HKR: Shock G of Digital Underground Speaks About 2Pac, The Black Panthers & Politic Prisoners

It’s always a pleasure chopping it up w/ the very talented and engaging Shock G of Digital Underground. When it comes to music Shock is a quadruple threat.. He’s a dope emcee.. an incredible producer… He’s off the chain as a musician especially keyboards and when all is said an done he’s nice with the hands when it comes to drawing and painting..

We sat down with Shock the other day to talk about the upcoming 2Pac birthday celebration that Digital Underground will be headlining at Yoshi’s in San Francisco…They are teaming up with members of the original Black Panthers to also do fund raiser and raise awareness for political prisoners.

During our interview, Shock recounted how Digital started off being a Black Panther type group. They formed under the name Spice Regime with a game plan of focusing on Black social issues.. They even started to sport black berets similar to the Panthers.. As Shock noted, many other groups at that time were moving in a militant direction including a lil ole group  from Hempstead, New York called Public Enemy.

Not wanting to be like the crowd, Shock said they switched focus and started highlighting their love for funk. They patterned themselves after Parliament/Funkadelic and emphasized humor. Shock explained that the addition of 2Pac to their ever-expanding crew provided the militant social awareness aspect which rounded out the group.

Shock G and Tupac

Shock talked at length and in great detail about his friendship with 2Pac. He noted that he has long been misunderstood. Many think Tupac was a wild, ride or die thug, when in reality he was well read and very committed to the struggle, Shock explained.

He said Pac took on a thug persona as a way to better connect with those he felt weren’t being reached.Shock G recounted how Pac once observed how many of the people who came to see groups like Public Enemy or KRS-One tended to be socially conscious. He felt that there were young Black males on the block not connecting to the message. Hence Pac positioned himself to be more aligned with them. He stated that the folks he wanted to reach wouldn’t respond unless they knew you were going through similar challenges.

Shock also explained how Pac was getting ready to move to Atlanta prior to joining Digital Underground to head an organization of youth Panthers.

Please click the link below to hear our entire Hard Knock Radio interview w/ Shock G

Listen to our HKR Intv w/ Shock G

 

 

A Special Tupac Bday Mixdown feat Ray Luv, DJ Sloepoke & a Rare 1991 intv w/ 2Pac

Saturday June 16th we’ll be celebrating what would’ve been Tupac Amaru Shakur‘s 41 st birthday..In order to bring attention to his life and accomplishments, we put together a few good interviews and a dope Tribute mix featuring DJ Sloepoke from LA..

One of the interviews we have is a rare 1991 exchange with 2Pac right after he finished shooting the then unreleased movie Juice.. Here Tupac who had was a part of Digital Underground noted that he considered himself to be the ‘Rebel of the Underground’ and for good reason. He explained that he liked to stir things up and do the unexpected. His goal was to generate excitement and have impact on both the people and situations around them.

2Pac promised to have major impact in the world of hip hop. He’s talked about his acting debut and his character Roland Bishop in the Juice.  He also spoke about his album ‘2Pacalypse Now‘.. The most compelling part of this interview is Pac predicting that regional beefs would tear Hip Hop apart.. Who knew years later he would be embroiled in a bi-coastal East vs West conflict that many feel cost him his life…

Tupac Intv pt1

Tupac Intv pt2

Tupac Intv pt3

Ray Luv

The other interview we put together is a recent exchange with 2Pac‘s first rhyme partner Ray Luv..Here Ray talks about the early days of Bay Area Hip Hop and how him and 2Pac started out as rivals…Interestingly enough, Ray and Pac lived outside of the Bay Area’s main centers for Hip Hop, Oakland, San Francisco  and Vallejo..

Ray lived in Santa Rosa, where he sported the name  MC ROC.  Pac lived in Marin City which was 40 miles away under the name MC New York. They knew about each other thru tapes in which each would take shots at each other as they battled for top honors in the Marin County, Sonoma County corridor.

Ray explained how a woman named Leila Steinberg who would eventually become 2Pac’s first manager linked the pair. On their first meeting they hung out for more than 5 hours and recorded several songs.. Later with Steinberg they would form a writing a group which led to the formation of the 2Pac’s original group Strictly Dope.

Ray Luv, 2Pac and DJ Capitol B of Strictly Dope

In our interview Ray talks about how Pac insisted that they drop their emcee handles and use their real names. he felt it made them more authentic to the community. He also talks at length about the intense writing process him and Pac had.. They pushed each other to write long and often. They were also pushed to open up and show a certain type of vulnerability in terms of sharing their inner thoughts, experiences and struggles. It was through this writing that we see such honesty and bold frankness in many of Pac’s songs. Ray also noted how they would often write rhymes for each other..

