WOW......can't believe it's been 15 and 16 years since we lost these two artists. What's worse is that no one has come forth about their untimely demises. So many conspiracy theorists suggest they are still alive somewhere in Cuba, New Zealand, Compton, ya momma's house.....etc. But unfortunately, neither one are physically here. If they were, I believe they would tell us......WHO SHOT THEM? Well, I decided to join the ranks with my own opinion.
You see, I believe, if you want to catch Biggie's killer, you got to find Tupac's killer first. And as I look back, everything looks WAY TOO FAMILIAR. But I'm going to keep it insightful. Starts with the Source Awards.
According to Tupac, he and Suge met up during the filming of Above The Rim in which Suge approached him for a song on the soundtrack. The song never made it but 'Pac got paid $200,000 for it.....thus beginning a profitable relationship. And while 'Pac was was in jail, Suge was the only one to see him......
"Did you move to Death Row for some sort of protection?
Hell, no. There's nobody in the business strong enough to scare me. I'm with Death Row 'cause they not scared either.
When I was in jail, Suge was the only one who used to see me. Nigga used to fly a private plane, all the way to New York, and spend time with me. He got his lawyer to look into all my cases. Suge supported me, whatever I needed. When I got out of jail, he had a private plane for me, a limo, five police officers for security. I said, "I need a house for my moms"; I got a house for my moms.
I promised him, "Suge, I'm gonna make Death Row the biggest label in the whole world. I'm gonna make it bigger than Snoop even made it." Not stepping on Snoop's toes; he did a lot of work. Him, Dogg Pound, Nate Dogg, Dre, all of them-they made Death Row what it is today. I'm gonna take it to the next level."
So you see, the seeds were planted earlier......to start a fight with Bad Boy for the sole purpose of making money......
"How did you first get down with Suge Knight and Death Row?
I used to always see Suge. When they did the soundtrack for Murder Was
The Case and I was going through all those legal problems..He was like 'Yo give me a song
dog'. I gave him a song and I got the most I ever got for a song. It was damn near an
album budget. I got something like 200 thousand dollars for one song and they didn't even
use it. But I still got paid for everything I did for the sound track. I remember when he
did it.. He did it not because he was jocking me, but because he knew I was having crazy
legal problems and I was a man. He had asked me to come to Death Row and I told him I
wasn't ready,. Instead of taking it personal he did that for me and I appreciated that.
So when I was in jail just sittin' there..I was gonna quit rappin' but
then Puffy and Biggie came out in Vibe Magazine and lied and twisted the facts. All I
wanted to do was end everything and walk away from the shit. I wanted to get out the game.
I'm trying to get out the game and they wanna dirty up my memory. They wanna dirty up
everything I worked for. So instead of quittin' it made me wanna come back and be more
relentless to destroy who used to be my comrades and homeboys.
These guys were my closest click. I worked hard all my life as far as
this music business to bring about east coast west coast love and make everybody feel
comfortable. I dreamed of the day when I could go to New York and feel comfortable and
they could come out here and be comfortable. So when people ask me about this east
coast/west coast thing it's not silly at all...but you can't disrespect the love. You
can't disrespect the peace treaty.. That's just like when the Indians made deals with the
white dudes and they would just come and rape their women and shoot'em up and leave...of
course the Indians aren't gonna love white people no more.. They're gonna want to kick up
some dust until people think about it and re negotiate the terms of the treaty and that's
where this east coast west coast stuff is at right now. We gotta have this beef and these
words and this dialogue until we can re negotiate the terms of the treaty. I love the east
coast..I from the east coast, but they have to understand you just can't be saying shit
about us and think we're not gonna take it personally... You just can't be calling us
fakers and pretenders and non-creative and say we can't freestyle..and we just sit back
and say 'Naw it's cool 'cause we love them because they started hip hop'. Hell no, we're
gonna take it personal, just like a kid would when his bigger brother who ain't doing his
shit steps to him. That's like a little brother making lots of cash and the bigger brother
comin' along and sayin' 'You owe it all to me' That's wrong.. Don't be mad because the
little nigguh is comin' u." -
April 19, 1996 | KMEL Radio
Ok, either this nigga is confused or coerced. I will take the latter. Because he had to pay back Suge for all that stuff. Let's move along.
So 'Pac gets out and immediately begins work on the highly anticipated All Eyez On Me, a first of it's kind.....a double disc full with original material he wrote and did when he got out.....because he couldn't get the creativity out while locked up.......
Now the album blows up, the East Coast/West Coast Beef was in full force......hold up, if there was a feud and 'Pac was a main player.......how did Meth and Red end up on the first post-jail album?
.....but then there is a rumor that there is some dissolution in the Death Row camp. Seems some people got fed up with all the drama caused in the interest of making money.
This all was a set-up from the start. I personally don't believe that Puffy, Puff, Diddy, Doo-Dah-Dey, (j/k) nor Biggie saw this shit coming.
