Reddit reviews LAbyrinth: A Detective Investigates the Murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., the Implication of Death Row Records' Suge Knight, and the Origins of the Los Angeles Police Scandal

That $700k that Mack stole was never recovered...


If you're interested in that story, there's two pretty decent books on it: LAbyrinth http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/080213971X?pc_redir=1408684612&robot_redir=1
And Murder Rap http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0983955484/ref=pd_aw_sims_1/191-5046778-1109412?pi=SL500_SY115&simLd=1

Both are good reads, but they come to different conclusions.

Tupac was killed, I don't think it is especially mysterious though, nor does it seem likely that it was related to his police shooting. This book has a lot to say about his death. It seems plausible to me that he was killed by criminal rivals rather than some kind of police revenge conspiracy. Incidentally, it is the way he predicts that he himself will die. Fun stuff.

Suge's friend was killed at the Atlanta party. Also the connection between Biggie, Puffy and the shooting in NYPD was more than simply a case of them being there and not letting him know (Biggie's manager, Jimmy Henchman, had been trying to basically intimidate Pac into letting him be his manager, Pac said no, and Henchman, who had connections with Drug kingpin and NYPD gang heavyweight King Tut, decided it was time to "teach him a lesson"), pac recorded this verse right before going to the Quad, as Puff's people had been calling and paging him relentlessly trying to figure out when he was coming (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAlguYfYxZs), so he felt like it was more than just knowing, but also a complicity. And, while he was in prison people were telling him that it was one of Biggie's good friends that shot him (I've always thought this could've been the FBI trying to create a fracture in the hip hop community, wouldn't be the first or last time they've meddled in musicians affairs). While it's not as angry as 'Hit 'em up' I do think that this song is better, diss wise, because it addresses the facts of shit, I'm not even sure they would've put it on the album had Pac not died, but it's Against All Odds from the makaveli killuminati the 7 day theory album, honestly my favorite hip hop album of all time and maybe album of all time period. Shit is like a rap dark side of the moon, you listen from beginning to end and all the songs mix together, there is no pauses between songs, it's one piece of greatness from beginning to end. There is also newer diss tracks that have been released this year like War Games, Watch your mouth (I know it came out last year but this has a new verse. But again, if you guys haven't listened to Don Killuminati, get a bottle, or some weed, or whatever you do to chill and download it and get some headphones, you'll immediately fall in love with the shit, it's such a perfect slice of exactly how he felt, and what was going on right then and there in his life and in the rap game. Shit, I'm going to go listen right now.

I also know that it's common place for people to look back and say that Pac saying Big's name on wax was unheard of. But that's bullshit. Has anyone heard any of the tracks from Common, Ice Cube, or NWA? No vaseline anyone? Hip hop was built on battling, it's not like everything was subliminal, what about the real roxanne for christs sake? I'm not attacking you man, haha, I just realized the irony of me saying that (subliminal?), but honestly I read that everywhere and it's simply not true. By any stretch of the imagination. Now, the lengths pac went to were another ball of wax, the fact that he did fuck faith (it happened) and bragged about it on record and on stage, constantly (she was pregnant and he would bring it up during concerts, saying he hoped it wasn't his kids): See Biggie's line in "Brooklyns finest": "If faith has twins she'll probably have two pac's, getting...tupacs..."

If you want to really get into what happened in vegas, I strongly recommend first reading LAbyrinth, the book by LA homicide detective russell poole, who retired after being stone walled during his investigation of the crime, that gives you about half of the story (he blatantly decides to omit the procedures of most police departments in his book (which was basically that the information he was requesting wasn't allowed by procedure, for numerous reasons)... After reading that, you definitely need to read the recently self published best seller: Murder Rap, written by a cop who was way above Poole's pay grade, he took over the Biggie investigation after Voletta Wallace sued the LAPD for 500 million. It mainly focus' on Biggie's murder but explains that it was a retaliation for Pac's death and shows the deep, verified connection between Bad Boy and the southside crips, the same people who killed pac (the night he died in vegas, Orlando Anderson, the now deceased shooter of Pac (by consensus most people believe he was the shooter, they just don't always agree on why he shot him), was in the lobby of the MGM grand after the tyson fight, an associate of Suge's had been robbed week's earlier of his Death Row chain, which was a symbol of being a member of the Mob Piru Bloods, which Suge and some say Pac was (hence his new MOB tat, MOB= member of blood, also money over bitches)...

