23 entries
Tupac's Friends
Mentors, producers, labelmates and companions: the people who shaped Tupac's music and life, from Marin City to Death Row.
Tupac had many friends and almost as many fallings-out. Those close to him knew a generous, funny, restless person, and someone who took loyalty as absolute. These pages tell the stories of the people who shaped his music and his life, each focused on what connected them to Tupac: shared songs, films, conflicts. Women with whom Tupac had relationships or who were close to him privately have their own section.
Beginnings in the Bay Area
- Leila Steinberg, his first manager and mentor, who ran the writing workshop where many of his poems were born.
- Shock G, Digital Underground’s leader, who brought Tupac on stage in 1990 and produced I Get Around.
- E-40, the Vallejo rapper; songs together in 1995 and 1996.
New York and the early years
- Stretch, his closest friend in New York, Thug Life co-founder, estranged after the 1994 robbery.
- Treach, Naughty by Nature; friends since Juice.
- Big Syke, in Thug Life from the start, later “Mussolini” in the Outlawz.
Death Row, 1995-96
- Suge Knight, label boss, financier, and the driver on the night of September 7, 1996.
- Snoop Dogg, his partner on 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted.
- Nate Dogg, the voice of How Long Will They Mourn Me? and All About U.
- Daz Dillinger and Kurupt, Tha Dogg Pound, beats and verses for All Eyez on Me.
- Johnny J, the producer Tupac recorded more than a hundred songs with.
- Warren G, producer of How Long Will They Mourn Me?, never signed to Death Row.
Peers and fellow travellers
- Ice Cube and Ice-T, on Last Wordz (1993).
- Coolio, in the 1995 Temptations video.
- Method Man, one of the few New Yorkers on All Eyez on Me.
- Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Thug Luv (1997).
- Scarface, Smile, one of Tupac’s last songs.
- Mike Tyson, the boxer whose fight Tupac attended on September 7, 1996.
- John Singleton, director of Poetic Justice.
Songs on which Tupac guested for other artists are listed under guest appearances and features. The groups he belonged to are described under Crew, the conflicts under Feuds.
More Names
Leila Steinberg, Stretch, Big Syke, Johnny J, E-40 and Scarface also count among his friends, all with a documented close connection to Tupac. Dr. Dre is covered under Feuds because of the 1996 split; Yaki Kadafi and Hussein Fatal are profiled in detail on the Outlawz page.
1968
Big Syke
Founder of Thug Life, “Mussolini” in the Outlawz, and voice on “All Eyez on Me”: Big Syke was one of Tupac’s most dependable companions.
1993
Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
The Cleveland group recorded “Thug Luv” with Tupac in 1996, one of the last guest features he cut during his lifetime.
1963
Coolio
The “Gangsta's Paradise” rapper appeared in the 1995 video for Tupac's “Temptations”, which had to be shot without Tupac.
1973
Daz Dillinger
Death Row producer and Dogg Pound rapper: Daz made several beats for “All Eyez on Me”, and later looked back on that era very critically.
1967
E-40
The Vallejo rapper knew Tupac from the Bay Area. “Dusted 'n' Disgusted” came in 1995, “Ain't Hard 2 Find” on “All Eyez on Me” in 1996.
2003
Eminem and Tupac: Loyal to the Game, Killshot and a Letter to Afeni
They never met: How Eminem produced a posthumous Tupac album, wrote to Afeni Shakur, and caused a stir with a "Killshot" line.
1991
Guest Appearances and Features
Tupac's guest spots on other artists' songs, from “Same Song” in 1991 to posthumous features, with year, partners and album.
1969
Ice Cube
The former N.W.A rapper joined Tupac and Ice-T on “Last Wordz” in 1993, and turned down the role Tupac got in “Poetic Justice”.
1958
Ice-T
Gangsta rap pioneer, co-star of “Last Wordz” and Tupac's partner in a famously silly TV duet in May 1996.
1968
John Singleton
The “Boyz n the Hood” director gave Tupac the lead in “Poetic Justice” in 1993 and decades later tried to film his life.
1969
Johnny J
Over a hundred songs together, hits around the clock: How Johnny J built the sound of “All Eyez on Me” and became Tupac's most important producer.
1972
Kurupt
One half of Tha Dogg Pound, Kurupt was Tupac's Death Row labelmate in 1996, with shared songs and at least one serious argument.
1961
Leila Steinberg
Tupac's first manager and mentor: how Leila Steinberg recognized the 17-year-old's talent in 1989 and systematically launched his career.
1971
Method Man
In the middle of the East-West feud, the Wu-Tang star rapped on “Got My Mind Made Up”, one of the few East Coast guests on “All Eyez on Me”.
1966
Mike Tyson
Tupac admired the heavyweight champion. On September 7, 1996, he sat ringside at Tyson's fight against Bruce Seldon, hours before he was shot.
1969
Nate Dogg
The voice of G-funk hooks sang on “How Long Will They Mourn Me?”, “All About U” and “Skandalouz”, three classics in Tupac's catalogue.
1970
Scarface
In August 1996, Tupac and rapper Scarface recorded “Smile.” The reflective track became one of Tupac's last songs and Scarface's biggest hit.
1963
Shock G
Digital Underground's leader brought Tupac on stage in 1990, gave him his first verse on record and later produced “I Get Around”.
1971
Snoop Dogg
One fresh out of prison, the other just acquitted: how Snoop Dogg and Tupac became "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted" on Death Row in 1996.
1968
Stretch
From best friend to traitor in Tupac's eyes: the story of Randy "Stretch" Walker and a deadly night that repeated itself almost to the minute.
1965
Suge Knight
He bailed Tupac out of prison in 1995 and was at the wheel in Las Vegas. Since 2018 the Death Row boss has been serving 28 years for manslaughter.
1970
Treach
The Naughty by Nature rapper befriended Tupac on the set of “Juice” and dedicated “Mourn You Til I Join You” to him in 1999.
1970
Warren G
Dr. Dre's stepbrother produced “How Long Will They Mourn Me?” in 1994 and landed “Regulate” on the soundtrack to Tupac's film “Above the Rim”.