NLE Choppa Channels 2Pac’s Infamous Bathtub Pic In FCTRY Lab Campaign
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NLE Choppa is channeling 2Pac’s infamous bathtub picture — chains and all. On Wednesday (April 17), Choppa shared pictures from his FCTRY campaign on his Instagram. The rapper can be seen lounging in a porcelain tub, baring his naked body. In the spirit of Pac, jewelry is seen covering his unmentionables. NLE Choppa’s new Duck Boot shoes, in collaboration with FCTRY, are seen on his feet, while rubber ducks decorate the bottom and edges of the tub.
The Memphis rapper leans into his aspirational sex symbol status by interpolating his lyrics from his song, “SL*T ME OUT 2,” in the picture’s caption. “If I Was A Duck Boot I’d Wanna Wear Me Too #2Sexy #SLUTSZN -SIR. F**KALOT,” he typed.
Choppa’s pictures reference David LaChappelle’s work with the late great emcee. 2Pac collaborated with LaChappelle for the “Becoming Clean” shoot, which found the rapper washing himself in a bathtub while another picture nods to Jesus Christ. According to LaChappelle, the concept of the shoot was less about being a sex symbol and more about being “born again.”
In 2011, rare footage from the photoshoot surfaced online. The video showcased Pac, who had just been freed from jail, working alongside David on the infamous work. During a 2017 interview with Billboard, the photographer spoke about his time working with Pac. Despite any of the homophobic and extreme criticisms of the photo shoot in 1996, David expressed that Shakur was “open-minded” about the whole ordeal. He claimed that the West Coast Hip-Hop icon was among the “easiest” people to work with. The Connecticut director also explained the meaning and inspiration behind the “Becoming Clean” photo shoot for the magazine, Details.
“Tupac was great, he was very sensitive and is truly a good person. I wrote to his mum when he died and she sent me flowers and gave me his last song, ‘Ghetto Gospel,'” he told the outlet. “When we did the shoot, he had just come out of prison and every shot has a reason, it’s never random, so this was the idea of the photo shoot, him becoming clean. He had given this interview when he was still in prison and he really opened up and was so honest. I had read it and thought it was so truthful so for the work I did with him, there was this idea of washing away and rebirth.”
“And we did another shoot where he posed as a slave on a cotton field. They traced rapping and rhyming to ‘call and repeat’ during slavery time in sugar cane and cotton fields to pass the time. It’s [in] the Hotel Lachapelle book. Tupac came to the shoot two hours early, which was very unusual for a rapper. So I wasn’t ready for the shoot, and he didn’t care. He reminded me of my Black friends whom I went to art schools with, he was so cool, open-minded, and chill. He wasn’t judgmental.”
As for NLE Choppa, the artist recently joined forces with FCTRY Lab. Omar Bailey, the brand’s co-founder, explained the new partnership in an official press release. He stated that the partnership goes beyond typical collaborations. FCTRY will be giving NLE opportunities to share profit and gain ownership of the brand’s Duck Boot.
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