Born and raised in Oakland, Too $hort is a Bay Area legend who helped put the area on the map. Arising in the late-1980s, the emcee (real name Todd Shaw) was the kingpin of Oakland hip-hop and oversaw the region’s scene. That said, the musician had a somewhat strange relationship with Tupac Shakur and, in an interview with the 85 South Show, shared a few of his personal 2Pac stories.
The two icons both found fame in Oakland and encountered each other on a number of occasions. However, even after getting to know Shakur, Shaw revealed that he was hesitant to integrate 2Pac into his friendship circle, as he feared they would add fuel to his fire and lead him astray.
He continued, “I’m an East Oakland n*gga, right? And I seen him, he used to always keep his little thing, he was not a punk. He was ready for whatever. He was a real one. But I was like, ‘I cannot bring this n*gga around my homies ’cause it’s going to be like oil and fire.’ When 2Pac got to LA, he went 10,000 mph.”
Revealing he had a premonition that Shakur would get crazier in LA, Shaw explained, “I knew it! I was like, ‘I cannot bring this n*gga around my homies,’ so I literally made a conscious effort to not ever bring 2Pac to — he found his way to Richie Rich; he gave ‘Pac the town.”
Shaw admitted in a heartfelt manner that he would have felt incredibly guilty had something happened to Shakur under his watch, revealing, “I said I wouldn’t do it ‘cause I wouldn’t want that guilt. I can’t bring ’em around them n*ggas ‘cause the kind of n*ggas I was running with the time, they would have been like, ‘Oh you wanna be a G? Come on n*gga, let’s go be a G.’”
Too $hort and Shakur only managed to collaborate one time before 2pac’s murder, and it was for the single ‘We Do This’ which featured on Shaw’s 1995 album, Cocktails. You can listen to Shaw explaining his decision in the video below.