Tupac's Death: Conspiracy theory or truth?
Tim Edwards
Issue date: 1/18/02 Section: The Verge
This week I will be following up on a topic I touched on a while ago.
Last time I discussed whether the music label Death Row could return to prominence. This week I decided to go into one of the major causes why the company fell. That cause would be the death of Tupac Amaru Shakur.
Tupac's death is still a mystery.
There are many theories out there on it. I will try to tackle some of the major theories and allow you to make the decision on which one is more convincing.
One theory a lot of people think about is that Suge Knight killed Tupac. Why did Suge simply get grazed while Tupac was shot four times?
If it were just a random shooting, you would think that Suge would have been gone too. There are a lot of rumors that Tupac was going to leave Death Row and start his own label. But Suge couldn't have his biggest star leave, could he?
When you listen to the theory it sounds convincing. There are some questions in this theory, though. Tupac would have left with almost nothing as Suge would have kept the masters to his music by contract.
Secondly, a lot of Tupac's time months before he died was dedicated to his war with the East Coast, a war that I believe Suge had a hand in instigating. Tupac was insulting Dr. Dre, a producer/artist who left Death Row because he didn't like the way Suge conducted business. Shakur was defending Suge and what Death Row represents. Does that sound like a man who wants to leave the label?
Months before Tupac died, Suge and he were seen in various areas, but Snoop Doggy Dogg wasn't with them. Snoop was rumored to already be thinking about his own departure from the company. He didn't make a guest appearance on Makaveli, which seems a little strange if Snoop and Tupac were supposed to be so cool. Did Tupac know that Snoop was going to jump? You decide for yourself.
The third theory is that Sean "Puffy" Combs hired a hit on Tupac. He did this because Tupac was hurting the Bad Boy company with all his negative comments to people associated with it. Tupac had a way of making fans feel the same way he does. Some believe P. Diddy feared that Tupac would stop at nothing to bring the downfall of his company.
Last time I discussed whether the music label Death Row could return to prominence. This week I decided to go into one of the major causes why the company fell. That cause would be the death of Tupac Amaru Shakur.
Tupac's death is still a mystery.
There are many theories out there on it. I will try to tackle some of the major theories and allow you to make the decision on which one is more convincing.
One theory a lot of people think about is that Suge Knight killed Tupac. Why did Suge simply get grazed while Tupac was shot four times?
If it were just a random shooting, you would think that Suge would have been gone too. There are a lot of rumors that Tupac was going to leave Death Row and start his own label. But Suge couldn't have his biggest star leave, could he?
When you listen to the theory it sounds convincing. There are some questions in this theory, though. Tupac would have left with almost nothing as Suge would have kept the masters to his music by contract.
Secondly, a lot of Tupac's time months before he died was dedicated to his war with the East Coast, a war that I believe Suge had a hand in instigating. Tupac was insulting Dr. Dre, a producer/artist who left Death Row because he didn't like the way Suge conducted business. Shakur was defending Suge and what Death Row represents. Does that sound like a man who wants to leave the label?
Months before Tupac died, Suge and he were seen in various areas, but Snoop Doggy Dogg wasn't with them. Snoop was rumored to already be thinking about his own departure from the company. He didn't make a guest appearance on Makaveli, which seems a little strange if Snoop and Tupac were supposed to be so cool. Did Tupac know that Snoop was going to jump? You decide for yourself.
The third theory is that Sean "Puffy" Combs hired a hit on Tupac. He did this because Tupac was hurting the Bad Boy company with all his negative comments to people associated with it. Tupac had a way of making fans feel the same way he does. Some believe P. Diddy feared that Tupac would stop at nothing to bring the downfall of his company.
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