Ice-T Reflects On 2Pac: “Death Row Was Training ‘Pac To Be A Killer”
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Ice-T talked emotionally about 2Pac and claimed that Death Row Records trained him “to be a killer.” During a recent appearance on Drink Champs, the West Coast rap veteran was asked whether there was a difference between Tupac Shakur’s early days with Digital Underground and when he signed with Suge Knight’s Death Row.
“Absolutely. When I first met ‘Pac and Money-B and all them, it was Digital Underground, so you got Shock G, who’s a hundred percent different. I didn’t even recognize ‘Pac as militant or nothing like that, just as a dancer, friend, cool… And when he came out, I was like, ‘Yo, that’s the same dude!’ But I couldn’t disrespect him because his lyrics were deep, and I got to work on [Strictly 4 My N***AZ] — me, him, and Cube on ‘Last Wordz.'”
“So what people don’t understand is, I love ‘Pac. But he’s an artist to me, he was just another artist. People are like, ‘Pac is a God!’ But ‘Pac is an artist. We were friends.”
As he continued, Ice spoke about Shock G, Digital Underground’s late frontman, who came to his house pleading to have an intervention with the rapper. He recalled Shock being concerned with Shakur’s well-being over at Death Row.
“I lived in the Hollywood Hills, Shock came to my door… We sat down, and he was like, ‘Ice, talk to ‘Pac, man. They feeding ‘Pac gunpowder. ‘Pac is not listening to me.'”
“See the thing is, when you working with a rapper, you have to get a rapper in a state of mind,” he went on. “Death Row was training ‘Pac to be a killer, which you heard in the music… But I did a thing for Mike Tyson: you train a man to be a pitbull, then you get mad when he eats the furniture. So that energy bled into the streets, to his demise.”
This is the second time T opened up about a ‘Pac revelation on Drink Champs. Previously, the Body Count emcee visited the podcast in 2017, revealing he fell out with 2Pac after telling him he didn’t like “Hit ‘Em Up.” “He was at my house with The Outlawz and he played me ‘Hit ‘Em Up.’ And I didn’t like it,” he recalled. “I was like, ‘You gon’ start some sh*t.’ I didn’t like him starting the beef. I said, ‘You going in on dude’s wife and all that.’
“Then at that time, he thought B.I.G. had shot him. You ain’t supposed to be handling that with a record. So, we kinda was on bad terms with that because he wanted me to ride with him, but I was like, ‘I couldn’t.'”
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