The mid-to-late 90s can be best described as the gift and the curse for Hip-Hop Journalism. In one respect, the urban written word was in its heyday, where heads anxiously awaited how many mics an album received from The Source. The power of the pen echoed through publications laden with everything from beef to the soon to be evolution of a culture exiting its Golden Age. However, as the intensity brewed from coast to coast, so did the media’s awareness and willingness to spread the unabridged news. One diss turned into three, and three turned into an entire track or full page spread or radio broadcast. Whether or not that s########## led to the death of our soldiers Tupac and Biggie, there was definitely something to be said about the magnitude of the times and the media’s response to the heat.

Kevin Powell stood at the forefront of Hip-Hop Journalism once the bicoastal beef reached its peak. A staff writer for VIBE, urban poet, and budding activist, Kevin was fortunate enough to learn about Tupac behind the scenes. As we mourn a decade without ‘Pac, Kevin reminisces on his experiences with the late rapper, and how the media dramatized the events leading up to his death. An expert on all things Hip-Hop, Kevin offers his opinions on how both the media and the citizens of the culture can do their part in ensuring Hip-Hop’s survival.

AllHipHop.com: You spent a great deal of time [during your time at VIBE] with Tupac. As a person, what was Tupac like once the cameras were turned off?

Kevin Powell: Man, ‘Pac was real. You know, it’s funny. I’ve been trying to write this poem about him. [Tupac was] very intelligent. He was a Gemini, so he had both…he had split personalities as we well know [laughs]. ‘Pac was something else, but I remember, you know very early on, one of the early pieces I wrote about him for VIBE, I said that he was like the James Dean of our generation. You know, that “rebel without a pause,” an iconic figure. James Dean died at 24; I had no idea Tupac would die at 25. [Tupac was] very thoughtful, contemplative. But I also say that ‘Pac was always looking for something outside of himself. Some sort of father figure. That’s why he got caught up in a lot of different things, you know. At some point it was probably Shock G from Digital Underground, at one point Suge Knight, and at the end of his life it was probably Quincy Jones a little bit because he was dating Quincy’s daughter Kidada. ‘Pac was always looking for something, man. It’s funny because I got to write the liner notes for his last live performance at the House of Blues in like summer of ’96. The DVD came out last year and I got to watch Tupac all over again. He was just so intelligent, talented…I don’t think he reached his full potential as an actor. I can imagine the kind of stuff he could have done had he lived.

It’s crazy just to see how people of all different races got this love for Tupac. As I said in my previous book, Tupac dead is more relevant to a lot of young people than a lot of folks who call themselves leaders who are alive. That’s deep!

AllHipHop.com: We’ve all seen or heard about the infamous VIBE cover – the East Coast West Coast…

Kevin Powell: Oh, that cover [laughs]. That was after me.

AllHipHop.com: [Laughs] Well the cover that supposedly sparked “the war.”

Kevin Powell: Yeah man. A lot of things sparked the war; it wasn’t just VIBE Magazine. The Source, the biggest radio station here in New York. I remember when DJ’s in New York would have West Coast records in their hand and would say, “This is garbage,” and just smash them. People seem to forget that when Ice Cube left NWA, he came East and did production with the Bomb Squad. So there was relationships between the East Coast and the West Coast you know what I mean? Ice-T is from New Jersey! Just like the Fresh Prince, he got shipped out to the West Coast when he was a child. There has always been a kind of synergy.

I think the media unfortunately began to exacerbate it. And to be fair to a lot of us [journalists], we didn’t understand the magnitude of what was going on. We were just trying to tell the story. And so if Tupac said something, we reported it. If Suge Knight said something, we reported it. And with people like Biggie and Puffy- Biggie especially, never responded. He always took the high road. I know that he was personally very hurt by a lot of the stuff that was being said. But I think that was part of the worst part of Tupac. That kind of venom that came out and lashed out at a lot of people. A lot of people think he was so anti-East Coast, but if you actually go and listen to the Makaveli album, he’s got people on the album…some of that album was actually from the East Coast, because Tupac was from the East Coast!

