editor’s note
Publisher Julia Beverly Editor-In-Chief N. Ali Early Art Director Tene Gooden Music Editor Randy Roper ADVERTISING SALES Che Johnson Isiah Campbell Contributors D-Ray DJ BackSide DJ E-Z Cutt Eric Johnson Joey Colombo Regi Mentle Shemp Ty Watkins Wendy Day Keita Jones Todd Davis Big Fase 100 Jessica Essien Street Reps Anthony Deavers, Bigg P-Wee, Dee1, Demolition Men, DJ Jam-X, DJ Juice, DJ KTone, DJ Quote, DJ Strong & DJ Warrior, John Costen, Juice, Kewan Lewis, Maroy, Rob J Official, Rob Reyes, Sherita Saulsberry, Sly Boogy, William Major COVER CREDITS Kafani photo by D-Ray; Mitchy Slick photo by Barry Underhill.
United We Stand The month of September marks one of the most tragic events to occur in the last fifteen years. It shook us all. Perhaps it was the possibility of what tomorrow would bring that made us tremble even more… butterflies quivered through our collective stomachs, death around the corner, closer than we could’ve ever imagined. I am talking of course about September 13, 1996 – the day Tupac Amaru Shakur died.
Not to slight September 11, 2001 – the day the world changed – but our nation seems to have moved on as the true bully it is since that catastrophic experience. I remember the reaction I got the first time I told someone the death of Pac’s anniversary was around the corner – that September 13th was near. I got the gasface. In a real way too. I mean, how could I pass off 9/11 for a foul mouthed, controversial, sex offending criminal who prompted his own death with excessive threats and attacks on unassuming emcees? My answer was short and simple. “I didn’t know that person.” My memory of Pac is varied between the person I met and the Hip Hop icon he became. When I met Pac he was attending Tamaulipas High School in Marin County. He stayed in the “Jungle” with his mother and sister and I was formally introduced to him through my cousin Shawn, with whom he’d become fast friends. We talked for a couple of hours about sports, politics and all. Then later we all agreed to kick it another weekend and go to the movies. So they made the hike to Richmond and we met at Hilltop Cinemas. After the movie was over we waited outside for Moms to pick us up and the two of them got to rappin’. Now Shawn, AKA Mahem, was a lyrical tornado. He was the best I’d ever heard in person, bar none. I’d seen him rip niggas apart for at least four years straight. Off the dome, written rhymes, it didn’t matter. He was a muthafuckin’ fool widit!! He was GOOD.
“It” factor. I know it may sound cliché, but when I heard him I knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was going to make it. His talent coupled with his living circumstances plus his obvious hunger, convinced me that he would do everything in his power to succeed as a rapper. And he did.
2pac went on to become the best selling Hip Hop artist in the world. He sold over seventy five million albums and in the process, inspired a nation. Before his untimely death he was in the process of aligning those forces on a project entitled One Nation. Oddly enough, that was the duality that he carried with him as a Gemini. To think one moment that he could spark a war with the whole East Coast and then turn around convince them that they should get down with him, was his magnetic personality in all its glory. As the son of a Black Panther Party, it was his dream and vision to pool Hip Hop’s collective talent into one powerful cog. That’s a call for togetherness, something that is still missing to the day. Which brings me to this current issue. From the cover subject, Kafani, who recently signed a three year artist deal with Koch to Goldie (“Release Therapy,” pg 6), Westurn Union (pg 12) and rap veteran Kam (“Bangin’ 101,” pg 10) there’s an undying belief that West Coast artists don’t support each other enough – that we have no unity. If we are to learn from our mistakes and move forward as a Coast and become the nation that Pac desired, we have to come together. Hatin’ on niggas is a weakness. Stay strong,
N. Ali Early West Coast Editor
All he wanted to be… 1971-1996 But that nigga Pac just had some other shit in him. That was the first time I’d seen someone with the
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THE WEST IS BACK…SIDE PHOTO GALLERIES RELEASE THERAPY: rick rock bangin’ 101: kam hustlin’ westurn union
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DJ PROFILE: Dj skee & Dj reflex new slap END ZONE
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