The late Death Row legend 2pac (real name Tupac Shakur) was an artist, activist and revolutionary who was very ahead of his time. The emcee’s mother, Afeni Shakur, and father, William’ Billy’ Garland, were both members of the Black Panther Party. As an artist alongside Snoop Dogg at Death Row, Shakur embodied the socially conscious, anti-establishment spirit that his parents had and, as a profoundly passionate individual, could sometimes be quite fiery.
In an interview with The Art Of Dialogue podcast, Outlawz member and longtime friend of 2pac, Napoleon, revealed that Snoop Dogg (real name Calvin Broadus) once told him he was afraid of Shakur and even carried a knife in case Shakur flipped on him.
Although Snoop Dogg and 2pac were only real friends for two years before his untimely demise in 1996, the pair were seen as a dynamic duo and labelled themselves “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted.”
However, during Napoleon’s in-depth conversation about Death Row and his experiences with artists on the infamous label, he rudely discredited the united front and friendship of Snoop and Pac by claiming Broadus was scared of his counterpart after an interview he done in New York during which he praised Diddy and Biggie Smalls.
Explaining the volatility of figures such as Shakur and Suge Knight, the emcee stated, “That’s how he felt. He felt like they were going to do something to him, so he had the knife and things. I think he was a little too nervous because….me knowing Pac, even though he was mad at Snoop, I never heard Pac say he wanna do something bad to Snoop!”
He continued, “When Pac was mad at Snoop, it was more like a brother… you know ‘I’m hurt that my brother did this to me. I think the way Pac loved Snoop, even if Suge and them would have tried something to Snoop on that plane, Pac would have been like ‘Nah DON’T do it'”
Snoop Dogg has previously admitted that despite Pac’s sentiments towards Bad Boy Entertainment, he never had an issue with Biggie Smalls or Puff Daddy (Diddy). In fact, when Snoop was on the rise, despite his affiliation with Shakur, he made it his business to stay out of the regional feud. In a 1996 interview alongside Angie Martinez, he declared he wanted to work with The Notorious B.I.G and Diddy.
This is what sparked Broadus’ fear of 2pac as he was fearful of the consequences he may have faced as a result of praising Bad Boy. You can hear Napoleon’s Art Of Dialogue interview in the video below.
