2Pac planned to leave Death Row before he died
During an in-depth talk with Fat Joe, R&B vocalist Keyshia Cole revealed that, as a youngster, she was close to 2Pac and even shared with Fat Joe that, before his death, he was planning on leaving Death Row.
Cole explained to the Terror Squad founder how she was personally introduced to 2Pac by MC Hammer when she was an old prodigy child in Oakland. MC Hammer and Cole recorded over the years, and her brother, Sean, even became part of The Outlawz, rapping under the name Nutt-So.
Still, it wasn’t till she was 15 that they began talking about music, and Cole made the shocking revelation that she was actually with 2Pac on the day he died. Cole recalled how, at that time, Quincy Jones’ daughter Kidada Jones and 2Pac were in a relationship. The vocalist then unveiled that on the infamous day he was murdered, Nutt-so, Kidada, Cole and 2Pac all hung out.
This was when 2Pac allegedly told her he was leaving Death Row to sign with Quincy Jones label. Recalling their conversation, Cole told Fat Joe, “I actually knew 2Pac! He wanted to sign me to Quincy when he was with Kidada, Quincy’s daughter, and he was gonna leave Death Row and go to sign with Quincy. He wanted me to go over there because he said that Death Row was not the place for kids.”
Cole continued, “He died when I was 16. Right when my birthday was coming around, I just remember getting earrings in the mail from Death Row Records, but Suge, of course, was already in jail.”
Although she was with 2Pac on that day, she wasn’t with the ‘Dear Mama’ emcee when he got killed. During the aftermath, Cole’s mother came to save her. Telling Joe about the frantic energy that night, the vocalist explained, “My mom literally came and got us from Suge’s house because everybody got shot that night. My brother and [Pac] used to rap together in The Outlawz.”
She concluded, “We had all driven to Vegas from LA. 2Pac was in the car with Kidada. Suge was in they car. My brother was in they car. We was in our car. We were kids though. [2Pac] just didn’t like that, you know what I mean? It was just, like, a lot of drama around that time.”
Although Cole was talented after 2Pac’s death she wasn’t picked up by the failing Death Row and would only get signed in 2002 after meeting A&R Ron Fair.