Why solving Tupac Shakur's murder still matters
Ian Steaman talks about why this case has had such a hold on our cultural consciousness for decades
Twenty-seven years after he was murdered, the music world has unexpectedly come one step closer to finding out what happened to hip-hop phenom Tupac Shakur.
Culture critic Ian Steaman joins host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to react to the latest arrest in the murder of Tupac Shakur, and to explain why after all this time, this unsolved case continues to resonate within today's zeitgeist.
We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow the Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud podcast, on your favourite podcast player.
Elamin: Ian, there's something to be said about the fact that Tupac's murder sort of reigns over hip-hop, right? There's something of a mythology over it. We don't know who did it. It spurred all these conspiracy theories. It's just kind of been there, unsolved. The idea that there's some evolution in this case feels kind of surreal, doesn't it?
Ian: That's right. It's interesting, actually. The Nevada police, when they made the announcement, said that the major details of the case had been known to them from almost the onset; they just never really had the evidence to issue an indictment or to take it to a grand jury. So most of the players that were involved, there's been theories around them for a long time. It's just finally now we have all the pieces together — and the way that came to be is kind of shocking as well.
Elamin: The police have a suspect in custody, Duane Davis. What do we know about Duane Davis' connection to Tupac?
Ian: So Duane Davis is also known as "Keefe D." He is a so-called "shot caller," or leader of the Southside Compton Crips. The Crips and the Bloods obviously have had a long, antagonistic history within L.A. street culture.
Elamin: That has come out in hip-hop too, right?
Ian: That's right. And Death Row Records, which is the label that Tupac was signed to, was run by Marion "Suge" Knight. He is a well-known affiliate of the Piru Bloods. There's a whole story that, leading up to it, there was an altercation between an affiliate of Death Row Records and Orlando Anderson, who was long suspected of being the actual shooter. Orlando Anderson is Keefe D's nephew.
Elamin: And Keefe D has never admitted to killing Tupac, but he has maintained that he witnessed the shooting, right?
Ian: Yes. I mean, he's been on numerous interviews, and even within his own book, spoke to the fact that he was there, that he witnessed the shooting. And then he's kind of played coy and cited "the street code" as a reason for why he couldn't get into more detail as to what exactly had happened.
Elamin: Tupac's unsolved murder has kind of created its own separate economy: there have been films, documentaries, online interviews — not to mention the long-rumoured fan sightings [and] all these conspiracy theories. What do you make of the way the legacy of this murder has continued to resonate within the hip-hop zeitgeist?
Ian: I mean, Tupac was a giant within the culture and the music. His musical legacy obviously lives on, and even his personal and philosophical legacy continues to resonate within the culture. And he was so young when he died; he was 25 years old. So there's the mystery around the death, how impactful he was, how few answers people have had up until this moment. It all kind of generates discussion and theories around what happened and why.
Elamin: There's that idea that he had become one of hip-hop's greatest acts of all time by the age of 25. The thing that we always try to do is try to project into the future: what else could he have done with his career? That's a part of the mythology.
Ian: That's right.
Elamin: What else could Tupac have done? Of course, there's been so many posthumous albums. He's put out so many albums after his death — his estate has, anyway. What do you make of Tupac's legend within hip-hop and the way it's evolved over the years?
Ian: Well, they were obviously grooming him for something bigger than hip-hop and being an artist. The music was really a means to an end. He had a really radical philosophy about serving the Black community and taking on the mantle and the legacy of the Black Panthers, which his mother was a key figure within. So the music was really a vehicle to communicate that message. I like to think that if he lived and continued to be a creative public figure, that he would have segued more into the political side of things.
You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.
Interview with Ian Steaman produced by Ty Callender.