- I promise that every time you see Tupac,
you see a real human being. You will see
my ups and my downs, you know what I'm saying?
Anybody that could cheer me,
they gotta learn how to say, you know,
"You got to fix that," or to criticize me,
'cause I mean, I'm a 20-year-old, young, Black male.
I was raised in this society.
So, there's no way you can expect me to be a perfect person,
'cause I was raised in, you know, H-E-L-L.
So, I mean, it's a wonder I'm not crazy.
You know? That I could still have an interview,
and do songs, and do videos.
So, I don't even want nobody to sweat me for that.
I'm gonna do what I'm gonna do.
That's how I feel.
I'm gonna do whatever I like.
- You see? This is one of those old-time mics.
You understand what I'm sayin'?
So, it's like, we're going back in time,
if you understand what I'm sayin'.
It's like, you know what I'm sayin',
like, 'Back to the Future,' that type of thing.
Tupac.
- [Reporter] OK. Well, why don't we start with
what we're doing today.
- Alright.
- Which is...
- "If My Homies Call,"
["If My Homie Calls"] is basically this video
we're doing today. It was, like, a long time coming.
I wanted to release this song first,
but "Trapped" —
there was a purpose for "Trapped,"
there was a purpose for "Brenda's Got a Baby,"
And there was a purpose for ["If My Homie Calls"].
So, what I wanted to do was really build —
let everybody know who I was with "Trapped,"
and what I was down for, the young, Black male.
With "Brenda's Got a Baby,"
I wanted everybody to know that,
while I'm down for the young, Black male,
that also includes the young, Black sister,
'cause she gave us the young, Black male.
So, now, with ["If My Homie Calls"],
I'm just telling everybody,
"Regardless of this 'Juice' movie, and 'Poetic Justice,'
and no matter what happens, I'm still the same person
that you saw, when you first saw me."
- This is how we're gonna do this.
We're gonna just do this on the stage.
This white dude is, like, one of those
snooty, snotty—a** clubs. They won't let us in.
We sneak in through the back —
the performance, as the group, just jump on stage.
It's going to be Gov, you, Spook 'em.
Y'all gonna jump on stage and the man's gonna give you the signal,
and you're just gonna grab the dude from off the stage.
You ain't gonna hurt him,
but you're just gonna snatch his a**.
Harry Connick ain't got nothing on me, check it.
[Singing] "Oh, stay with me."
[Singing] "How could I be sure?"
[Singing] "Fly me to the moon."
- And I never thought I'd be saying that, you know,
"I'm making a funky video."
I hate dancing. I do, I really do. I don't dance at clubs, hate it,
but it's like, ["If My Homie Calls"] is a whole different vibe.
It's like, you can be my homie.
I don't care if you're white, Black, Mexican, whatever,
you know, obviously.
I'm saying, I'm down for real OGs.
- Just right behind him.
Until you guys start hyping the crowd up,
that's when you guys do that s**t.
- When it comes to the chorus,
y'all just get all up in the middle of it.
- Yeah.
- And be like, "What's wrong? Why they ain't tripping?"
- Yeah, trip them up.
- Trip up the crowd. They don't mean anything to you.
- [Assistant director] Coming in five seconds before the wrap.
Stand by. This is a rehearsal.
Now, atmosphere. This guy has just thrown
your enjoyable saxophone player off the stage.
You never saw anything like this before.
- I'm trying to just, you know,
really get to my next album, get that down,
this movie. By the time this movie's finished,
I'm gonna have to go right into the next album. - Really?
- Soundtrack for the movie, all of that.
So, it's like, I got my little work cut out for me, you know?
- You could have worse problems [laughs].
- Yeah, but I'm gonna do it.
- Camera one, please. Slate, ready?
- The way I came up, which I'm not even gonna really get into
because I don't want that to be a part of —
I mean, I want people to research.
You know what I'm saying?
I put it out there. Now, you can find out how I came up.
I came up unusual, but —
and my family had a lot to do with
what I represent, and the kind of principles
that I put into my little system.
And my mother had a lot to do with that,
you know, her being a single mother,
me not having a father, no older brothers.
You know, I got my game from the streets.
- He wanna know —
let me ask them, I mean —
should he wear his Locs,
or should he go Loc-less?
You should wear 'em! I mean, you know.
- Yeah, these make me low-key. - Yeah, that's — I mean, come on.
- Mr. California. - Come on, you know?
- One, two, what we gonna do with this, here? - What are we gonna do with this?
Give it to them. - Catch.
- You got it, there you go. Yeah.
- What I'm trying to encourage is for people to make a change.
I know you don't usually pick the Black guy
to do this part, but do it this time, and see what happens.
You know what I'm saying? We already know
what's gonna happen if you pick
a little white dude, and let him do that movie.
He's gonna get paid.
He's gonna get large,
and he's gonna stay large.
Like, you know what I'm saying?
But what happens if you pick the little, poor Black kid?
You know, or the poor Mexican kid?
You know what I'm saying? Then, see what happens.
You encourage a whole generation to strive,
you know, and to do something.
And that's what I want people to do,
you know what I'm saying? Look, I swear,
I mean, all praises to John Singleton and Shock G,
'cause if it wasn't — and Ernest Dickerson.
If it wasn't for those three people, I'd be stuck,
and you'll see me on this camera,
but in a whole different light.
It'll be something with me walking by, going like this.
[Laughs] You know what I'm saying?
- [Assistant director] Pump it up, pump it up, pump it up, pump it up.
Energy, playback!
- [Tupac] You would be surprised to how far we are.
There's some white people who really are down.
I mean, we have made a lot of progress,
and just 'cause it's not in the news, don't mean —
I mean, imagine if you guys saw what happened
to Rodney King, just that one time,
and you saw how it affected you?
Imagine if we see that every single, motherf**kin' —
every single day. I mean, for 20 years.
That, and worse, and more!
You know what I'm saying?
Just all them kind of injustices,
it make you different, you know what I'm saying?
And you walk different, you talk different,
the things you do every day are different,
you know what I'm saying? But
these are some of the things that
never come up, never.
With all the talks that we have, all the dialogue, it never comes up.
- [Tupac] Everybody, I'm gonna say, "Whoa!"
Everybody just get up and leave.
Don't break no tables, just get up and leave.
Go that way, OK?
All my folks, when I say —
I'm gonna say, "Whoa!" After that, jet.
Don't hurt nobody.
- [Tupac] To me, you can't be a revolutionary,
and, to me, that's what a gangster is.
I mean, that's what they're trying to be, revolutionary.
They just don't know that word,
so they say "gangstas,"
'cause a gangster really don't have a gun.
Got money, you know what I'm sayin'?
So, if you want to be revolutionary —
you can't be a revolutionary and not love the people.
I can't go out there and say,
"It's all about the young, Black males,"
and not love them, you know,
but we got to love our sisters,
and we got to be down for each other.
That's priority.
- [Assistant director] And reset, please. Come on in.
Anybody own a gray Dodge van?
- [Director] Check this out: You get on stage,
spread out. You can't just be on this side.
It looks off.
- That's it. Y'all just still pump it up.
- [Assistant director] Here we go again.
- [Tupac] The youth are real tired of
holding our breath, and holding our mouth,
you know what I'm sayin'?
And it's like, I mean —
- Do you think — - Everybody's done said what you could say,
and with these records,
there's not a record out here
that hasn't covered everything.
So, now, it's like, we can't talk now.
Can we talk, like Joan Rivers said? Can we talk?
- Thank you [laughs].