That was another life-changing experience, which I ended up writing a book about. Because of my interviews with rappers in Los Angeles, Suge Knight (head of Death Row Records, Tupac’s label) offered me a job to launch its magazine, Death Row Uncut.
I sent him a package every week, including transcripts from my interviews with people such as OutKast. Over time, the tone of his letters seemed to evolve: from depression to rage and, eventually, to courage and creativity. He’d just been robbed and shot that’s serious post-traumatic stress. His letters were more lucid, as he wasn’t smoking weed, but he wasn’t in a good place. He maintained his innocence and, though we carried on communicating via letter, it was something we never discussed. As soon as I arrived, I found out Tupac had been shot he survived, but weeks later was sent to prison, for an unrelated sexual abuse conviction. In 1994, I went to California with Victory Outreach, an alcohol and drug support group, to work with ex-gang members who had turned their lives around. He never talked about fellow rapper Biggie Smalls. His letters were largely about hustling and writing they weren’t romantic. I’d send excerpts from Frederick Douglass, the Bible or Machiavelli’s The Prince. I’m very bookish and introverted, and so was he. One friend was very dismissive: “He’s not interesting, he’s not an artist.” Tupac Amaru Shakur, also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor.34 He is considered by many to be one of the greate. It was like: you’d better get your act together.Īt that time in the UK, my friends were very critical of west coast hip-hop – it was all east coast with them. I’ve had to deal with racism, anorexia and mental health issues, but hearing from Tupac, who had been through terrible things and yet was still so determined, was a big smack around the face. We were both passionate about social issues, especially police brutality. You sent me a copy of your fly-ass magazine.” He asked me to keep sending it, and we started corresponding by letter. I was back in Barnsley a few months later when the phone rang and I asked who it was. I got in touch with his publicist for an interview and she said to send copies of my magazine.
I was more into rave then, but the first time I heard his album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z…, I got goosebumps. He advised me I should check out someone called Tupac. It was 1992, and there was nothing else written for young or black people in the area.Īt 22, I went to New York to interview the rapper Treach. It covered social issues such as racism and police brutality, and featured a lot of poetry and graffiti. But my male colleagues got the news stories and I got the dog stuck down a sewer.įrustrated, I used my Post Office savings and started a little magazine called the Real State. There was a lot of brutal stuff happening at that time that I wanted to be reporting on: miners’ strikes and rioting. If I behaved myself, they said one day I could edit the women’s section and report on cake baking. I did court reporting, covering glue sniffers and shoplifters. I started working at the Barnsley Chronicle in Yorkshire when I was 19.
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