What I say to heads, man, is like look at the best aspects of Tupac: he was a student of history, he read, he loved Hip-Hop culture, he was very clear about what his purpose was here. He had a serious work ethic. Look at all of the music he created, the body of work he created. Very loyal…maybe loyal to a fault. His downside, which happens to a lot of young men, Black men: the temper, the anger, the reckless disregard at times for his fellow brother, for women. I think that ultimately played a role in his demise. We don’t know who really killed him. Just like we don’t know who really killed Dr. King, Kennedy, or Malcolm. I’ve got my ideas, but I’m not saying them on camera [laughs]. I think for young people, there is such a genius about Tupac, that’s why you see his face on so many t-shirts. One of my homegirls that I’m real cool with, her sister is 15, so ten years ago she was five. She has all Tupac things; loves Tupac. One her sister said, “My friend Kev interviewed Tupac back in the day,” she was like, “I have to talk to him.” I’ll be gettin’ Tupac-by-extension props [laughs]. It’s bananas. I’m like, “Yeah, I knew him, but…” You know. It’s just deep.

AllHipHop.com: Do you feel that the media has evolved or devolved since then?

Kevin Powell: Devolved, man. I mean when Beyonce and Jay-Z or Brad and Angelina are being talked about or more important than the one year anniversary of Katrina, or more important than people getting sick because of 9/11 work, or more important than the War in Iraq and what’s really going on over there. To me, those things [Katrina, 9/11. Iraq] are more important for the media. It’s sad because when I go to college campuses, which is supposed to be a place where people are educated, you’ve got to explain to people the basics about American history, about world history. It’s sad that we’ve really just dumbed down in a lot of ways. I just encourage younger people to look for alternative media: AllHipHop.com, DaveyD.com is an important website, Alternet.org is an important website. You should certainly read the New York Times. I read it every day. You should certainly watch George Stephanopoulos on Sundays; I do. Balance that out with some other mediums to know what’s going on in this planet. Read man. Exercise your mind. One of the exercises I do when I go across the country and talk about Hip-Hop is I ask, “Are you a Hip-Hop head?” And they say, “Yeah, son. Yeah!’ Especially Brooklyn heads or East Coast heads, they say “son.” At the end of the discussion I say, “What’s Hip-Hop?” Everybody stays quiet. Then they say, “Oh, it’s the t-shirts.” And I say, “Nah, it’s not just the big t-shirts.” People start guessing. But you’re a Hip-Hop head and you don’t know Hip-Hop? When the discussion is done, they have a working knowledge of Hip-Hop. Don’t ever say that you are something if you don’t know who you are. Don’t say you’re African American, West Indian, Italian, Greek, Puerto Rican, Dominican, if you don’t know who you are. Know who you are. How can you expect to relate to other people if you don’t know what you can bring to the conversation? Same with Hip-Hop, we have to see it as a whole people to perpetuate it, you know what I mean?

Tupac Shakur once said that his big mouth had the tendency to get him into a lot of trouble. The man responsible for violent songs like “Hit ‘Em Up” and “Bomb First” made his detractors confirm their beliefs when he got into trouble. And he sure did get in trouble a lot. He allegedly shot two off-duty police officers. He led the East Coast-West Coast feud that split the Hip-Hop nation. Not to mention—worst of all—his conviction of three counts of sexual abuse in 1994. It came as no surprise, then, that on Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z, ‘Pac parodied the media by hiring a dorky sounding White guy to ask the following question: “Mr. Shakur, can you please explain the meaning behind your violent lyrics?”

But the violent part of ‘Pac’s lyrics merely scratched the surface of one of the most complex personalities in popular music history. For every “ I Get Around,” with its tales of misogyny and promiscuity, there was a “Keep Ya Head Up” to empower young women, encouraging them to be strong in spite of that very same misogyny. It’s been said there were Two Pac’s (Get it? Two, ‘Pacs).

In a roundtable discussion, we’ve gathered to explore both sides of Tupac’s lyrical personality. We’ve enlisted the talents of a few artists who knew him well–Pudgee The Phat Bastard, Buckshot the BDI Thug, Chino XL, Adisa Banjoko—and a couple of bona fide experts, Cormega and Makaveli Branded’s DJ Fatal to give us an insiders look at some of his most hard-hitting lyrics.

AllHipHop.com: Before we get started, do you guys have a favorite Tuac song that you’d like to talk about?

DJ Fatal: “Life Goes On” has always been my song because I felt the lyrics and where ‘Pac was coming from. It’s tough when you lose someone and this record helps you mourn and continue on… you just gotta hold onto your faith. I just think about the good times I’ve shared with anyone I’ve lost when I hear this song. It’s good to have memories and just sit back to reminisce to sometimes. It gives yourself a reality check. Tupac once said “You can run the red lights, but read the street signs.” He’s saying, take chances, but be cautious. That’s what “Life Goes On” tells me; that not everything in life is sugar coated and to keep it rolling.

