My dream came true By Eva Sundqvist Olmos OKEJ magazine (Swedish Magazine, corrections made by Rukas for FreeTupac.com.) OKEJ’s reporter met Tupac downtown LA, only 5 days before he was shot. They had a talk about rap and life. Tupac was tender and charming. Who would have known that he only had a couple of more days to live? He would never go on tour like he’d planned. 5 days after my interview with Tupac - his very last - he was shot four times, right after he’d seen Mike Tyson box in Las Vegas.Tupac did not survive. He died six days later at the hospital, and fans all over the world is moarning. I’d never met the gangsta rapper Tupac Shakur. Of course I liked his music - all the songs on his last album “All Eyez On Me”. But like the majority, my picture of him was influenced by the rape accusation, his time in prison, his gangrelations, trouble and crimes. Tupac actually seemed dangerous. Besides that I’d heard that his enormous success - $100mill. recordsales - had gone to his head. After our conversation I’d discovered another guy. Smart, calm, sharp and with kind brown eyes. That’s how easy one misjudge people you don’t know anything about. When I met Tupac, he was dressed in baggy jeans, and a darkgreen t-shirt. His moustache was on point and his head was shaved as usual. He had one more day on the set of the low budget movie “Gang Related”. He was tired, because the recording was really hard. The whole movie was supposed to be done on 30 days. Usually it takes 3 months. In the movie, which is an action-thriller, Tupac and Jim Belushi are two undercover cops that’s supposed to infiltrate and bust drugdealers. Of course that includes a whole lot of nightwork. Besides that, was Tupac recording a video for his own album. A tough schedule! But you can’t tell by looking at him. He cracked jokes and freestyled. Exept when he talked about his time in jail. Then he seemed sad. During the whole interview Tupac’s co-actor and newfound rap-partner, the white actor Jim Belushi, was there with him. They became good friends during the filmshooting, and had decided to make a new version of the movie soundtrack “Fly Me To The Moon”. This is what Tupac told during the interview: What’s going to be your new year resolution? I’ll definately start exercising! Startin’ January 1st, I’ll be takin’ 300 pushups every day. How many do you do now? I’ll do 300 one day, but then the next I don’t do shit. I’d really like to start doin’ somethin’ regularly. I’d like to go in front so the next generation of actors, entertainers and... well, people in general will get in better shape. That’s important!!! What does your acting career give you that the music don’t? Orgasms!! I used to think that musicians were the ones that got most ass. [Tupac laughs so hard he almost falls out of his chair] That’s like askin’ a woman what she gets from bein a motha that she ain’t gettin’ from her career. It’s a completely different satisfaction, a different kinda joy, but they similar, cause they both creative, says Tupac, who feels privileged that he can be both moviestar and rockstar*. One nite I shoot a video, next mornin’ I’m here makin’ a movie. How do you avoid the fame from going to your head? The society does it by puttin’ me in jail for a crime I didn’t commit! Makes u think... What’s the biggest misunderstanding about you? There are so many, the biggest one is that I’m one-sided. Me, who’s born a gemini! I'm a gemini, young, black, gangsta but I’ve got many different sides, I’m about the community, I’m hungry for knowledge, I’m hard to put in a category, so the ones that try, just say I’m krazy. That’s the biggest mistake ‘bout me. Are there something from your time in prison that you can use in a positive way? Good question. In the prison I was confronted with the demand of goin’ into bankruptcy. I was just ‘bout to do it, when a friend adviced me not to, cause it’d break my credibility. So i went to court instead, and won. Nobody wanted to be around me. Bein’ accused for rape is the worst shit that can happen to u. But I knew I didn’t do it, so I kept my faith. I didn’t shoot my brains out or nuthin’. And it felt like God Himself helt His hand ova me when my cd - that was the most expensive album made this year - sold 6 million copies. Sold more than any otha artist! The positive by sittin’ in the penn was this: My milliondollar dream came true. Know what I’m sayin’? It’s all that, and it ain’t stoppin yet! Nobody can stop me now! Nuthin’ can touch me now! Where do you live now? Where I live? Do u mean what country or state? I’ve got a big house and good friends in LA. What is the biggest myth about fame? That all actors wants to be famous. People says that you shouldn’t complain when fans come up to u and start pullin’ off your clothes, cause as an actor, you’ve chosen it. Do you think you will get a new audiencs now when you are making a movie? The fact that I sell 6 million albums shows that it ain’t only Black kids in the ghetto, or White Black-wannabees that’s my audience. I’ve got fans all over. Both Americans, and peeps outside of the US. I love the Swedish! I’ve been to Sweden, and I loved it there! Have you got any plans to go on tour soon? Yeah, definately. |