WAS TRYING TO DO THE SAME FOR TUPAC TOO, THAT WHY SUGE SPOKE BOUT THEM PAPER SOLDIERS IN AN INTERVIEW BACK THEN AND TUPAC ALWAYS SPOKE ABOUT THEM SOLDIERS IN HIS RAP SONGS TOWARDS THE END JUST SEE THE MISS MY HOMIES VIDEO
why is Tupac treated like some Hip Hop God? Dude was average at best….wack if you ask me.
Good thing no one asked you then bitch made nigga!
if you were a hiphop head while he was alive and lived through that era you would know why. if you listened to his albums you would know why
Well its neither here or there but Pac might still be alive if he made that move.. RIP..
Lmao @ the person who said snoops time being at no limit was some of his worst music? Maybe to you yeah..that’s your opinion bro. It wasn’t his best but it definitely wasn’t his worst.
true
MASTER P USED TO SELL A MILLION RECORDS IN ONE DAY! WHO DO THAT TODAY?
thats cuz niggas aint buyin records today like they were in the 90s
He used to sell that in the south. More proof the south is retarded.
Because Tupac was one of a kind artist. His work was so compelling that incompetent individuals like YOU will never understand the hardships and pain in the hood
no limit get the f****k outta here – death row baby – the row is in the history book baby
P Ruined rap. He showed the record companies lyrics mean nothing. Once P sold all those records to the short yellow bus crowd in the south. Record company’s realized you didn’t have to have any talent to sell records.
As long as you could front the most you could sell records.
Anyone else notice the rappers from the south get worst and worst.
Thanks P for ruining rap.
shut the fuck up fuck boy No Limit had Mystikal, Snoop , Mac, Mia X, C- Murder, Soulja Slim , and Fiend .
half of you fucks was on 5 yrs old when no limit was poppin, shut the fuck up young punks……..
Tru little fucks
Does it suck that 5 year olds have better taste in music than you?
“Does it suck that 5 year olds have better taste in music than you?” GNR! Roasted that nicca.
The upcoming article sounds good also. I’m interested.
Shut the fuck up, Percy, 2Pac didn’t know who the fuck you were. All Master P did was rob his artists and bite other rappers styles (Pac, Cash Money, etc)
The music would have been bad, but Pac would probably still be alive.
“It wasn’t his best but it definitely wasn’t his worst”
Well it’s pretty close homie. I did like that Gangsta Ride song he did with Silk The Shocker, but overall, it just wasn’t the best fit for him or else he would have stayed.
Pac & Lil’ Romeo……na na na na
i see this nigga forgot to take his pills this morning.
at the time why would tupac sign with a underground label?
How u doin I kno ur the headliner & everything & i’m opening up 4 you but do u want 2 sign w us???
^^ haha
This nigga is a mutha fuckin lie! I’m from the bay Richmond California to be exact and when tupac was starting out with digital underground, we never heard of master p. PAC was about to do the movie juice and we didn’t know any Master P. Hell, Silk went to my high school and I didn’t even know it til After I graduated and I graduated in 93 and PAC was on his second album by then. By the way master P stole that Ice cream man concept from Dru Down and the Luniz. Lying ass nigga.
I think it’s some truth to your statement but I wouldn’t agree with everything. I remember back in the days master P said he opened for Tupac and Pac said what is all that Ughhhhhhhh and who is these guys (so it’s truth to your statement. However I think Pac would still be alive if he would have rode with the Tank b/c Nolimit was always deep and it was deeper than rap. I’m from New Orleans and I know how it is here especially in the early and mid 90’s. Master P would literally rank his souljas off the dirt they did in the streets. Why u think everybody was yelling out their ranks in their songs? Soulja Slim was a real dude who did dirt and so as Master P, C-Murder, Mac, Big Ed etc. They either dead or incarcerated except a few. A lot of ppl don’t know that Baby from Cash Money was a real ni**a too. His brother is in prison now That’s who B.G. get in his name from. Why u think Sugar Slim never liked the spotlight? It’s was real down here for sure. Shit that’s why Snoop fled to the south and signed with P b/c he was scared for his life and knew the tank would ride with him. All I’m saying is that I think Pac would have been alive if he would’ve rode with the Tank back then.
