News of June 16, 2021
Tupac Would Be 50: Jada Pinkett Smith Reads an Unpublished Poem
For his 50th birthday on June 16, 2021, Jada Pinkett Smith shared the poem 'Lost Soulz,' while SiriusXM launched a limited-run Tupac channel.
On the eve of Tupac’s 50th birthday, Jada Pinkett Smith took to Instagram. Tupac would have turned 50 on June 16, 2021. In a video, the actress, his close friend since high school, read aloud a handwritten poem titled “Lost Soulz.” She is convinced the text was never published.
A Draft from Rikers Island
She suspects Tupac wrote the poem while imprisoned on Rikers Island, and considers it the original concept for the song of the same name on the soundtrack to Gang Related. “Let’s remember him for that which we loved most … his way with words,” she wrote.
A Dedicated Station on Channel 104
For Black Music Month, SiriusXM launched the limited-run channel “The 2PAC Channel” (Channel 104). Tupac’s music had been airing there since June 1, along with stories from his circle, such as from E.D.I. Mean.
More on Jada Pinkett and Tupac’s poems.