Chino XL: [“White Man’s World”] from the Makaveli album. He’s like, “Where my daddy at…Why they keep on calling me n***er? Get my weight up with my hate and pay them back when I’m bigger…Still thuggin in his jail cell…Hearing Brothers screaming all night, whishing they’d stop.” Being of mixed heritage, I got called on s**t from either side, and I kind of got my weight up with my hate. I paid motherf**ers back now that I’m bigger. Also, anybody that’s ever been locked down knows that if there’s one n***a screaming, you be like, “Shut the f**k up, yo!”

Buckshot: “Picture Me Rollin” [From All Eyez on Me]. “Picture me Rollin’ in my 500 Benz.” ‘Pac found so many ways to get back at people without making it corny. He was so poetic with his lyrics, but he wasn’t afraid to take it to the streets. He’s saying, “I don’t have time for you n***as. It’s about him flossin’ to fake motherf**kas. Can you see me, am I clear to you? That’s the mindstate that I’m in too.

Cormega: “Hail Mary.” He was definitely prophetic. It’s really crazy how deep he was. How many rappers to this day have tattoos on their chest? He was the perfect rapper. There is no rapper with more movie appeal. There is no rapper with more sex appeal. There is no rapper with more street appeal. I would compare him to Bob Marley as far as him being a true icon. There is no one in rap that is on his level.

Pudgee: “Never Had A Friend Like Me” is very special to me. If you knew him, you felt that he really wrote that song for you. A friend is a person that will smack the s**t out of somebody who talks bad about you when you’re not around. That’s the type of person he was.

AllHipHop.com: I want to start the discussion with a sentimental favorite, “Dear Mama.” What’s your reaction to “Even As a crack fiend, mama, you always was a Black Queen, mama”…

Buckshot: It gave the world the ultimate respect for ‘Pac. He opened himself up to the world while not being afraid of the vulnerability of the truth. He went through the same thing that a lot of kids in the ghetto go through. He was giving ultimate respect to his mother—his Queen—no matter what ups and downs that she’s been through. That message was so thick to every mother and every kid who heard that.

Chino XL: When you get older, you notice some inconsistencies about your mom that you may not have seen when you were growing up. You start to realize that some of the things that she did might not have been great. But no matter what you do, you’re still The Queen of me. No can listen to this song and not wish that they can pick up the phone and call their mama. I don’t give a f**k who you are, it touches you.

AllHipHop.com: It seemed that for every “Dear Mama,” there was an “Against All Odds.” Where he said, “I’m a Bad Boy killa, Jay-Z die too, looking out for Mobb Deep, n***a, when I find you.” This was a very, very powerful line. Your thoughts?

Cormega: A lot of people think that it was about Biggie on the East Coast and ‘Pac on the West Coast. It wasn’t like that. Big ran New York. ‘Pac ran America I was in a club with Mobb Deep in North Carolina and n***as in the crowd were shouting “Makaveli!” This is on the East Coast! That shows you how powerful his influence was.

Buckshot: You got one time to speak. Speak now or forever hold your peace. So, if you wanna tell a n***a “Suck my di*k,” you tell that n***a that s**t. If you wanna tell him, “Peace brother, have a nice day,” tell him. But you don’t never tell him something that you don’t wanna tell him. That’s what I learned from ‘Pac.

AllHipHop.com: Similarly, he had choice words for old rappers as Makaveli on “Against All Odds.” He said, “N***as looking like Larry Holmes, flabby and sick, trying to playa hate on my s**t (Look at De La Soul), you eat a fat d*ck.” What do y’all think about that line?

Chino XL: I guess he was mad at De La Soul for whatever reason.

Adisa Banjoko: That is, possibly, the single funniest line ever in Hip-Hop. That is a line that showed that silly side of ‘Pac. Even when he was mad, he could still clown. One of the things that’s interesting about that is, nobody remembers the song “Old School”…

AllHipHop.com: Exactly! That leads me to my next song, “Old School,” where he raps “Went out to steal, remember Raw, with Daddy Kane, when De La Soul was putting potholes in the game.”

Chino XL: What is this, the De La Soul part of the interview?