Can you fucking losers stop saying stay tuned to hhdx? You realize how old, dated and, especially for a writer, painfully uncreative.
your the only loser with a complaint punk
Tomorrows news:
Drake said he tried to sign Tupac before no limit and waaaayyyy before he came up with YOLO.
“Kendrick Lamar Explains Why Tupac Wouldn’t Have Signed With No Limit, Speaks Relationship With Afeni Shakur, Kicks Tupac Back Freestyle”
Its scary to think that songs like California Love could have had Master P in the background yelling “uhhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHH”
(Much respect to P for his work though)
i believe this was just small talk between the two acts, of course master p was trying to bust moves with Pac, and pac being the dude he was hearing that bay gutter grimy classic no limit music…. so the feeling was mutual, but we all know pac was on a quest to break out and become his own independent major, would these two have worked together if pac hadn’t passed…. with out a doubt…. Master P was next up to break out globally & pac loving that hustler mentality that p had… would have grossed those albums 3x the achieved success they already achieved! and the tank keeps rolling… haters gone hate… P is a real dude… he has nothing to gain from this story now… 2k13 No Limit!
I just think half you niggas speculating shit were 2 months old when Pac died and you might as well keep your hands off the keyboard cause you don’t know shit about anything
agreed
lol cosign
“By the way master P stole that Ice cream man concept from Dru Down and the Luniz”
Hope they sued him for 10 million.
thank GAWD that Pac didnt sign to no limit. Could u imagine???!?!?
yes, most of Tupac’s songs would have Master P grunting loudly “UHHHHHHH”
I thought this was an article about how Master P TRIED to sign Tupac, not that he WANTED to sign him. Jesus Christ, what labeled wouldn’t have wanted to sign Pac while he was alive?
Maybe if P signed Pac to No Limit he would still be alive.
No Limit was the prime example of over saturation. they had some decent music here and there, but every other week they had a new album with the same type of beats / lyrics. It grew tired pretty fast, but during their run of a few years it made P rich as fuck.
Say what you want Master P did work with Tupac for a brief moment when he was in the Bay area of Richmond, California. Although there are no pictures of them together that doesn’t mean that they didn’t work together. Remember he worked with Method Man but they have no pictures being seen with each other. They hooked up around the time Master P was working on The Ghetto’s Trying To Kill Me album. It was in 1993-1994 when 2pac was collaborating with all of the major Bay area rappers or producers. At this time nobody really knew who he was. All of the same rappers Pac hooked up with so did Master P and if this wasn’t true. E-40, Too Short, and Rapping 4-Tay would’ve easy stepped up came out spoke publicly and totally discredited what Master P was stating.
Hoe Limit was all about stealing other dudes styles and beats.. TRU was suposed to be NWA… corny shit
I love master p but pac be a part of Your movement! Come on now you would have been a part of his movement.
Pac was ready to start yhis own and it’s only been three movement’s in rap. N.W.A and the dominace of east coast rap and tupac .master p not even in the picture
Listen to makaveli 2 millenium. Pac clearly says hes being protected by p. Which was the only crew who could protect him fromdeath row at the time. Go ro pacs verse at 12 minutes into th album. He says it loud and clear, literally, hesays “you too close not to hear me” ; “if they want to get wild just understand who got em, rockin with that operation from out the bottom” then someone says P.
Its OFTB not P.
Damn Bruh you reaching. Did say nothing bout Master P.
Damn…could you imagine Pac rapping over those tacky low budget No Limit beats with P in the background yelling “UUUUUUUUUGH”. So thankful this did not happen
Master P full of shit. He came on the scene talkin about how he and Pac were homies. I doubt if he ever even said whats up to Pac even though he may have seen him at a barbecue or something. Pac never mentions Master P anywhere in any album notes. Master P is a Pac style taker and poser. If any of this were true the Outlawz would have verified it. To this day none of them have. P uses pac to further his own means.
It was a cover up cause pac was related to P and was part of the company when it exploded, while faking his death