Chuck Phillips of the L.A. Times is at it again.
The man who, several years ago, implicated The Notorious B.I.G. in Tupac Shakur’s murder has come forth with a new story: saying that Biggie and Sean “Puffy” Combs were part of a set up that led to Shakur being robbed of his jewelry and shot in the lobby of a New York recording studio back in 1994. Allegedly, B.I.G. and Puffy were among the conspirators behind the robbery based on Shakur’s refusal to join Bad Boy Records, the label Combs owns and B.I.G recorded for.
As a lifelong hip-hop fan, a fan of both artists, and someone who was upset enough about the murders and the pervasive aura of violence that seemed to surround hip-hop back then that I temporarily took a breather from ingesting hip-hop as a whole, this report upsets me, but I’m not naive enough to think that there could potentially be some truth in what Phillips has allegedly dug up.
Of course, this means I have to share my thoughts on the murders of the two rappers and the whole manufactured “East Coast/West Coast” rivalry that may have played a part in them.
Let’s face facts: Tupac was killed on the Las Vegas strip directly after a Mike Tyson fight, while in the passenger seat of a car. Is it possible that no one witnessed his murder? Not really. Biggie was gunned down six months TO THE DAY later while in the passenger seat of an SUV that was leaving a widely attended music industry party. Is it possible that no one witnessed his murder? (especially when there were numerous people in the vehicle with him). No, not really. Someone knows something. The events were too widely seen and the time frames were too coincidental, and I’m betting that the two people that know the most are Death Row Records chairman Suge Knight and Sean “Puffy” Combs.
I’m no “JFK”-style conspiracy theorist, but is it possible that Knight and Combs may have planned the murders of their biggest artists in concert? For all the talk about the two being bitter rivals, they were spotted together at a Prince concert (of all places) last year. Knight is quite obviously evil, and Combs doesn’t seem to possess much of a conscience, so I wouldn’t put it past them.
The alleged involvement of Jimmy “Henchmen” Rosemond, a former associate of both Tupac and Biggie (who now manages The Game) complicates things. Rosemond’s close associate, a gentleman by the name of “Haitian Jack”, was allegedly the person who REALLY sexually assaulted the young lady who went on to charge Tupac with rape (remember, ‘Pac didn’t go to jail for actually sexually assaulting someone, he went to jail for being an accessory to the assault). Rosemond was allegedly in the studio with B.I.G and Puffy when Tupac was assaulted, robbed, and shot.
All this adds up to one hell of a tangled web that won’t be completely unwoven until someone spills their guts, which likely won’t happen until either Combs or Knight (or both) passes away.
