A news byte from 1995 has been getting a lot of clicks lately as it is the FOX 5 News report of the death of Live Squad’s Randy “Stretch” Walker who was killed just three blocks from his home in Jamaica, Queens. Stretch, who was a friend of late rapper/actor Tupac Shakur, was killed on the one year anniversary of the Quad Studios shooting of Shakur.
Posted exactly two months ago and almost two weeks prior to the date of Stretch’s murder, the clip shows Walker’s family mourning and in disbelief of his death. The clip mentioned Stretch as a member of the Live Squad, but did not mention his affiliation with ‘Pac’s new group and street movement, Thug Life.
There were rumors that Walker died over drugs, jealous people from his past and even over the Quad Studios shooting, in which ‘Pac blamed walker for not helping him during the robbery. Stretch was killed exactly one year after the Quad incident.
On this date in 1992, Paramount Pictures presented the highly anticipated hood flick Juice, which stars a still rising rap star by the name of Tupac Shakur, who plays a crooked crimie from Uptown by the name of “Bishop”.
His co-star, Omar Epps(Higher Learning, In Too Deep), plays a local DJ with industry potential named “GQ”, alongside Jermaine “Huggy” Hopkins(Lean On Me) and Khalil Kain, who all form a loosely knit crew of truants who are headed in the wrong direction.
This movie was very instrumental in bringing Hip Hop artists onto the silver screen, with cameo appearances from Treach of Naughty By Nature, Queen Latifah, EPMD’s DJ Scratch and Special Ed. Juice also helped to introduce the soundtrack as a way to market movies for larger budgets.
For those who never took notice, it wasn’t until after ‘Pac made everyone love to hate his character Bishop that Shakur’s run-ins with the law became more frequent and his “Thug Life” persona became more noticeable and for its own intent, purposeful. Many will say that it was life imitating art. Some will say that this was the real Tupac; he was just being filmed.
All eyes are on a Petition filed in the Superior Court of The State of California by Tupac’s only sister, Sekyiwa ‘Set” Shakur. Several media reports have already confirmed this lawsuit, which involves a dispute over the duties, control, finances, and rights related to the Shakur family’s estate, which comprises most of Tupac’s music and other cherished assets.
In the lawsuit filed this week, on Monday, January 10, Set Shakur (a/k/a “Set”) and The Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation (“TASF”) has sued the family estate’s executor and Trustee, Tom Whalley, for allegedly violating his duties, including failure to provide “compliant” accountings required under the Trust, failure to provide Set and the Foundation with an inventory of estate assets, violating the wishes of Afeni Shakur, misappropriating estate assets, converting and withholding personal assets Set claims to belong to her (not under the control of the Trustee), and creating a “conflict of interest” by serving as Executor and Trustee while also placing himself as the sole manager of Amaru Entertainment (the music and entertainment company that operates all of Tupac’s music and intellectual property). When Tupac died in 1996, his mother, Afeni Shakur, was named the beneficiary of the estate and fought tirelessly to acquire all of his music rights and assets to benefit her family and preserve Tupac’s legacy. When Afeni passed away in 2016, Whalley was named the beneficiary of the estate.
The Petition alleges that “Whalley has already received more than $5.5 million that he has paid himself in the last five years through Amaru…[and] he has effectively embezzled millions of dollars for his own benefit well in excess of what would be reasonably necessary to retrain a property qualified third-party to perform such services.”
In the Petition, Set alleges that Whalley has refused to give up property that was inherited by their mother Afeni, including Tupac’s cars, jewelry, his RIAA certified gold plaques, Tupac’s artwork and sculptures, items of Tupac’s clothing, shoes, and accessories, and furniture taken from his homes.
The TASF Foundation, reportedly an additional beneficiary of the Trust, is a party to the lawsuit due to the community service work it provides coming from the funds it receives from the Trust and Estate.
Set and the TASF Foundation have assembled an all-star lineup of attorneys, including prominent attorneys L. Londell McMillan, who represented Prince, Michael Jackson, and Prodigy of Mobb Deep before their untimely deaths (and represented their families following their deaths), and Donald David, who formerly represented Afeni Shakur in a number of her legal cases including her lawsuit against Death Row.
