LA Times: Biggie Payed Crips To Kill 2Pac!

[CWalker187]

The Rap on B.I.G.
Rival reportedly paid $1M and supplied gun to kill Tupac Shakur

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By Chuck Philips
Los Angeles Times

September 6, 2002


Las Vegas -- The city's neon lights vibrated in the polished hood of the black BMW as it cruised up Las Vegas Boulevard.

The man in the passenger seat was instantly recognizable. Fans lined the streets, waving, snapping photos, begging Tupac Shakur for his autograph.

The car, with rap magnate Marion "Suge" Knight at the wheel, was leading a procession of vehicles to a hot new nightclub. It was after 11 on a Saturday night -- Sept. 7, 1996. The caravan paused at a crowded intersection a block from the Strip.

Shakur, 25, flirted with a carful of women -- unaware that a white Cadillac had pulled up beside him. A hand emerged from the Cadillac. In it was a semiautomatic pistol, aimed at Shakur.

Six years later, the killing of the world's most famous rap star remains officially unsolved. Speculation continues to flourish in the music media and among Shakur's followers. One theory is that Knight, owner of Shakur's record label, arranged the killing so he could profit from the rapper's martyrdom. Another persistent legend is that Shakur faked his own death to escape the pressures of stardom.

A yearlong investigation by the Los Angeles Times reconstructed the crime and the events leading up to it. Evidence gathered by the paper indicates that:

The shooting was carried out by a Compton, Calif., gang called the Southside Crips to avenge the beating of a member by Shakur a few hours earlier.

Orlando Anderson, the Crip whom Shakur had attacked, fired the fatal shots. Las Vegas police interviewed Anderson only once, briefly. He was later killed in an unrelated gang shooting.

The murder weapon was supplied by Brooklyn rapper Notorious B.I.G., who agreed to pay the Crips $1 million for killing Shakur. Notorious B.I.G. and Shakur had been feuding, exchanging insults on recordings and at concerts. B.I.G. was gunned down six months later in Los Angeles. That killing also remains unsolved.

Before they died, Notorious B.I.G. and Anderson denied any role in Shakur's death. This account of what they and others did that night is based on police affidavits and court documents as well as interviews with investigators, witnesses and members of the Southside Crips. Fearing retribution, they agreed to be interviewed only if their names were not revealed.

The slaying silenced one of modern music's most eloquent voices -- a ghetto poet whose tales of urban alienation captivated young people of all races and backgrounds. Shakur, who grew up in tough areas of New York and Baltimore, had helped elevate rap from a street fad to a complex art form.

But he never put what he called the "thug life" behind him. While serving a 41/2-year term in New York for sexual assault, he was visited by Suge Knight, founder of Death Row Records. Knight offered to finance an appeal if Shakur would sign a recording contract. Shakur accepted and was released in 1995 on a $1.4-million bond. Hours later, Shakur entered a studio to record "All Eyez on Me."

The double CD sold more than 5 million copies, making Shakur a superstar.

On Sept. 7, 1996, Shakur, still out on bond, traveled to Las Vegas for a championship boxing match between Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon at the MGM Grand Hotel. The arena was jammed with high rollers and an assortment of underworld and street-gang figures. Shakur, accompanied by armed bodyguards from the Mob Piru Bloods, a Compton street gang, sat in the front row with Knight.

After the fight, one of Shakur's bodyguards noticed a member of the rival Southside Crips lingering near a bank of elevators. The man was Orlando Anderson, 21, a Crip who had recently helped his gang beat and rob one of Shakur's bodyguards at a mall in Lakewood, Calif. The Bloods had been fuming for weeks, waiting to exact their revenge. Now, unexpectedly, there was Anderson, standing before them.

Shakur charged the Crip. "You from the South?" he asked. Before Anderson could answer, Shakur punched him. His bodyguards jumped in, pounding and kicking Anderson before security guards broke up the 30-second melee.

Shakur and his entourage stomped triumphantly out of the hotel, planning to regroup later at a benefit concert for a youth boxing program featuring Shakur and other Death Row acts at Club 662.

News of the beating swept through the gang underground. Anderson set up a meeting with more than a dozen gang members at the Treasure Island hotel. According to people who were present, the Crips decided to shoot Shakur after his performance.

For the Crips, the beating of Anderson was an affront warranting fatal retaliation. Still, the Crips thought, why not make a little money at it? They decided to ask Shakur's biggest enemy -- Notorious B.I.G., whose real name was Christopher Wallace, -- to pay for the hit.

