Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Nothing But Tupac

In this clip from the movie Nothing But Trouble, starring Chevy Chase, Dan Akroyd, and Demi Moore, Digital Underground, featuring a very young Tupac Shakur, perform the funky "Same Song". The story behind Tupac's stint with the group, taken from alleyezonme.com:

In August of 1988, Shakur's stepfather Mutulu was sentenced to sixty years in prison for armed robbery after being on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list for several years.

Shakur soon moved in with a neighbor [in Marin City, CA] and started selling drugs on the street, but also made friends who helped spark his interest in rap music. One of these was Ray Luv, and with a mutual friend named DJ Dize (Dizz-ee), they started a rap group called Strictly Dope. Their recordings were later released in 2001 under the name Tupac Shakur: The Lost Tapes. Their neighborhood performances brought Tupac enough acclaim to land an audition with Shock G of Digital Underground.

In 1990, Shakur joined as a roadie and dancer for Digital Underground. His early lyrics were unremarkable, and he was viewed ambivalently for his tendency to act like a diva and for his occasionally violent personality. On a song for the Nothing But Trouble movie soundtrack, Same Song, Tupac was given his first opportunity to rap on a big-time record. In the song, Shock G leads into Tupac's verse by advising Shakur to "Go ahead and rock this."

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