A rising star facing decades in prison. A Wu-Tang legend spiraling out of control.
And a hip-hop icon who didn't know he was dying until it was too late.
From Tupac to XXXTentacion, these rappers went on the record one last time before they died.
The last 12 months of Tupac Shakur life were tumultuous, to say the least. The rapper,
poet, and actor had served nine months of a one-and-a-half-year sentence at Clinton
Correctional Facility starting on Valentine's Day 1995. At the same time, Shakur's feud
with the East Coast scene — and rapper The Notorious B.I.G. in particular — was escalating.
Amid all this upheaval, Shakur was planning to release an autobiography, chronicling his
highly eventful life. He enlisted the writer Rob Marriott, who met Shakur for interviews.
In the interview, Shakur talked about his beef with Biggie and settled the score on his time in
prison. A Vibe article had previously claimed that Shakur was in danger for his life behind bars,
but the rapper was keen to tell the world that he had been treated with respect.
Shakur was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas on September 13th,
1996. He was seated in a parked car with Suge Knight, the manager of his record label and
the man who had posted his $1.4 million bail. Excerpts from Shakur's final interview were
released in 1997, on a bonus disc accompanying the posthumously-released Thug Immortal documentary.
There can be no discussion of Tupac Shakur's tragic end
without also mentioning that of his bitter rival, The Notorious B.I.G.,
who was shot and killed in a close-to-identical drive-by shooting just six months later.
Biggie's final interview took place on February 24th, 1997, just two weeks before his death,
on the set of the music video for "Hypnotize." Tragically, the single would become the soundtrack
to the rapper's funeral. At the time, the world was eagerly awaiting Biggie's follow-up to his
smash debut album Ready To Die, and the rapper discussed the scale of the forthcoming double
album, Life After Death. Notably, Biggie believed the album would help him "get [his] spot back"
after a period of making guest appearances and mentoring artists such as Junior M.A.F.I.A.
His interviewer also congratulated the rapper on the birth of his second son, C.J.
At one point in the interview, Biggie appeared to
regret how destructive his feud with 2Pac had become.
"We two individual people, we waged a coastal beef. You know what I'm saying?"
Asked what he learned since his rival's death, Biggie claimed that he believed that it was
his responsibility to "squash" the beef that had wreaked such deadly harm on the hip-hop community.
"I gotta be the one to flip it, and take my power
and flip it like, yo, it's gotta be dead. Because, yo, he can't do that."
The former NWA star and influential West Coast hip-hop legend Eazy-E was expanding his focus
in the last months of his life. As well as working on his own solo material, 31-year-old
Eric Wright had recently set up his own record label, Ruthless Records, and was championing
a new generation of artists. However, as he discussed in his final interview with Rap Pages,
recorded in January 1995, he was also embroiled in a number of disputes with several of the artists
he had signed. Wright claimed that his treatment of the artists in question had been fair, however.
The interview is notable for Wright's turn against his former bandmate Dr. Dre and his
affiliate Snoop Dogg, with Wright claiming that they're “not real; it's all acting."
Of course, this was a bombshell claim when West Coast gangsta rap was at its peak,
and when authenticity was key to artistic credibility.
Worse than that, though, is that Wright can be heard coughing and struggling to catch his breath
in the recording. Tragically, the rapper did not know at the time that he had contracted HIV,
and that he would soon be in hospital with AIDS-induced pneumonia. The rapper sent a
message to fans from his deathbed, warning of the dangers of the disease that was
stigmatized and little understood in the general population. In his final statement, he said:
"I've learned in the last week that this thing is real and it
doesn't discriminate [...] It affects everyone."
Having first made his name under the moniker Zev Love X in the early 1990s,
Daniel Dumile left the rap game for three whole years following the death
of his brother and musical partner, DJ Subroc. He emerged with his new persona,
MF DOOM, after having spent a period of hardship living on the streets.
Dumile found himself alienated from the hip-hop community after being denied re-entry to the
U.S. in 2010. He was born in London, and that is where he found himself banished in the years that
followed. He still managed to release music — the most notable being 2012's JJ DOOM, a collaboration
with Jneiro Jarel, as well as two collaborations with Inspectah Deck's Czarface. But the final
decade of DOOM's life was dominated by tragedy, specifically the death of his teenage son in 2017.
Dumile's last known interview was with Spin magazine in 2019, celebrating the 15th anniversary
of his acclaimed studio album Madvillainy. In the interview, Dumile shocked his fanbase by
claiming that he didn't care about hip-hop, and didn't listen to the genre, either; he said he
only wrote rhymes to get paid. He died October 31st, 2020. No cause of death was made public.
Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes was seemingly at a crossroads in her life around the time of
the tragic car accident that took her life on April 25th, 2002. She had just turned 30,
and the breakout star of girl-group TLC was looking to assert herself in her solo career
following the release of her debut album, Supernova, which had performed poorly.
Lopes' relationship with her TLC bandmates had become distant,
and it is likely that the rapper was looking to shed her identity as a member of the group,
with the hope of finding greater artistic freedom. Lopes announced that
her new identity was "N.I.N.A.," an acronym standing for "New Identity Non Applicable."