Adisa Banjoko: Nobody remembers this song. No one ever, ever, quotes this song. He talks in depth about, not just the MCs, but the culture of Hip-Hop on the East Coast. No one ever gives him love for that. They forget that him and Naughty By Nature were hella tight. People make it seem like he hated the East Coast when—in fact—the East Coast nurtured him as much as the West.

Cormega: He even rapped about Italian Icees on this song. It shows you how much he knew and respected the culture. I came to know Fatal Hussein from The Outlawz and as we got to know each other we became close friends. Through him, I’ve learned a lot about ‘Pac. He always loved New York. No matter what the media said, New York always loved ‘Pac. He got shot, so of course he was paranoid, but that’s gonna happen to anybody no matter where you get shot.

AllHipHop.com: On “California Love,” he rapped, “Out on bail, fresh outta jail, California Dreamin.” What’s your reaction to that one Chino?

Chino XL: California really is everything you can imagine it is. If you imagine California as the beach on the weekend with a bunch of rich kids with bad bodies, that’s what it is. If you imagine going to Crenshaw on a Friday night, n***a, that s**t is real. If you imagine wearing the wrong color in the wrong spot and getting laid the f**k up, that’s real too. I can imagine ‘Pac thinking, “Yo, I’m a get out, get dipped up, go get these chains…and go down Melrose.” What he’s saying is, “I’m going to be trouble when I get free.”

AllHipHop.com: Adisa, you’re from the Bay. Any insights?

Adisa Banjoko: When ‘Pac went to jail, I didn’t know what to make of him. I remember my wife and I were driving through San Jose and the song came on the radio. I was like, “Oh my God, this fool is coming bigger and harder and stronger than anybody ever expected.” He came out supercharged. I regretted that I hadn’t written him before [he got out of jail]. Just based on the energy of this song, I knew that there was a lot of new factors in his life that he didn’t have before he went in jail.

AllHipHop.com: On “I Get Around,” he rapped, “If I couldn’t have it (silly rabbit) why’d you sweat me? There’s a lot of real G’s doing time cause a groupie bit the truth and told a lie.”

Adisa Banjoko: Man. Didn’t that almost end up being prophetic? Didn’t he come up with this one right before he went to jail? How crazy is that?

Chino XL: The best advice I ever got was from Eric B. He told me to never let [groupies] in your hotel room, never give them your phone number, and never to touch them. If you’re on the road with people you can’t control, either don’t stay on the same floor with the entourage or don’t even stay in the same hotel. You gotta think about it. Listen to that line. That’s your whole life, ‘Pac.

AllHipHop.com: “I Get Around” is on the same album as the next song I want to talk about, “Keep Ya Head Up.” ‘Pac seemingly contradicts himself by pleading the following line: “When he tells you, ‘You ain’t nothin’ don’t believe him. And if he can’t learn to love you, you should leave him” What’s up with that?

Adisa Banjoko: ‘Pac made songs about the Black woman. He did songs about the importance of rebuilding the black family, even though he himself was struggling in pursuit of those things. [He] always went head-up against the actual structure of America. Now you have people who try to act like ‘Pac. but nobody will pick up the torch to attack the infrastructure and redeem the Black woman. These cats ain’t even donating money to his charity. But sure enough, they’ll pour a little liquor out after they get an award and talk about how important he was in their life. But they don’t do nothing for him, for what he believed in, or for his institutions.

Cormega: That’s what I’m saying about him being the perfect rapper. He’ll make a song like “I Get Around,” and parents will forbid their children from listening to him. But then he’ll make a song like this and all of a sudden he’s your parent’s favorite rapper. It’s hard to believe that this was the same rapper.

Chino XL: We tend to look at relationships as women being oppressed by men, but it goes both ways. Being a father and having a baby’s mother makes you put up with a whole lot for the love of your kid. It’s not really fair to say that the line only applies to women. No matter what kind of relationship you’re in, you can’t let a person take your energy. If can’t learn to love the person that you’re with, you should leave them to maintain your own spirit. If you give that away, you have nothing.

AllHipHop.com: Finally, “Hit ‘Em Up” was the song that split allegiances coast to coast. It began with a very powerful opening line that I want to hear your thoughts on. “I ain’t got no friends, that’s why I f**ked your b*tch you fat motherf**ker.”

Cormega: I learned not to involve myself in other people’s beefs because of songs like this. To this day, the only people who really responded were [Lil’] Kim and Mobb Deep.

