1995-04414 words · 2 min
Ready to Live (Part 1 of 5): The Interview on Rikers Island
Rikers Island, January 1995: Tupac's first interview after the shooting. He chain-smokes and talks about withdrawal, remorse, and the road to Quad Studios.
Original: “Ready to Live” (Part 1) · Vibe · Kevin Powell · April 1995
Tupac walked into the room without a limp, chain-smoked, and said this was his last interview: if he were killed, people should have “every drop” of the true story. In January 1995, Kevin Powell traveled to Rikers Island, New York’s jail island. Tupac was held there on $3 million bail, awaiting sentencing in his sexual abuse case. He gave a detailed account of the shooting on November 30, 1994. The long conversation appears here in five parts; this is the first.
A Thousand Push-ups and No More Excuses
Tupac spoke about himself first. The first days in custody had been withdrawal; after that, he did a thousand push-ups a day, read books in a single day, and wrote. He was innocent of the charges, he said, but not innocent in the way he lived. He was not a gangsta rapper; he rapped about what happened to him. The addict, the excuse-maker, and the vengeful man inside him were dead.
$7,000 for Little Shawn: The Road to Quad Studios
Then he recounted the night at Quad Studios. He had recorded a track for a DJ and afterward received a call from a man named Booker: he was asked to rap on a Little Shawn record for money. Booker, he said, he had met through an acquaintance named Nigel.
Tupac asked for $7,000 because he was broke: shows canceled, record money tied up with lawyers. When he arrived, Lil’ Cease from Biggie’s circle called down to him from upstairs, and Tupac relaxed.
No. 1 from a Cell, Bail from Suge Knight
The interview appeared in April 1995 as the cover story and is considered one of the most important Tupac documents. Shortly after the conversation, on February 7, 1995, he was sentenced to one and a half to four and a half years in prison. In March, Me Against the World was released and debuted at No. 1 while he was incarcerated at Clinton Correctional Facility.
The reformed tone did not last long. In October 1995, Suge Knight got him out on $1.4 million bail. At Death Row, Tupac came across harder than ever before. His insinuations about the Quad night became fuel for the East-West conflict (see parts 2 and 3).
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