So pac walks up to Orlando Anderson and asks: You from the south (asking basically, are you in the southside crips?) and This happens, the easy theory is that anderson went out looking for revenge, but then why did he only shoot pac and not Suge also? The book explains that Puff had basically been using the south siders as extra security when they traveled to the west coast (for example, ORLANDO ANDERSON AND HIS UNCLE WHO WAS THE MAIN SOURCE OF INFORMATION FOR MURDER RAP WERE PHOTOGRAPHED AT BIGGIE AND PUFF'S TABLE AT THE PETERSON AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM BY THE FBI AND OTHERS THE NIGHT BIGGIE WAS SHOT, OUTSIDE THE MUSEUM). So, they were paid to take out Pac. Which explains the near 30 deaths in compton after Pac's death, a gang war was started between the Mob Piru and the South Side crips.

These books are essential as they have actual police insight, and a lot of information from now deceased people who were basically responsible for the dirty work that Puff and Suge paid for.

When it comes to songs though, Big did respond to hit 'em up, on Life After Death, in what I consider to be the most cowardly song in history (it is obvious that it was recorded after pac died (it refers to his car accident, which happened after pac died, and basically talks about take being dead "slugs go touchy touchy, leave your spirit above me, or beneath me)...

Here is the song (I admit, I like the song, I just think it's in horrible taste and honestly, again, cowardly, fucking say it when he's alive or don't say it): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1zMMgPx4Ys, there are a few pointers for people who don't obsess over this shit like I have I like to point out...

• "laugh now cry later" was a reference to 2pac's tattoo's that said basically the same
  
• "it still tickle me, I used to be as strong as ripple be, til lil cease cripple me"- car accident, proving this was after pac died
  
• "extortion came quicker, bought the range nigga"- word was pac was being extorted by suge, pac was planning on leaving death row, which suge knew (hence the rumors of suge killing pac) because he was basically getting fucked on royalties, bought the range? Yeah, he died.
  
• now the years new, I want my spot back"- again, implying 97, after pac died...
  
• when my men bust you just move with such stamina, slugs missed ya, I aint mad at ya (puff- we aint mad at ya)", .... catch cases come out frontin' smoking something" Pac used to come out of the court room and talk a lot of shit to reporters, or do shit like THIS
  
• everything puff "adlibs" is about pac, basically.
  
• "flaming gats, aiming at, these fucking maniacs put my name in raps"- pac, this is where a lot of the aforementioned ("this was unheard of at the time!" nonsense is derived from)
  
• heard through the grapevine you got fucked 4 times, damn that 3 to 9 fucked you up for real though" - wendy williams tranny ass and others claimed 2pac was raped while at clinton correction facility for his rape charge.
  
  The rest you can basically figure out for yourself, I just wanted some of the subliminal shit to be pointed out. I think this song along justified killing the dude, I mean talking about how he's basically rotting in the ground and shit after not saying anything the entire time he was alive?
  
  Let me know if you guys have questions, while dude I'm replying to knows his shit, I have read almost everything imaginable on this subject and spent countless hours on my old 56k modem reading about this, I was obsessed when I was about 16 and know more about this than almost anything. Which is sad...
  
  Hope that helped add to dudes post.

Ever read this book called LAbyrinth? You might like it.

This author who followed a police officer who investigated the murders came up with that theory. Also Orlando was a well known gang member, crip, as was Suge. The book also suggests Suge's injuries as being more superficial.

Since he's playing Russell Poole, my guess is that its based on the book of the same name