DJ Fatal: I remember a story that Johnny J [the song’s producer] told me a few years ago. The record wasn’t meant to be. The lyrics speak for itself; it’s a very intense track. [But] from what I heard, the tape on the reel rattled and rolled off to the ground. The engineers had to piece the reel back together after it was recorded. Johnny J said that if you pay attention near the end of the track, you could hear the flaw. [Still] to this day nobody has ever recorded a greater beef record!

Chino XL: I guess he was trying to get Biggie’s goat. He was trying to get him mad.

AllHipHop.com: Chino, you’re the only artist on the panel that was dissed—by name—on that record. How did you feel the first time you heard it, or, in general what was your reaction?

Chino XL: I was a f**kin’ teenager, dog. I didn’t really look at it the people have imagined I looked at it. I just realized that I threw a slick metaphor [ “By this industry, I’m trying not to get f**ked like Tupac in jail.”] and I didn’t mean that much by it. I was a little f**kin’ kid just rhyming about whatever. He was really mad at that s**t and it wasn’t even that serious. Fortunately, before he passed, I got a chance to tell him that I didn’t mean nothing by it and that it was just a f**kin’ little lyric. He had so many bigger fish to fry at the time; it was the perfect moment to get it done right before he passed.

AllHipHop.com: Pudgee, you actually got a shout out at the end of the clean version of the song. Being that you were cool with both Big and ‘Pac, you were in a unique situation. What was that like? Was it ever weird being around Big?

Pudgee: ‘Pac was like my brother at that point. I actually didn’t know about the record when he first did it. People would just walk up to me like “Yo, ‘Pac gave you a shout out!” I’m from New York. I did joints with Big. It was a lil’ crazy. ‘Pac and me actually had a conversation about him not wanting me to choose sides between him and Big. My friendships with both of them were more than just music. I don’t know if Biggie had any animosity because of the record, but we was cool. You weren’t gonna make me choose between you and my brother.

AllHipHop.com: Any last thoughts?

Chino XL: ‘Pac’s approach to lyrics was “I’m gonna make you feel me.” Even if it don’t rhyme, I’m gonna make sure that when you walk away from this song, you’re blood is gonna pump the exact same gasoline that mine is pumping when I’m saying it to you. He had one of the greatest formulas of all time.

Buckshot: I’ll tell you one thing: ‘Pac sold 73 million copies. 73 million records! Ain’t no artist on this globe that sold damn near that many records in his lifetime on some rap s**t. Nobody, ever.

Cormega: I don’t care what anybody says, Makaveli is the real Black Album. That album got no promotion, no reviews—if I’m not mistaken The Source didn’t give it a review at the time—and it still made a huge impact in New York, where it got absolutely no radio play.

Adisa Banjoko: I walked into Club Townsend, which was a popular club in San Francisco at the time, and Run-DMC was performing with Brand Nubian. I just ran through the door with my friend. ‘Pac was on the phone and was like, “What’s up Bishop!” I was like, “What’s up, [and kept running].” A few minutes later, Money-B’s dad comes up to me and said, “Dude, what did you say to ‘Pac? He saw you coming through the door and you didn’t say nothing to him.” I found him and apologized for what went down. He let it go and was like, “Alright. You should come with me right now.” I told him I was gonna wait for Run-DMC instead. He was like, “Okay. [You’ll be sorry].” Tupac hits the stage with MC Serch and they have a f**kin’ freestyle session that I will never forget. The crowd went berserk. I remember ‘Pac looking at me, and he nodded like “I told you! You should have came on the stage with me, but you were too cool!” [Laughs] He was more offensive then he liked to admit, but he was also more forgiving than people understood.

AllHipHop.com: Pudgee, any more stories you’d like to share?

Pudgee: Another funny thing that me and him went through was at the Jack The Rapper convention in Atlanta. It was the year Suge and Dre had beef with Luke. It was crazy; they was throwing chairs off of the balconies for like 45 minutes. Everybody was running to avoid getting hit. Luke Campbell came with, like, a whole football team from Miami. Everybody was punching everybody in the face…Rage hit a cop…Latifah was wildin…it was a big deal. ‘Pac was like, “Yo, you think if we stand in the middle and get hit, we could sue some of them?” I was like, “I ain’t trying to die,” so we ran like everybody else. That was probably the extent of our stupidity. [Laughs]

Additional Reporting by Erik Gilroy.

