Snoop Dogg Recalls Meeting Tupac & Nearly Battle Rapping (Video)

In 1996, Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg would release several collaborations, beginning with All Eyez On Me video single “2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted.” Snoop has previously credited himself with recruiting Shakur to join Death Row Records in 1995, when the Long Beach, California MC was the standout MC at the label co-owned by Dr. Dre.

In a preview to an upcoming episode of GGN, Snoop sat with Demetrius Shipp, Jr., the actor playing “Tupac” in June 2017 biopic All Eyez On Me. Shipp’s father was a producer for Shakur, including 1996 single “Toss It Up.” In recounting some history, Snoop reveals when and where he met Tupac the first time, and the unlikely premise of their friendship.

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“Tupac was my friend before he came to Death Row. I met him at the wrap-party for Poetic Justice; my homegirl Samore Jenkins [got me into the party]. Actually, it was the same night I met Michael Rapaport,” he says of the prominent actor and podcast host. It was Snoop’s recently deceased associate and collaborator that helped make the 1993 introduction possible. “Ricky Harris get me in the little backstage area. So, they got a mic. [The] DJ starts DJ’ing. Tupac grabs the mic, he start rapping; I grab the mic, I start rapping. But, I’m rapping aggressive, ’cause at this time I’m like one of them battle rappers so I’m aggressive. So, he come back, he aggressive and it sound like we kinda like battling each other. So, we get off to a like a wrong start but you could tell we both dope as a motherfucker so its like we not really gonna go there.” Shakur had a key role in the John Singleton-directed film, opposite Janet Jackson. Snoop continues, “So, when we finish rapping we go outside I’m like, ‘Nigga my name’s Snoop.’ He like, ‘My name’s ‘Pac,’ and he break open a blunt and that nigga roll a blunt with me. That’s my first time ever hitting a blunt.”

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Snoop Dogg famously met Kurupt, who would become a member of Tha Dogg Pound, who he mentored, after another Los Angeles, California Rap battle. Shakur and “Tha Doggfather” would release several other songs before ‘Pac’s September 1996 death.

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Earlier this week, All Eyez On Me was announced to now be backed by Lionsgate/Summit Entertainment. The full GGN episode with Demetrius Shipp, Jr. is expected to release soon.