Legendary West Coast rapper Tupac may have tragically died 29 years ago, but his legacy continues to live on through his music and impact in hip-hop culture.
The California Love rapper, born Tupac Amaru Shakur, was unarguably one of the most popular hip-hop artistes at the time of his killing, so his demise sent shockwaves through the rap industry.
On the night of the fatal incident, Tupac was hanging out with Suge Knight, the co-founder and former CEO of the Death Row record label the deceased rapper was signed to. The pair were also close associates, and Knight, 60, was also a victim in the shooting.
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In a recent interview with PEOPLE, Knight, who is currently locked up after he received a 28-year-prison sentence for a fatal 2015 hit-and-run incident, touched on the night of shooting and also disclosed that Tupac’s friends rolled the deceased rapper’s cremated ashes with marijuana and smoked it.
“I was so happy to say I was on probation — I couldn’t smoke,” Knight claimed. “I told his mother, ‘Moms, I’d love to, but if I hit that, I’ll get in trouble’,” he added. “I was probably the only one who didn’t hit him.”
As previously reported by Face2Face Africa, Tupac was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting on September 7, 1996, following a Mike Tyson boxing match in Las Vegas. Knight was riding with Tupac in a BMW when the car was rained with bullets. Knight, who suffered a graze to the head, managed to drive away.
“I got out and tried to tell the officers what happened while I was bleeding everywhere,” he recalled. “I then was getting Tupac out the car, even when the door was open. I had to go over there bleeding everywhere, take the seat belt off him.”
Tupac, who was 25 at the time, unfortunately succumbed to his injuries at the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada on September 13, 1996. Knight told PEOPLE that on the night of his death, Tupac’s mother, Afeni Shakur, asked for her son to be quickly cremated, adding that he made a $1 million cash payment to make it happen. Following his cremation, Afeni, together with Knight and Tupac’s other close associates, met at nightfall to pay homage to the deceased rapper, per Knight.
“A bag with his ashes was passed around,” Knight claimed. “His homies rolled him up. They smoked him,” he continued. “You gotta understand, that’s what made sense. It was symbolic. It’s like… you keep part of him.”
Tupac’s murder remains under investigation.
READ ALSO: Tupac murder suspect faces new charge for another incident in jail
