In April 1996 two rappers shot a video about themselves. One had left prison in October 1995, the other had been acquitted of murder in February. The song was 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted, and it turned Tupac and Snoop Dogg into Death Row’s double act.
From Long Beach to No. 1
Calvin Broadus was born on October 20, 1971, in Long Beach. As a teenager he rapped in the trio 213 with his cousin Nate Dogg and Warren G, who introduced him to Dr. Dre. The Chronic (1992) made him famous overnight, and his debut Doggystyle entered the Billboard chart at No. 1 in November 1993. His birth year is sometimes given as 1972; it was 1971.
Charged with murder, acquitted in 1996
In 1993 Snoop was charged with murder after his bodyguard shot a man in Los Angeles while Snoop was driving. Not until February 20, 1996, did the jury acquit both men of murder. It deadlocked on voluntary manslaughter, and that charge was later dropped. That period produced 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted on All Eyez on Me.
You can lock up one, not both
MTV visited the video shoot and reported that Tupac was directing; the director usually credited is Gobi Rahimi, one of Tupac’s production partners. Snoop explained he wrote the song as his trial began and Tupac had just got out: you can lock up one of us, but not both.
Tupac described Death Row as a team that “moves as one.” They also appear together on All About U and on Wanted Dead or Alive from the Gridlock’d soundtrack (1997).
After September 13: peace with Puff Daddy, a break with Knight
Tupac’s death changed Snoop’s course. In February 1997 he appeared alongside Puff Daddy on the sitcom The Steve Harvey Show, where the two declared the East-West feud over (see East Coast vs. West Coast). In March 1997 he told MTV he had learned from Tupac to be a “workaholic,” which was why he wanted to release another album so soon. In 1998 he left Death Row and later publicly criticised Suge Knight.
A DubCNN interview is often quoted in which Snoop said he had deliberately not released any joint songs since Tupac’s death because he did not want to make money off his friend’s legacy. That quote survives only second-hand. It is also claimed that Snoop and Tupac fell out over Bad Boy before Tupac’s death, and that Snoop was Tupac’s “best friend after Biggie.” Neither could be backed up.
The label is his now
In February 2022 Snoop Dogg bought the Death Row Records brand, the label on which he and Tupac had their biggest success in 1996. The name that made the two “Most Wanted” famous now belongs to one of them.