Lastly Ray talks about the strong friendship and relationship they had with each other up to Pac’s death. They are currently finishing up a documentary that will feature many of Pac’s friends who up till now have not spoken too much.. Ray says even after all these years, people still feel the pain of Pac’s absence. Below is our Breakdown FM/ All Day Play intv w/ Ray Luv

We also have a super dope All Day Play Breakdown FM Tupac Tribute Mix from LA’s DJ Sloepoke.. This brother is at the top of his game as he brings serious heat in what we call 2Pac vs DJ Sloepoke  In this mix Sloepoke pulls out some of the original songs that were sampled in some of Pac’s biggest songs.. We preceed Sloepoke’s mix with a collage of short intv and commentary on Pac… Enjoy..

Click the Link below to listen to DJ Sloepoke’s mix

http://www.alldayplay.fm/episodes/special-tupac-mix-with-special-ray-luv-interview

There’s huge birthday celebration tonight Wed June 13th at the Mezzanine in SF where many of 2Pac’s friends, family and crew including Mac Mall, Rapping 4Tay, Selassie and Ray Luv will be on hand, performing and offering words of praise and insight.

This Saturday, Digital Underground and members of the Black Panther Party will be doing a special show and fund-raiser in celebration of Tupac.. at Yoshi’s Niteclub in SF..

We

Suge Knight think 2Pac is Alive-Could You Imagine What Pac Say if he was Here Today??

The past couple of days everyone’s been bugging off the fact that Suge Knight during an interview on LA radio station KDAY asserted that he thinks 2Pac is still alive..He noted that ‘no one has actually seen the body’ and that he gave Pac 3 million dollars in cash just before he perished or in Suge’s case, ‘disappeared’. . We think Suge just said that all this to get everyone talking about him..

Over the years the former Death Row CEO has long been coy about all the rumors and speculation of Pac being alive.. The mystique around this has been nothing but beneficial for Suge and many others in the industry. Pac was our Elvis, who has also been rumored to still be alive. I’m sure at the end of the day Suge has a project or two coming down the pipe..He of all people knows better..

On the other hand, it’s interesting seeing the huge amount of interest Suge’s remarks have garnered because it speaks to a much bigger issue. One has got to take note about all the fame, fortune and popularity 2Pac has garnered in death vs being alive. Why are some of our best and brightest worth more dead than alive?  Are dead Black artists ‘safer’? Are they more ‘controlled’? Does their absence represent huge voids in the type of leadership, many may be yearning for?

So many really want 2Pac to be around. They want him to be alive, because in contrast to many others who have that level of popularity,  Pac was one to speak out forcefully and unapologetically to keen issues of the day.

While it was great seeing the video of his hologram, for those of us who knew Pac it was too limiting. By that I mean, think about what 2Pac would’ve said before tens of thousands of people today in 2012 if he was alive and on stage at Coachella. he would’ve done more than hype the crowd.. You don’t think 2Pac wouldn’t have seized the moment and spoke on the Trayvon Martin situation? I could hear Pac speaking out loud and forcefully about George Zimmerman and his weak apology. You don’t think Pac would’ve put President Obama on blast for reneging on promises or not speaking out enough on keen issues facing young Black males?

People keep forgetting that a couple of months before 2Pac died he, Snoop and MC Hammer spoke at an NAACP Press conference in Beverly Hills, where they promised to energize and politicize their fans and have them ‘throw monkey wrenches into future elections’.. Pac had long had sharp critiques of those sitting in elected office.

You don’t think Pac would’ve spoken out on all the overt racism coming in the forms of Fox News anchors or far right-wing radio jocks..Heck, one but can’t help thinking that if Pac was around today, he might’ve had some critiques of Suge but that’s another story. The bottom line is many who miss Pac, miss him because he was one of those folks who was down to speak truth to power and do so eloquently.

In the meantime.. check out these clips including one that shows another angle of the ‘2Pac Hologram’ (yes we know it’s not a real hologram). From this angle, I gotta say what appeared on stage the other night in Coachella is really impressive.. I can see why folks are thinking about taking this on tour..You really can’t tell the difference from a real life performer and this ‘hologram’.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMcLaEwkfGc&feature=relmfu

Here’s a couple of videos to check out of 2Pac.. We often forget dude was 25 when he left us..He was already sharp and getting sharper..  He was well on his way to doing bigger and better things..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMi3Zvb9eQo

This is the speech Pac gave at the Malcolm x Grassroots Movement dinner..He was on fire here..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex4PtkmLvgo&feature=related