In a statement to The Source, McMillan stated: “Set and the Foundation deserve the care, accountings, property, funds, and trust that Afeni expressly required and bequeathed, as well as the respect Tupac’s legacy and family deserves. That’s a fact.”
Howard King, an attorney for the executor, denies the allegations raised by Set and TASF, describing Whalley as a “long time friend and confidant” of Tupac and his mother. King states that “these legal claims are disappointing and detrimental to all beneficiaries of the trust. We are confident the Court will promptly conclude that Tom has always acted in the best interests of Amaru, the trust, and all beneficiaries.”
The suit requests that Whalley be ordered to “recompense” the estate in a minimum amount of $4 million and provide a full accounting in connection with his role as executor of the Shakur estate.
A hearing on the Petition has been scheduled for March 21, 2022, and TheSource.com will update the story as further details become available. Attorney McMillan is also the owner of The NorthStar Source Group, the parent company of The Source.
A love poem written by Tupac Shakur over two decades ago that inspired his hit song “All Eyez On Me” is hitting the market.
The piece is titled “All Eye Was Lookin’ 4.” The auction house confirmed it’s dated for August 26th, 1995, and 2Pac’s hit song came out the next year.
The iconic rapper penned a handwritten poem to one of his old girlfriends. It tells the story of how he fell in love with a woman named Simi and how he hoped their relationship would go.
“4 Romeo there was Juliet, 4 Sampson was Delilah, 4 Heaven there was hell, 4 water there is fire, but me, I walk alone w life, w search of something pure, then I came across a woman who was All I wasz looking for.”
The authentic poem and piece of Tupac history is selling for a mere 95-thousand-dollars.
“All Eyez on Me” featuring Big Skye, appeared on 2Pac’s fourth studio album, All Eyez on Me, Disc 2. It was the last project released while Tupac Shakur was living.
All Eyez on Me made history as the first ever double-full-length Hip Hop solo studio album released commercially.
A love poem written by Tupac Shakur over two decades ago that inspired his hit song “All Eyez On Me” is hitting the market.
The piece is titled “All Eye Was Lookin’ 4.” The auction house confirmed it’s dated for August 26th, 1995, and 2Pac’s hit song came out the next year.
The iconic rapper penned a handwritten poem to one of his old girlfriends. It tells the story of how he fell in love with a woman named Simi and how he hoped their relationship would go.
“4 Romeo there was Juliet, 4 Sampson was Delilah, 4 Heaven there was hell, 4 water there is fire, but me, I walk alone w life, w search of something pure, then I came across a woman who was All I wasz looking for.”
The authentic poem and piece of Tupac history is selling for a mere 95-thousand-dollars.
“All Eyez on Me” featuring Big Skye, appeared on 2Pac’s fourth studio album, All Eyez on Me, Disc 2. It was the last project released while Tupac Shakur was living.
All Eyez on Me made history as the first ever double-full-length Hip Hop solo studio album released commercially.
Tupac Shakur. Wake Me When I’m Free is a groundbreaking museum experience that will provide a deeper understanding of this legendary artist who used his creative platform to speak for the voiceless and oppressed.
Created in collaboration with the Shakur Estate, this exhibit leverages technology, contemporary art, and never before seen artifacts from Tupac’s personal archives. Tupac Shakur. Wake Me When I’m Free will delve into the greater meaning of his activism, music, and revolutionary art.
Be one of the first to witness this legendary experience. Opening Night is January 21st @ L.A. Live. Tickets On Sale Now!” WMWIF.COM
On this date in 1995, Death Row Records released one of the label’s most successful singles featuring Dr. Dre, Tupac Shakur, and Zapp frontman, the late Roger Troutman aptly titled “California Love” from ‘Pac’s All Eyez On Me LP.