The fan site TLC Army suggests that the name was chosen by Suge Knight, the notorious owner
of Death Row Records who had been in the car with Tupac Shakur when the rapper was shot. Lopes had
recently signed to his new label, Tha Row Records, for whom she was recording her second album.
In her last television appearance, Lopes is seen seated with Knight,
claiming that her new label was a "family" with "a lot of love." Referring to Lopes as N.I.N.A.,
the interviewer asks whether there is "still a Left Eye," to which the star responds:
"Left Eye is in TLC, anything outside of Left Eye, outside of TLC, will be N.I.N.A."
Phife Dawg was a member of A Tribe Called Quest, and his signature flow played an
integral part on their best-loved records. Born Malik Izaak Taylor,
the rapper had finally reconnected in the studio with fellow Tribe artists Q-Tip, Ali,
and Jarobi for what ended up being We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service,
the Tribe's first album for 18 years. Sadly, it turned out to be a posthumous release for Phife,
who died of complications from diabetes in March 2016, six months before the album's release.
Taylor's final interview took place in November 2015.
The interview is notable for the rapper's frustration at the Tribe's lack of public
appearances following Q-Tip's assertion that the group's performances opening for Kanye
West the previous year would be their farewell shows. He told Rolling Stone:
"I think it is ludicrous that we are not performing together."
Taylor also discussed his lack of confidence in the early days and his dislike of his own voice.
He also spoke about his health, saying:
"I am in a good spot, but I have my good days and I have my bad
days [...] And that is another reason why it is ludicrous for us not to be
performing right now and smelling these roses why we're still here."
Ermias Asghedom, aka Nipsey Hussle, was shot and killed outside his Marathon Clothing store
in Los Angeles on March 31st, 2019. He was 33, and his star had been rising prior to his death.
A series of well-received mixtapes behind him and a Grammy nomination for his debut
studio album, Victory Lap, had made Asghedom an established name in contemporary hip-hop.
But what really struck fans after news of his death was announced
was Asghedom's role in various charities and community projects.
According to a USA Today article released the day after his death:
"[Asghedom] had been actively trying to broker peace and bridge the gap between rival gangs for
years, uniting in his Crip blue with Blood gang rappers YG and The Game, known by the color red."
The final interview of Asghedom's life was undertaken by his longtime partner,
the actress Lauren London, whom the rapper had been dating since 2013 and who was the
mother of one of his two children. It took the form of a "30 questions" couples' quiz for GQ.
Evidence of the couple's great emotional bond, the footage makes for tragic viewing
with the knowledge of Asghedom's death — and London's impending loss.
"What did I think of you when we first met?"
"She was head over heels sprung from day one." "EHH. He got this wrong."
Despite his numerous solo accomplishments, Keith "Guru" Elam's name will forever be most closely
associated with that of his breakthrough partnership with DJ Premier: Gang Starr.
But towards the end of his short life, the rapper was seeking to distance himself from
his former partner and promote his working relationship with his new partner, MC
Solaar. This is evidenced by his final interview, undertaken by All Hip Hop, in which Elam claimed:
"People ask me about my ex-DJ and all that. We were never all that close. We
hooked up in the studio and did great music, but we were never hanging and all that cool.
Solaar and I, we got tight before we even started doing music."
Elam died from blood cancer on February 28, 2010, aged just 47. The interview foreshadowed much of
the tension that would surround the classic rapper's death, and the behavior of Solaar,
who became a villain in the community following rumors suggesting that he had isolated Elam.
Solaar also came under suspicion after the release of the following
message purportedly written by Elam on his deathbed, which read:
"I had nothing to do with him in life for over seven years and want nothing to do
with him in death. Solaar has my life story and is well informed on my family situation,
as well as the real reason for separating from my ex-DJ."
Elam's friends and family questioned the authenticity of this message,
and suggested it had instead been written by Solaar. The
true nature of Solaar's relationship with Elam has never quite been settled.
The chaos surrounding rapper and Wu-Tang Clan founder Ol' Dirty Bastard, born Russell Jones,
had come to eclipse his music in his final years.
This was despite two well-received studio albums and a number of minor hit singles.
By the time of 35-year-old Jones' tragic death via accidental overdose in November 2004,
the rapper had long been generating headlines as hip-hop's folk hero.
"All that 'fraid of the government stuff, know what I'm saying,
that's dead in my life, man, I got special things to put on people."
Jones had at one time been on the run from the police, who were pursuing him for a
number of different misdemeanors, including shoplifting and drug possession. He had also
managed to secretly attend recording sessions and appear at live concerts,
all while avoiding arrest. Jones eventually took a deal and received a minimal sentence,
although the prison time reportedly had an adverse effect on the rapper's mental health,
and his drug addiction spiraled out of control. However, in what is thought to be his final radio
interview, the recently released Jones explains that he was looking forward to making more hits,
and said he considered the whole Wu-Tang Clan family.
