Snoop Dogg Inducts 2Pac Into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Tupac Shakur was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tonight (April 7) and Snoop Dogg, his former labelmate and friend, did the honors. The 2017 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, with 2Pac entering the Hall alongside music legends like Pearl Jam, Nile Rodgers, Yes and Electric Light Orchestra.
"Really can’t believe that it’s been 21 years since we actually got to hear from 2pac," Snoop said. "While many remember him now as some kind of thugged out superhero, 2pac knew that he was only human.
"To be human is to be many things at once, strong and vulnerable, hardheaded and intellectual, courageous and afraid, revolutionary and….oh yeah, don’t get it fucked up, gangsta," Snoop added. "To me, 2pac was first and foremost, the homeboy. We shared a lot in common. In a way, our journeys started together. We were both born in 1971."
Snoop also reflected fondly on he and Pac's shared time in the mid-1990s on hip-hop's most notorious label: Death Row Records.
"[Dr.] Dre was the coach, Suge [Knight] was the owner, and me and Pac, we were the players on the court making history with every new song," he said. "We had no peers besides one another. Just two black boys struggling together to become men."
2Pac debuted in 1991 on the Digital Underground track "Same Song" before releasing his debut album, 2Pacalypse Now. Pac would drop acclaimed and charting albums from 1993 through 1996, becoming as famous for his run-ins with the law as his music. Also starring in a string of hit movies, the young outspoken rapper would become a hero to many hip-hop fans throughout the decade and his stature and legend grew even larger after his murder in 1996 at the age of 25.
2Pac joins Run-D.M.C., the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five and N.W.A. among hip-hop acts inducted into the Rock Hall.
"Pac’s a part of history for a reason, because he made history," Snoop said of his fallen friend. "He’s hip-hop history, He’s American history."
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