"Last Testament": Tupac's Last Major Vibe Interview (November 1996)

Original: “Last Testament” · Vibe, November 1996 issue (memorial issue), pp. T6-T7 · Rob Marriott · interviewed in late August 1996 in Los Angeles

When and where

This interview is often listed as Vibe, September 1996. That is wrong, even though the date keeps turning up on fan sites and even in books. The September issue had Biggie and Puffy on the cover. This conversation only ran after Tupac’s death, in the November 1996 issue, under the title “Last Testament.” For that issue, Vibe stapled a memorial cover over the already printed one at the last minute.

The interviewer was Rob Marriott. According to the introduction, two weeks before his death Tupac sat with him in his trailer on the set of Gang Related in Los Angeles. The film was shot in August 1996; Tupac plays a corrupt cop. One fan archive dates a Marriott interview from this period to August 24, 1996; that could not be verified independently.

Where Tupac stood in August 1996

Tupac had been free for just over ten months, All Eyez on Me had been out for half a year, and the feud with Bad Boy was at its peak. Dr. Dre had left Death Row in March 1996. A new album under the name Makaveli was ready. On September 7, Tupac was shot in Las Vegas; he died on September 13.

What they talked about

Tupac presents himself as a man who answers to no one. He announces the Makaveli album Killuminati for the following month and explains the name with his reading:

“I idolize that type of thinking where you do whatever’s gonna make you achieve your goal.” Tupac Shakur, Vibe, November 1996

On the album, he says, he names the people who shot him in 1994 and set him up. He goes after Dr. Dre, Mobb Deep, Jay-Z, Puffy and Biggie, and the cover shows him on a cross. These are his announcements; he offered no proof for the accusations.

He takes responsibility for Dr. Dre’s exit, calling himself the “capo” under the “boss,” Suge Knight. Dre, he says, was not there for Snoop during the murder trial and took credit for other people’s work. He and Suge, he says, complete each other:

“We want, not oppression, but total domination.” Tupac Shakur, Vibe, November 1996

Thug Life, politics, “Black Jesus”

He takes back the farewell to “Thug Life” from Ready to Live. Of all things, he says, it was a letter from Puffy in Vibe that convinced him you cannot be a thug for just a minute. The “W” he throws up does not stand for California but for “war.” At the same time he talks about founding his own political party for all the disadvantaged and putting money into community centers with every platinum album. He ends by describing “Black Jesus,” a saint for people who have nothing:

“I feel like Black Jesus is controlling me.” Tupac Shakur, Vibe, November 1996

Why it matters

“Last Testament” is considered Tupac’s last in-depth interview. It reads like a manifesto for The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, released on November 5, 1996 (see Makaveli). The “Black Jesus” passages are still quoted in books on religion, for example by theologian Anthony B. Pinn. The interview shows Tupac at the height of his power and his hardness, only days before his death.