IIt’s been ten long years since Tupac Shakur’s untimely death, but his group, the Outlawz, continue to tear through the rap game at a same grueling pace. They started off as seven members but after Tupac’s death fate would downsize them, and now three remain: E.D.I., Kastro and Young Noble. They’ve consistently released solid albums and have been around the world, but to the mainstream eye, they remain highly underrated.

While this may normally be seen as a roadblock for other artists, for the Outlawz, it’s motivation. And to the remaining members of Tupac’s one-time entourage, it’s their duty to carry out the legacy of one of the most iconic rappers of all time. Remembering Tupac Shakur is not only to recognize what we can’t have back, but to also appreciate what remains.

AllHipHop.com: Your album Can’t Sell Dope Forever it’s a collaboration with dead prez. And I think it’s gonna be big because dead prez has been able to contribute so much to the Hip-Hop community in terms of just being voice that mainstream radio does not want to be heard…

Young Noble: As far as us doin’ the project with dead prez, like you said, the mainstream media don’t want to hear the truth. [There is] not too much really substance that the radio, even the video channels is even supporting, you know what I mean? Dead prez, they’re considered the underdogs, but at the end of the day, Outlawz, we represent the same thing. We represent the struggles ‘cause we came in the game with ‘Pac, we been doing nothing but real s**t, representing the voice of the voiceless, the hope for the hopeless, and just representing the struggles period. I be on my grind; I don’t sell drugs no more, I hustle rap. So I’m like, “We should do a project together, I think that would be hot.” And everybody was like, “Hell yeah.” It’s a mutual respect for each other and at the end of the day, just puttin’ our movement together just makes it even bigger. Dead prez got a hell of a fanbase and so do the Outlawz, so just puttin’ it together and puttin’ a solid message out there it makes the movement even bigger.

AllHipHop.com: Is there a particular song with a strong political message that you want listeners to pay particular attention to?

Young Noble: As far as the album is concerned, it’s like ten-11 songs on there and it’s nothing but substance from the beginning to the end. It’s not just one song to me that’s like overwhelming [with information] you have to listen to it. But my favorite two songs on the album are “I Believe I Can,” that’s the song with Stic.man he did a solo, he actually got his mother on there with him. Then there’s a song we got on there called “Fork in the Road” featuring Malachi a hot artist in Atlanta on the rise. It’s self-explanatory – everybody in their life will come to a fork in the road [asking themselves], “Which way am I gon’ go, which way is the right way? Am I gon’ go this way or that way?” You don’t know which way is the right way but you gon’ try to make the decision that will put you in a better situation. That’s what we on, man, we just tryin’ to put the message out there, the whole Can’t Sell Dope Forever. The concept [came from] a clothing company based out of Atlanta called Miseducated Society and they make the “can’t sell dope forever” shirts. Like you see all the people in the hood wearin’ them and s**t, and one day I was like, “Damn, I want to do a song called “Can’t Sell Dope Forever.” So I wind up doin’ the song and I played it for my artist Stormy the day after I did it. He couldn’t believe it. He was like, “I was at Stic.man’s house yesterday and Stic.man was sayin’ we need to do a project called Can’t Sell Dope Forever. They heard the song and was like this is bananas, and we wind up doin’ the remix and putting Stic.man on it and E.D.I., Kastro and that’s basically where the project comes from. A lot of us just trying to put a nice message out there. There’s a lot of dudes in the game right now you know what I mean, there’s a lot of dope boys a lot of music about the dope game almost kinda glorifying it. All these young n***as wanna be dope boys and get money and s**t, but this game is serious. Ain’t nothing wrong with hustling, ‘cause we all gotta eat. I used to [sell dope], you know what I mean? I used to sell crack 24/7 but I had got up out that s**t. And at the end of the day, we just tryin’ to tell n***as, “Yo, if you gon’ do it, we ain’t sayin’ don’t do it but if you gon do it then you better be tryin to stack your money and roll over. Open you up a barbershop or open up a laundromat or something different, ‘cause you ain’t gon’ be able to do that s**t forever and it’s only gonna lead you to two places,” you know what I mean?

AllHipHop.com: So you’re born in California, raised in New Jersey, and living in Atlanta, so you can connect with young hustlers from across America. The collaboration with dead prez is important, but do you feel that the message would have even more effective on a mainstream scale if you had collaborated with, say…The Game?