“I’m hurt a little bit spiritually by all the negativity, by this whole Death Row-Bad Boy shit,” says Puffy, president of Bad Boy Entertainment, one of the most powerful creative forces in black music today. And these days, one of the most tormented. “I’m hurt that out of all my accomplishments, it’s like I’m always getting my most fame from negative drama. It’s not like the young man that was in the industry for six years, won the ASCAP Songwriter of the Year, and every record he put out went at least gold…. All that gets overshadowed. How it got to this point, I really don’t know. I’m still trying to figure it out.”
Despite all this feuding, 'Pac starts to grow weary of the battle.....at least I think......and longed to leave Death Row. Maybe that was the mask of Death Row East......let's see...
and........
and.........this....
September 6th, 1996....
8:39pm: Mike Tyson knocks out Bruce Seldon at the MGM Grand Hotel, in Las Vegas
8:45pm: As Tupac Shakur leaves the MGM Grand, he gets into an altercation with a young black man believed to be Orlando Anderson, member of a rival gang, The Southside Crips. MGM security video catches the incident on tape.
8:45pm: As Tupac Shakur leaves the MGM Grand, he gets into an altercation with a young black man believed to be Orlando Anderson, member of a rival gang, The Southside Crips. MGM security video catches the incident on tape.
The fight is stopped by security. A man
involved in the fight with Shakur is held for questioning and then let
go. The police never got the man's name.
8:55pm: The Death Row entourage leaves the MGM Grand and stops by the Luxor Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip for reasons not known, then proceeds to Suge Knight's house southeast of downtown.
Time Unknown: The 10-can Death Row entourage leaves the mansion en route to Knight's Club 662, located about 10 blocks east of the Las Vegas Strip at 1700 E. Flamingo Road. Tupac Shakur and Knight ride in his black BMW 750.
Approx. 10:55pm: Tupac Shakur rolls down the passenger side window to allow someone to take the above photo at a red light.
Approx. 11:10pm: The BMW is stopped by bicycle police on the Las Vegas strip for not having a license plate on the car (the plates are in the trunk) and for playing music too loud. No ticket is issued.
| Photo used with permission from The Killing of Tupac Shakur by ©Cathy Scott. |
11:16pm: Knight makes a U-turn on Flamingo, races west to Las Vegas Boulevard, makes a left turn. After encountering heavy traffic on the strip Knight's car hits the median blowing out a third tire and comes to a stop near the intersection of Harmon Avenue.
11:16 - 11:20pm: Up to 20 police officers arrive at the scene
Approx. 11:30pm: An ambulance arrives and whisks Tupac Shakur and Knight to University Medical Center. As Tupac is being removed from the vehicle he repeats, "I can't breathe, I can't breathe."
September 13, 1996; 4:03pm: Tupac Shakur dies from his wounds six days after being placed into a medically induced coma.
Hold up.......who is Orlando Anderson?
Orlando Anderson (aka Baby Lane) was born on August 13, 1974 and was
an alleged affiliate of the South Side Compton Crip. Orlando is believed
by many of Tupac’s fan’s to be the man who killed Tupac, and if he
didnt he was involved in the shooting in someway. Whatever the case, the
fact is that at one time he was a person of interest in the brief
investigation of the murder of Tupac by Compton and Las Vegas police.
Specifically Detective Tim Brennan of Compton filed an affidavit naming
him as as a suspect.
On the night of September 7, 1996 Orlando and Tupac’s entourage were
involved in a fight at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas just three hours
before Tupac’s shooting. These events led to public speculation, but
after two days of questioning Anderson in detention the Las Vegas
homicide detective Lt. Larry Spinosa told the media, “At this point,
Orlando Anderson is not a suspect in the shooting of Tupac Shakur.”
Later in the investigation, Orlando was named a suspect once more.
Stories circulated on the street that Orlando had bragged about shooting
the rapper, which he denied in an interview for VIBE magazine later (se
below for the interview transcript). Orlando was caught up in a round
up of suspects in Compton almost a month after the shooting with 21
other alleged gang members and was detained and questioned, but not
charged. However, the raid was only tangentially connected to the Tupac
shooting as Compton police admitted they were investigating local
shootings and not the shooting in Las Vegas. Though both jurisdictions
investigated a possible connection between Orlando and the fateful
shooting on the Las Vegas strip they were unable to link him directly to
the crime, and no criminal charges were ever filed.
Suge
Knight said to Sanyika Shakur whilst in jail that it was Orlando
Anderson who killed Tupac, but in his interview with Vibe Magazine
Orlando denies any involvement. You can read the whole interview
transcript below. Orlando was murdered on May 29, 1998, when himself,
Michael Stone, and his nephew, Jerry Stone, were in a shootout outside a
carwash in Compton. They died at King-Drew Medical Center in Los
Angeles. No one was ever charged with Orlando’s murder.Below Is The interview transcript of Orlando Anderson talking to Sanyika Shakur for VIBE’s December 1997 Issue. Orlando had his lawyer Renee L. Campbell present during the whole interview.
Sanyika: Why did the Death Row crew zero in on you that night at the MGM?
Orlando: I really don’t know why. I don’t even know them
Who pushed you first?
Actually, I think it was Tupac
What did he say when he first stepped to you?
