Kurupt has recently spoken out about the 1996 murder of Tupac and said that the fact that Pac got killed while on Suge Knight’s watch was his reason for leaving Death Row Records.
The legendary West Coast artist sat down with the Art Of Dialogue podcast, where he spoke about his reasoning for leaving the infamous record label. Kurupt said that he felt his safety was compromised since the label’s premiere artist at the time was killed while with the head of the label.
“Everywhere we was going we had to keep our eyes open, 10 toes on the ground,” Kurupt said. “We had to stay heated and make sure that we protected ourselves. And then to go to Death Row and feel the same way as when we in the streets: we all kinda got burnt on that.”
He continued: “We all was a little tired of walking on eggshells, because if we gon be here and it feels the same way as being on the streets, then what’s the difference? If a nigga gotta come to the studio heated, what’s the difference?”
Kurupt concluded by saying that Dr. Dre, after his departure from the label, set it up so that Kurupt could leave too. “Dr. Dre set up the woo-wop, like, ‘It can be done, you can leave,'” he added. “When I saw Dr. Dre do that, then 2Pac died; that was the final straw for me. Niggas is getting shot even with Suge. Now THAT is it.”
In a separate clip from the podcast, Kurupt said that Snoop and Daz Dillinger tried to shield away the gang element of Death Row from 2Pac. Kurupt said that Pac wasn’t a gangsta, he was militant and spoke about Pac’s revolutionary and Black Panther background.
“Crippin’ and Bloodin’ is real! This ain’t no joke. This shit ain’t to play with, this ain’t something you just kick around. Once you in, you in for life; you gotta ride it out homie. And 2Pac is militant! He’s not a gang member.”
Kurupt added: “He’s from a Black Panther background, a whole ‘nother background. It’s just not healthy for him. A lot of us gangbang ’cause we wanted to; and a lot of us gangbang ’cause we had to. We lived there; we had to protect our community, you know.”
