Tony Patrick: Tupac on His Panther Roots and Respect (1995)

Original: interview with Tupac · Tony Patrick · 1995 according to the archive · outlet unknown

When and where

Tony Patrick is on record as a journalist who interviewed Tupac. In her book on Tupac’s murder, author Cathy Scott quotes a line Tupac told “journalist Tony Patrick.” Patrick later appeared in the video biography Thug Immortal, where he described Tupac as someone with a special kind of charisma.

Where this conversation was published is unknown. The archive dates it to 1995, which could not be confirmed. At the start, Patrick mentions reading Tupac’s bio while reviewing his album, but the excerpt does not say which album. Some passages would also fit an earlier period, such as Tupac saying he came “from straight bottom” and is now getting what he worked for. The year therefore remains an archive attribution.

What they talked about

Patrick opens with Tupac’s background. Tupac lists his family: his mother, Afeni Shakur, a member of the “Panther 21”; Mutulu Shakur, whom he calls his father here; Geronimo Pratt as his godfather; and Assata Shakur as his “auntie.” Mutulu was his stepfather; his biological father is Billy Garland, whom Tupac, by his own account, only met after the November 1994 shooting (VIBE Online 1996). He comes, he says, from a long line of “soldiers.”

What did his mother pass on to him? Growing up with a single Black mother who was also a Panther, every day was a test, he says. This was not only about white people or the police but about how society as a whole treats people, especially women. Men can fight their way through; women have it much harder:

“I grew up watching that.” Tupac Shakur, talking to Tony Patrick

Respect, violence and money

Patrick raises the disrespect toward women, and toward one another, in rap. Tupac agrees that it is messed up, and says that is exactly what he raps about so people can see it. But he will not condemn anyone who snaps. It is learned behavior, “the hate that hate made.” The only way to break it is to see love in yourself, and rap can help with that.

Preaching peace in the middle of poverty will not work, he says, and neither will “just say no” campaigns. People need to be offered a positive alternative.

“You have to offer us a positive solution.” Tupac Shakur, talking to Tony Patrick

The last topic is how easily people in the music business can be bought. First, Tupac says, Black men have to find success and make money. Someone who never had anything will take it when offered everything. That is why he does not blame rappers who turn to the mainstream, alluding to “a certain dancing MC” without naming him. Survival, he says, is the real test.

Why it matters

The interview is short and hard to place. In substance, it is one of Tupac’s clearest statements about his roots in the Panther movement and his view of rap as a mirror of social conditions. Who published it, and exactly when, remains open.