I don’t really think he said anything. It happened so fast. All I felt was a swarm
You didn’t recognize nobody else? Did you recoginze Suge?
I seen him on the videotape later
Where we from in Compton, our first instinct – after beeing assaulted, insulted, shoe stepped on – is to respond. Did you feel calling your peeps?
Me and my brother ain’t like that. I was just scared because I done heard so much about these guys. It was, like, Damn, what did I do?
So you are not a Southside Crip?
No.
Are you affiliated with the Southside Crips?
No. I ain’t no gang member. I know a lot of people; I grew up with a lot of people; I went to school with a lot of people.
So, nobody in your immediate family bangs?
My brothers? Naw.
Besides your brothers?
Well, y’knowhamsayin’, there’s my uncle and them.
The police said that they raided a Southside hangout, and there were guns there and a diploma on the wall with your name on it. Yet you said you lived next door.
[Anderson's lawyer writes on a yellow notepad and pushes it toward him] I’m not gonna answer that.
Cambell: The affidavit is full of fiction. There is nothing in there that’s independently corroborated. We don’t know why that particular Compton police officer wrote it, but it’s full of lies.
It was reported that you were bragging about whacking Makaveli.
You might as well don’t even pay attention to the affidavit.
That wasn’t just the affidavit. People on the street in Compton told VIBE you were bragging about it.
[Shakes his head; no response]
Do they call you Baby Lane?
Some People call me that.
When I was in jail with Suge Knight, he said, “Baby Lane did it.” How do you respond to this guy’s saying you were the shooter?
I really don’t know why Suge would say something like that. I don’t even know Suge.
Campbell: As far as we’re concerned, whatever Suge Knight is saying, he’s saying for gis own gain. We’ve also named him in the lawsuit. There is no evidence against Orlando. If they would do a proper investigation, they would very likely find out who killed Tupac.
On the stand, you said Suge was not involved in your beating, that he tried to stop it. Now you’re naming him in the lawsuit for participating in your beating.
At the time, I was fearing for my life.
You were fearing Suge’s camp? Death Row People?
Campbell: we don’t want to comment on whom he was fearing.
Aren’t you worried about perjury charges?
Campbell: Even at the time [Orlando] testified, the judge was very skeptical. People say what they need to say if their safety is threatened.
Why change the story now? Are you less scared?
Campbell: No, it’s not that. Orlando was advised by his lawyers that if he was going to bring this lawsuit, then he would need to bring it now. He suffered injuries; he has damages that he wants to collect on.
Anderson: I was kicked in my head, and I was bleeding out of my ear. My hands right here were swollen.
How do you feel about Tupac’s mother filing this countersuit against you?
That’s nonsense to me.
Campbell: That was done solely in response to the lawsuit we filed. Her lawsuit has absolutely no basis.
You were on “America’s Most Wanted”. Have you had any troubles because you were named as a suspect in Tupac’s killing?
I’ve been threatened a lot.
How has this altered your life?
I just stay in the house all the time.
Why don’t you just get vested an heated an continue to do your things? Life goes on. Even ‘Pac himself said it.
I ain’t that type of person. I’ll just put it in the Lord’s hands.
Did anybody ever tell you that you were very much resamble Tupac?
Yeah, a couple of people have told me that.
Do you feel any resentment toward Tupac’s spirit, like, Look at what the hell you done got me into?
I think like that all the time, wondering why. Not only put me through a lot of stuff but put my family through a lot of stuff too.
So, you have lost passion for Tupac’s music? Do you still listen to him?
Yeah, I still listen to his music.
Because you feel him?
Yeah. To me he was like the Marvin Gaye of rap. If he was to comeout with some new music, I’m still about his music.
Do you have a favorite ‘Pac song?
“All Eyez on Me.”
Especially now, huh? What do you wish at this particular juncture in your life?
I wish they would find who did it so I can prove my innocence.
On May 29, 1998, Orlando Anderson and associates, Michael Stone and
Jerry Stone were involved in a shootout outside of Cigs Record Store in
Compton, California. They later died at Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor
Hospital (formerly King/Drew Medical Center) in L.A., California. To
date, no one has been charged with Anderson’s murder.
This where things get eery. 'Pac predicted his own death in the video below.......
He often said someone he didn't know would do him in.
There was a commotion or unexpected incident in the lobby that diverted plans.....
Then this..........
First thing I said when 'Pac passed was, "Biggie's next." I was in the Navy then.....BM2 Woodard came and told me about it. That's when I muttered those words.......
Six months later, I'm woken up to the news. Damn. I so wanted to be wrong.
And then it hit me. Now. Deja Vu?
Biggie said he too was scared somebody will kill him. He wakes up paranoid.
And then.......
Same method, same right side, same action, 'Pac caught 4 bullets, Big's door caught 4 bullets.
At first they said this guy.....
Then this guy..........
And now this guy?
NO ARRESTS, MISSING FILES, PEOPLE STILL DYING, YEARS LATER.........
There you have it. My opinion, like it or not. Everything was just too exact. And this should help figure that the same person who killed Tupac........killed Biggie.
