that 2Pac, and possibly Notorious BIG are not dead? Check this out. I was reading about this new album soundtrack, and the first single, "Running(Dying To Live)" is produced by Eminem, and features Notorious BIG. And, I noticed that a couple years ago, he was rapping about the NYC terror attacks on an album, I believe it was with his cousin on a CD. I know that 2Pac is probably alive. I mean, look at his CD's that came out right around Pac's death-"Makiaveli" was one of the CD's, and features 2Pac on the cover hanging on a cross, then that video came out just days before his death that depicted Pac dying and then hip-hopping in heaven. For you who don't know, Machiavelli was a historic Italian statesman who was said to have faked his death to escape political persecution.

Oh, and I am an Prince.org musician, and I would like to know if any of you would perform a similar stunt like 2Pac to increase your CD sales.



What are your thoughts?


WB
[This message was edited Thu Nov 13 13:13:15 PST 2003 by wondabrothas]

I've often wondered that myself.

Some of these guys have had more album releases now than when they were alive.

And so have there album sales.

Wrong forum

Slave2daGroove said:

Oh, and I am an Prince.org musician, and I would like to know if any of you would perform a similar stunt like 2Pac to increase your CD sales.

Now, were in the right forum!



WB

wondabrothas said:

MayB biggie was rapping about the previous terror attack - back in the 90s. NO Artist has ever faked their death. They're all truly dead.

Why would u fake ur death? U'd lose cred 1nce you came back, so u couldnt come back.

That's a great idea!
Maybe if I "died" people would buy the NFO stuff with my artwork.

http://www.cafeshops.com/newfunkorder

maybe not.

BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY: Tupac's Mother Brings His Dreams To Life Posted: Wed., Nov. 12, 2003 02:46:33 PM MST

NEW YORK (AP) -- Afeni Shakur, the 56-year-old mother of the late rapper Tupac Shakur, does not fit the image of a savvy record executive.

She lives on a farm in North Carolina. She prefers to spend her time overseeing her garden, attending to her grandchildren and taking naps. Yet Shakur is the executive producer of the new documentary "Tupac: Resurrection," as well as founder and CEO of Amaru Entertainment/Amaru Records, which has released several million-selling Tupac albums.

"I'm not a filmmaker. I'm not a music producer by choice," Shakur says plainly, wearing a velour sweatsuit during an interview in a New York hotel suite. "Whatever it is I'm doing I do because my son was murdered, and he was not able to complete his work. So as his mother, my whole job and responsibility is to see to it that that happens for him, and I do that with love."

Yet as Shakur talks about upcoming projects, soon-to-be completed deals and other tasks, it's clear she's much more than just a grieving mother.

"I read every agreement of every contract. Anything I put my signature on, I really do read them. And I find things," says the former Black Panther, laughing about an incident where a company tried to get paid for a photograph they hadn't even taken.

They didn't get away with it -- Shakur, noticing something amiss, had the situation investigated and the proper person credited.

But savvy? Please, she says.

"That's not savvy -- that's your mama. That's how your mama does it as opposed to how they do it," she says.

Certainly, that motherly instinct has helped keep Tupac's name and legacy vibrant in the seven years since Tupac Amaru Shakur died, gunned down on a Las Vegas street corner at age 25.

Tupac was already one of rap's greatest talents -- and certainly its most dynamic, charismatic and controversial figure -- when he was killed. But since his unsolved 1996 slaying, Tupac's allure and mystique have grown exponentially.

"Tupac: Resurrection" is just the latest example of Shakur's star power after death. The film is being released in conjunction with a picture book and a soundtrack featuring new Tupac material.

Although there have been several documentaries produced on her son's life, this is the first to have a major theatrical release.

"I think from the time it's released, it will always be the reference material that anybody uses about Tupac," his mother says. "And that's because this is a documentary feature film that has Tupac talking about Tupac."

Indeed, the most remarkable aspect of the movie is that the slain rapper serves as narrator of his own short life. Filmmakers created this eerie effect by poring over more than 40 interviews, then splicing them together to create one seamless narrative.

"It was just very important for the story to be told in his own words," says Sue Pelino, rerecording engineer for the film, who spent a year editing the interviews. "The only way it could have been better if he had been sitting there next to us."

Although Shakur oversaw the content of the film, it isn't a glowing tribute. It deals frankly with the many controversies that made Tupac such a contradictory figure. For example, he talks about his deep respect for women, then defends himself against sex abuse allegations that would send him to prison. He promotes themes of black power, yet later appears frustrated and overwhelmed by the idea of being a role model.

Director Lauren Lazin said Shakur wanted the film to be "an honest movie, not a whitewash. In some ways, she was tougher on him than I was."

"She just wanted to make sure it was honest, that we weren't going to put words in his mouth," she adds.

Honesty is one of Shakur's strongest characteristics. She talks with frankness and candor, whether discussing her former crack habit or her son's own mistakes, which are chronicled in the film.

"I have respect for my son because he had sense enough to take responsibility for his own actions," she says. "The critics never ever one time fairly criticized my son."

Making sure that her son and his message are not misrepresented is a key goal for Shakur, who maintains creative control of -- and collects proceeds from -- just about all projects relating to her son. Even in cases where she doesn't own his music, like with Tupac's recordings for Suge Knight's Death Row record label (now Tha Row), she still has a say in the manner in which it is presented.

Shakur is currently talking with MTV to produce a biopic of Shakur's younger years, and is looking to produce a Broadway play about his life using his music. She's also planning a Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts; she's already started a camp where children can get arts training, through a foundation named for her son.

This has been part of the plan since the day he died.

"We have list of things that Tupac left for us to do, so all we're doing is going over that list, going down that list, checking them off," she explains. "So at the end of the day, we'll be able to say we've done fulfilled our responsibility to an incredible human being."

One goal not on her list is searching for her son's killer. Shakur bristles when asked if she worries about the fact that the killing is still unsolved.

"Not a second. Not even a nanosecond have I concerned myself with who shot him or why they shot him, or what should happen to them. I don't care what happens to them," she says fiercely. "I spend my time putting my sons work out, because guess what -- they shot him, (but) did not shut him up though."

Perhaps what's most striking about Shakur is how she has refused to become embittered. Instead, she's thankful that Tupac continues to live on through his work.

"We cannot all say that we will be blessed in death like Tupac was," she says. "God didn't have to do that. He could have just took my son. We could still be just be talking about how violent he was -- 'He was a gangsta rapper.' But you know, God changed people's minds."

Even so, the pain is still there. Asked if her work has allowed her, in some ways, to overcome her son's death, and Shakur's anger becomes clear.

"My son called me every night," she says, eyes narrowed, speaking sharply. "He called me from the bedroom of the woman he was having sex with. I haven't received that phone call in seven years. That's what I know to be true. The fact that I'm working on the work, doesn't change the reality of my child not being there.

"If my son was alive, I wouldn't be doing this. My son took care of all of his business, all of our business. So the fact that I'm here doing this -- every day that I do this, I know that my baby ain't here."

I used to wonder about Tupac. There were all sorts of numerology references on the Makaveli album and the name Makaveli itself. I had also heared that they cancelled his funeral or something. But I think the reality is that he probalby knew he wasn't going to live much longer and recorded everything he possibly could have before his time was up. Hendrix did kind of the same thing although I dont' think his motivating factor was fear the way 2pac's was.