Young Noble: I think it was meant for [Outlawz and dead prez to do the project]. I don’t think to many rappers even take that approach to doin’ music. When you pop the CD in, it’s from beginning to end nothing but substance. I think collaboration perfect for us ’cause the Outlawz; we’re known for doing nothing but real s**t. My brother locked up now from that s**t, you know what I mean; my mom was a fiend until I was basically six or seven years old; I started hustling when I was like 12 years old, you know what I’m saying? I don’t think there’s too many artists’ that are even willing to take that risk and put it out there like that you know what I mean like. Dead prez, they some stand up dudes, and we some stand up dudes, I think the combination is perfect. I couldn’t see us doing it with nobody else. I don’t think any of them other dudes would even be interested in doing a project called Can’t Sell Dope Forever.

AllHipHop.com: I guess I just thought that because a lot of artists, especially from the West Coast, put a lot of emphasis on Tupac inspiring them. So considering that their careers are somewhat derivative from Tupac, there is nothing but respect there. So I would assume that you would have that same level of respect from these other artists’ to be able to…

Young Noble: That’s a good thing that you sayin’ that, ‘cause a lot of dudes be kinda fake love. Like when Pac was alive, a lot of dudes was scared of ‘Pac so it’s like [since] he ain’t here no more, dudes will be like, “We love Tupac to death, we a reflection of Pac, we was little homies.” The same brothers saying “We love Tupac to death,” motherf**kas will close the door right in our face. When it comes to the family, when it comes to the love, n***as don’t reach they hand out to us. I done seen a lot of dudes come up. I done seen a lot of these n***as before they really got they shine. But them n***as don’t talk to us. You know who talks to us? The streets, the independent n***as. We do songs with independent n***as all across the country. We don’t even reach out to none of them n***as for support no more ‘cause that s**t be real fake. I’m telling you from the horse’s mouth. Don’t get me wrong, n***as show us nothing but love and respect, but as far as in this music s**t that’s what it be like, “I love y’all n***as, man, I been bumping y’all s**t for years,” but it don’t be no support there like that.

AllHipHop.com: That’s not what Tupac would’ve wanted…

Young Noble: I mean, if ‘Pac was alive, you already know, ‘Pac wasn’t [claiming] nothing but the Outlawz. He took care of us like his motheraf**kin’ family. I mean E.D.I, Kastro and Kadafi was his real family. At the end of the day, we ain’t asking for nobody’s support, we doin’ this on our own, we ten years strong in that s**t. We just got back from Moscow [and we’ve] tour the world. A lot of rappers that’s hot out here, they don’t give a f**k about Moscow.

AllHipHop.com: Are you going to look to MTV and BET for more publicity, or do you know you can get your message out either way?

Young Noble: No question. I mean don’t even get it confused, we would love to have a company behind us you know what I mean, but ain’t nobody really came with it yet. We not gone’ sit around and beg a lot of dudes they don’t really know how to s**t like that. This game is a mutherf**kin’ hustle nothing more, nothing less. I’m not gon’ sit around and wait for some motherf**ker to write me a check to feed my family, hell no! We got our own studio, we do beats, we do music, we do our own s**t. We invest in ourself, that’s how we get that comeback like that.

AllHipHop.com: You were pretty young when you joined Outlawz. What was it like working with Tupac?

Young Noble: We would get up six o’clock in the morning and go to a movie set with ‘Pac. We might be at a movie set with Pac until about three o’clock. We would leave and go to the studio. Would be there form like four [pm] until about two [am] or something, pop four or five songs out. Get to the crib at about two [am], and guess what, back up at six [am] all over again. We did Makaveli in literally like three days. It’s the “seven-day theory,” but that s**t should really be the “three-day theory” with songs over. There was a few songs that ain’t even go on the album that we did in a little bit of time.

AllHipHop.com: There is a lot of talk when it comes to the quantity of songs that Tupac put out…

Young Noble: Call me back if you can find someone who put out more albums than us. I doubt there’s anyone out there with more songs then us. Our work ethic is phenomenal, that’s something that ‘Pac told us. “Go in there and do quality s**t and move on to the next thing.” That’s just want he told us; it’s just second nature. Just like how Tupac will do “California Love,” then “I Ain’t Mad at Ya,” then “Dear Mama,” we do the same kinda music, real life from the heart s**t.