Right On! 1992: Tupac After Juice

Original: Interview · Right On! · writer not recorded · 1992 according to the archive, issue not identified

When and where

Since 1971, Right On! had been the teen magazine for young African American readers, a Black counterpart to Tiger Beat, full of star profiles, posters and interviews. Tupac’s appearance there shows how quickly Juice made him interesting to a young audience. The issue and the writer were not recorded. The content dates the conversation to early 1992: Juice is already in theaters (it opened January 17, 1992), its posters are “everywhere,” and Tupac gives his age as 20, he turned 21 on June 16, 1992.

The situation

Tupac was suddenly in demand on three fronts: as an actor, as a solo artist with 2Pacalypse Now, and still as a member of Digital Underground. He called it “hectic,” but said it was exactly what he wanted.

Juice and the poster

He got the part by chance, he said: he went along with his friend Money B to an audition, was mistaken for Treach of Naughty by Nature and asked to read. After that they flew him back about twenty times. He described the shoot as hard physical work with endless days.

He was outspoken about the movie poster: according to the interview, the gun had been airbrushed out of the original image. Tupac pointed out that Christian Slater was allowed to hold a weapon in the ad for Kuffs running right next to it, and cited white action heroes like Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. To him it was a double standard: Black actors couldn’t be shown with a gun, white ones could.

Youth and Digital Underground

He spoke openly about Baltimore: no money, his mother on drugs, a miscarriage in the family. He left for California to survive and first stayed with the wife of his godfather, Geronimo Pratt, who was in prison at the time. He called Digital Underground his “salvation”a train Shock G let him jump on. Now, he said, he just had his own car on it.

Plans and a message

2Pacalypse Now was meant to be true and to show young Black men that he understood their problems; he described “Trapped” as an anthem about a vicious circle with no way out. Next up, he said, was “Brenda’s Got a Baby.” He also had projects of his own: an 18-year-old rapper called Mister who would speak up for women without selling her body, the kids’ group Gold, and his production company, the Underground Railroad.

For the magazine’s young readers he had a clear message:

“We don’t need a thousand rappers. We need 500 rappers and 500 brain people, like scientists and mathematicians.” Tupac Shakur, Right On!, 1992

He had no use for “just say no”: everyone has to make their own decisions and learn from their mistakes. He described himself as a Gemini with two sides, loud and hardcore, but also a quiet, introverted poet, and as a fighter:

“I fight from my soul, from my heart.” Tupac Shakur, Right On!, 1992

Why it matters

The interview shows Tupac at the very start of his career: amazed by his own success, candid about a hard childhood, already political and full of ideas for others. Many motifs that later became famous, the two sides, the “soulja,” the media’s double standard, can be heard clearly here for the first time.

Read more: Juice · Davey D, 1991 · Right On! 1993