NEW TAKE ON RAP DEATHS – CONFIDENTIAL:
ONE OF RAP’S PIONEERS, Doug E. Fresh, calls the mid-1990s shooting deaths of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls “a waste.” Fresh spoke to Confidential at a screening of the USA Network’s show “Unsolved: The Murder of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G.” The 10-part series reexamines the rappers’ deaths while also looking at allegations of conspiracy, heated East Coast-West Coast rivalries and police corruption. It premieres Tuesday at 10 p.m. Fresh says both rappers were good friends of his. “I used to train Biggie and Tupac, I used to try and keep him out of trouble,” he remembered. “They were great artists and I think they got caught up in some unfortunate circumstances. So I never feel good about that. And I think they were the sacrifice to bring awareness to how foolish things can get when the media puts fire under controversy that automatically turns into something bigger. “There was something going on, on the street level,” he continued. “But the way it was handled intensified the situation. A lot of ego, a lot of emotions, a lot of East CoastWest Coast unnecessary drama.” California-based Shakur (photo inset, top), 25, was murdered in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in 1996. In 1994, the “Dear Mama” performer had been shot outside Quad Recording Studios in Manhattan. He later accused the Brooklyn-raised Smalls and others of orchestrating the attack.
Months after Shakur’s death, the Notorious B.I.G. (inset, bottom), also known as Biggie Smalls, was shot and killed while in Los Angeles. He was 24. Both murders remain unsolved.
Fresh says he didn’t see their deaths coming.
“I thought it was going to stop,” he said. “After Tupac got shot (in ’94), I thought hopefully we’ve seen enough, but it started to go further. I never thought Tupac would have got shot in Vegas.”
Fresh also thought Smalls would be safe in L.A.
“What happened was there were people who didn’t feel that way,” he says. “They felt like they wasn’t finished with this. Sometimes when you start something it don’t mean you’re going to be the one to finish it. Somebody else will finish it because they have a different perspective on it.” “La Di Da Di” singer Fresh still can’t believe how events unfolded.
“You have two giant artists gone,” he mused. “It’s crazy, ain’t it? I don’t think I’ve ever heard in the history of music a situation like this happening with two artists.”