Wallace had been prodding the gang to kill Shakur -- and promised to pay handsomely. On Sept. 7, 1996, the Crips took him up on the offer.

The Crips sent an emissary to a penthouse suite at the MGM, where Wallace was booked under a false name. People who were present said the envoy explained that the gang was prepared to kill Shakur for $1 million. Wallace agreed, with one condition, a witness said. He pulled out a .40-caliber Glock pistol and placed it on the table. He wanted the satisfaction of knowing the fatal bullet came from his gun.

A white Cadillac carrying four Crips headed toward Club 662. It was followed by an older yellow Cadillac driven by one Crip with an AK-47 assault rifle.

The driver of the first car saw a caravan of vehicles, carrying Mob Piru Bloods and Death Row employees, stopped at a red light across from the Maxim Hotel. Leading the convoy was Knight's black BMW. Shakur was in the passenger seat. He and Knight were alone in the car, unarmed. The Crips decided not to wait.

The white Cadillac raced up beside the BMW. Bullets shattered its windows. Four bullets shredded Shakur's chest.

The white Cadillac screeched around the corner. A bodyguard in the Death Row caravan fired at it. In a ruse designed to confuse Shakur's entourage, the Crip in the yellow Cadillac chased the white car around the corner, as if in hostile pursuit.

Las Vegas police were soon on the scene. After summoning an ambulance for Shakur, they ordered everyone else in the convoy out of their cars at gunpoint. By the time detectives figured out that Knight and his caravan were victims, not suspects, the Crips were leaving town.

The Los Angeles Times is a Tribune Co. newspaper.

[CWalker187]

This is the short version of the article. The longer version has way more details. Plus part 2 comes out Saturday.

[.:Hercy Buggz:.]

:oOh No!!!

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

I always had thought Biggie killed Pac...

[That_Cracka_J]

Holy shit....

[Mr.Pac-Man]

damn........first thing im gonna do is pick up the paper tomorrow!!!

i thought it was just b.s.  but www.latimes.com has it posted!

[M Dogg™]

Damn... I wrote about it a month ago... and at the time it was so unthinkable... B-Please chose not to post it... which I figured 'cause I didn't even completly believe it myself. But check the other post about this. Peace.

[Sikotic™]

I just found out. Crazy shit.

What goes around comes around I guess  :-/

[Smooth]

This is crazy!

[That_Cracka_J]

Damn, this is no rumor....it's confirmed.....

[Trauma-san]

Man, Everytime I read that, I'm reminded at how amazing of a lyricist Biggie was.  Best ever, in my opinion, even above Pac.

[ImmortalOne]

Biggie aint shit compared to Pac......fuck that fat mother fucker. I was a Biggie fan too [though ive always been a bigger Pac fan], until I read this shit.......ive lost all respect for him......

[J.Roller]

I'll admit it, when Tupac was alive, I was a true dickryder! lol! When Pac said Fuck Bad Boy or fuck that, I was like fuck it then too! And when I heard that Pac been shot and shit, I was like them fuckin East coast bitches did it, I hope Suge gets em! And then that 1 day came when I heard Biggies fat ass had died. I was so happy, but at the same time I felt bad about it, I mean I gotta be 1 sick fuck to feel happy about someone dying. Over the years shit changed, the row broke up and everyone was like ....Suge did it! I didnt know what 2 think, all I know was rap was starting to suck and there was no more westcoast unity. It was real sad, and still iz. Only over the last couple years I started listening to Biggies shit, I mean Ive heard it, but never really bumped it cuz I was like fuck Bad Boy ya know.

Its funny,it took all these years for me to finally give Biggie his respect. But if all this shit is true.........it will only take 1 minute to loose it! Then I 'll be like..........."FUCK BIGGIE, FUCK BAD BOY AS A STAFF, RECORD LABEL AND A MUTHAFUCKIN CREW! AND IF U WANNA BE DOWN WITH BADBOY,THEN FUCK U 2!!!.............WE BADBOY KILLAZ!!!

RIP TUPAC SHAKUR

[HBKid_Jr]

WOW,  this shit is huge.  They got it on tha web site for ny newsday 2.  damn,  i dunno.  they say he was in vegas,  but a 6'1,  780 pounders jus dont go unoiticed in vegas,  but anything is possible

[M Dogg™]

Man, Everytime I read that, I'm reminded at how amazing of a lyricist Biggie was.  Best ever, in my opinion, even above Pac.

I don't know... I was feeling Bomb First... great lyrical diss... that's what I think won 'Pac the battle on wax... but wax never mattered 'cause of all the street B.S., it really took away from what was the 2 best ever go at it lyrically.