Street Heat: Tupac in Las Vegas (November 1995)

Original: interview with Tupac for Street Heat · Las Vegas, according to the report on the day of the Bowe-Holyfield fight (November 4, 1995) · interviewer not named

When and where

In 1995, Street Heat was a nationally syndicated hip-hop radio program from SW Networks, hosted by Mike “M-80 Da Bomb” Elliot of The Source. Whether the surviving text comes from a broadcast or from a written version can no longer be determined. The report names no interviewer, only the “Street Heat” team, and closes by thanking two Death Row staffers for setting up the meeting.

According to the report, the team met Tupac in Las Vegas in November 1995, on the day of a show following the Holyfield-Bowe fight. That third bout between Riddick Bowe and Evander Holyfield took place on November 4, 1995, at Caesars Palace. Afterward, the report says, Tupac and Tha Dogg Pound performed at Club 662. Among the guests it lists Mike Tyson, Rappin’ 4-Tay, Tha Alkaholiks and Pepa. The interview took place in Suge Knight’s office at the back of the club.

Where Tupac stood in November 1995

Tupac had been out on bail, posted by Death Row, since October 12. He was signed to Suge Knight and in the studio working on the double album that came out in February 1996 as All Eyez on Me.

What they talked about

The first question goes straight to his move from Interscope to Death Row. Was the bail the reason? No, Tupac says. He had already called Suge from prison and asked him to become his manager, because nobody else was taking care of his business. Another factor was the rumor that Interscope might split from Warner. Death Row and he, he says, are like two “superpowers” joining forces to fight for uncensored rap.

Prison made him bitter, he admits, but he wants to turn that bitterness into ambition. He lists his “moves”: Death Row, a film he wrote, the double album, the divorce. Now it is about sticking to the music and staying out of trouble.

“I’m trying not to be bitter. I’m trying to let that be my ambition.” Tupac Shakur, Street Heat, 1995

Media, movies, music

Asked about the “real” Tupac, he says he is a human being with every side, good and bad. The media only show one, and that happens above all to young Black men from the inner city. But he refuses to let it slow him down:

“When the wheels fall off, the wheels fall off.” Tupac Shakur, Street Heat, 1995

On acting, he mentions his screenplay “Live to Tell,” written in prison, and a planned movie with Snoop. He describes the new album as the flip side of Me Against the World: less message, more release after eleven months in prison, upbeat tracks instead of sad ones.

Why it matters

This is one of the first interviews after his release, and it shows Tupac in his new role as Death Row’s star, in the middle of Suge’s world of title fights and club nights. Las Vegas, Suge Knight, a fight night and Club 662: ten months later, the same setting would frame the night Tupac was shot (see Shooting 1996).