As Tupac’s first single as a Death Row artist and as a free man after his 1994 rape conviction, California Love dropped during the height of the East Coast/West Coast rivalry and helped to propel Death Row to the top of the Hip Hop food chain, featuring the game’s hottest rapper and the most sought after producer. The B-side to the Jodeci-powered “How Do U Want It?” posted up in the Billboard pole position for a solid two weeks and ‘Pac was posthumously nominated for Grammys in the Best Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group categories.
“Only In Cali where we riot not rally, to live and die/ In L.A., we wearing Chucks, not Ballys(yeah, that’s right)..”
Salute to the late, great Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, the entire Death Row staff, the legend Roger Troutman and everyone involved with this smash single that will forever live in Hip Hop history.
On this date in 1996, Death Row Records, led by then CEO Suge Knight, dropped an exclusive Christmas project for the holiday season. Sadly, this album was released just shy of three months after the tragic shooting death of Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas.
The album featured all of Death Row’s favorite acts including Michel’le, who at the time was involved with Knight, Snoop Dogg and The Dogg Pound, Nate Dogg, Danny Boy, and several other up-and-coming artists on the label. The star-studded line-up rehashed many Christmas soul classics and carols including “Silver Bells,” “Frosty Thee Snowman,” and “White Christmas.” With 200K in sales, the virtually unheard of album didn’t do too bad. The best part was that it was reportedly all for charity.
Salute to the entire Death Row for releasing this under-the-radar Hip-Hop classic!
Today in 1970 in “Illtown” New Jersey, the king of “OPP”, better known as Treach, was born. For those who don’t know, Treach was the frontman for the New Jersey rap collective Naughty By Nature. Born Anthony Criss in East Orange, New Jersey, Treach got his musical start in his hometown. He, Vin Rock, and DJ Kay Gee came together as the group New Style and released an album called Independent Leaders in 1989. Treach and Naughty by Nature saw the majority of their success with their 1991 single “O.P.P”. This song featured a sample from The Jackson 5’s “ABC” and debuted at #6 on the Billboard 200 chart making it one of the most popular crossover songs in rap history. The success of this single opened the doors for Treach to venture into other elements of Hip Hop culture in the 90s. Starting with a guest appearance in the 1992 cult classic Juice, Treach began the next wave of his career as an actor. His biggest role came in 194 when he starred as “A-1” in Jason’s Lyric.
In honor of his birthday, we have put together a list of the six degrees of success that put Treach in the room with other influential voices in Hip Hop and popular culture.
1. Sandra ‘Pepa’ Denton- First on this list is “Pepa” of the legendary Salt N Pepa. From 1998 to 2001, the two were joined together in holy matrimony. They share a daughter beautifully named Egypt Jahnari Criss born September 2, 1998.
2. Tupac Shakur- In his first big-screen appearance, Tupac played the role of “Bishop” in the cult classic Juice. If you remember correctly, Bishop was not a character who made friends easily. At the beginning of the movie, Bishop has beef with a character named Radames and if you pay attention, you can see Treach standing behind Radames as he and Bishop have one of their many verbal altercations.
3. James Gandolfini- Who doesn’t love a good mob story? In 2006, Treach’s TV acting prowess landed him a gig on an episode of The Sopranos as the character “Marvin”. His role was short-lived, but not many are able to say they played the opposite of the infamous Tony Soprano.
4. Queen Latifah- This fellow New Jersey rapper was in and out of Treach’s musical and acting career. She was one of the first successful artists to give Naughty By Nature the attention they deserved. She has featured Treach on songs throughout her discography. She was even cast alongside Treach in his first big-screen appearance (although they were never on screen together).
5. Leonardo DiCaprio-Although this relationship may be more loosely based than the rest, it’s important none the less. Naughty’s track “Hip Hop Hooray” was featured on the soundtrack of the very successful film Wolf of Wall Street starring Leo DiCaprio in 2013.
A hard drive containing previously unheard Tupac Shakur songs and “intimate” photos of the rapper will be auctioned off, revealing new insights on the late rapper’s life and associations leading up to his death. Photos Reveal Mike Tyson, Andre Harrell, Jodeci With 2Pac Prior To Death A hard drive containing previously unheard Tupac Shakur songs […]