In 2017, Jones' cousin and fellow Clan member RZA gave an interview saying he wished that he,
his fellow Clan members, and his family had done more to help Jones,
and that he believed the rapper's death was preventable.
At the turn of the millennium, Christopher "Big Punisher" Rios had completed his
transformation from respected but little-known underground rapper to full-blown rap icon.
Still only 28, the MC had made a splash collaborating with Fat Joe in 1995,
while his 1998 debut studio album, Capital Punishment, peaked at number five on the
Billboard 200 charts and number one on the Top R&B Albums chart for two weeks. He had
also been nominated for a Grammy and was the first Latinx hip-hop artist to go platinum.
In 2000, Rios was reaching new audiences following a collaboration with Jennifer Lopez
on her single "Feelin' So Good." To promote the single, Rios was due to perform alongside Lopez
on Saturday Night Live, but canceled after becoming breathless, and subsequently died
of a heart attack in his New York hotel room, where he was staying with his wife and children.
Rios' final interview was for a cover feature in Industry Insider magazine, and the interview was
notable for Rios' ill health, his difficulty speaking, and the interviewer's subsequent
difficulty transcribing what Rios had said. The same source also notes that Rios' management
had sent the magazine promotional shots for the cover, which were rejected due to Rios'
sickly appearance. Sadly, no-one suspected that the young rapper was so seriously ill.
Real name Albert Johnson, Mobb Deep's Prodigy had long been open about suffering from sickle-cell
anemia, which had affected him throughout his life. He was in the hospital being treated for
the illness when he died on June 20th, 2017. The cause of death was mistakenly reported as
accidental choking, a fact that led to Johnson's family suing the hospital and
physician involved, claiming it was a case of wrongful death. The rapper was just 42.
In his final interview, during an appearance on the Premium Pete Show podcast, Johnson discussed
how he was first introduced to guns by his father at the age of 7. He also admitted that
his touring with Mobb Deep in the late 1990s, around the time of the birth of his daughter,
took a toll on his relationship with his child — but said that they had since made up for it.
"We'll go to Great Adventures, we'll go out to eat, and cook together in the crib.
We do a lot of things together."
Better known as Lil Peep, ​​Gustav Åhr was a prominent face among the new wave of rappers
emerging through the "SoundCloud rap" scene at the end of the 2010s. His life and career were
cut short, however, when he died suddenly on November 15th, 2017, following a drug overdose.
He was just 21, but in just a few years he had
become one of the most talked about and contentious figures in hip-hop.
Paper Magazine released what they billed as the rapper's last interview the day after his death,
calling him "one of music's brightest lights" and "an all-round magical human being."
In the interview, Åhr expressed how much he enjoys touring, and said that he had recently
started taking himself and his career "seriously" after evolving from a mixtape
artist to a commercial prospect. He was also thinking about his future as an artist, saying:
"I want to go deep into fashion, I want to go maybe into acting,
there's a lot of stuff I would like to go into. [...] I want to do a lot of different things and
dive into different worlds. I feel like I'm a creative and I want to take advantage of that."
20-year-old Jahseh Onfroy, who went by the stage name XXXTentacion, was under "modified house
arrest" when he undertook the final interview of his life. A journalist from the Miami New
Times knocked on his door after finding the rapper's address on a discarded parking ticket.
The subsequent article, published the day before his death from gunshot wounds on June 5th, 2018,
was more of a profile than an account of what Onfroy had to say. Following news of his death,
however, Miami news website Jitney Books approached the journalist, Tarpley Hitt,
to get a sense of her two-and-a-half hour long conversation with the late rapper.
Onfroy was facing up to 30 years in prison for a range of crimes that
included "aggravated battery of a pregnant victim, domestic battery by strangulation,
false imprisonment, and witness tampering." He derided the #MeToo movement in the interview,
claiming that it had "inflated" his alleged crimes and damaged his career.
But the rapper also spoke about his spirituality, saying that he read the Quran and even believed
in astrology and in witches. Onfroy suggested that his ex-girlfriend had performed witchcraft,
specifically "money spells," which he claimed had a real-world effect.
Better known as MCA, The Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch was open with his fans about his health
after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009. In a statement at the time, Yauch explained:
"I just need to take a little time to get this in check,
and then we'll release the record and play some shows. It's a pain in the neck [...] because I
was really looking forward to playing these shows, but the doctors have made
it clear that this is not the kind of thing that can be put aside to deal with later."
Yauch was optimistic about his illness, saying at the time that his condition was "very treatable,"
and telling Gothamist that he was feeling "alright."
"They've caught it early and it's not anywhere else on my body. So that's the good news."
However, 2009 also turned out to be the year of Yauch's final public performance,
before his death in 2012. During his illness Yauch continued to communicate with fans via
the group's online channels, and even found the energy to contribute to a new album.
Prior to his death, the band discussed the new album in an interview with The Guardian.
The interview was undertaken in Yauch's absence, with his bandmates explaining
that Yauch was still in treatment, but that his prospects of survival looked "good."
Tragically, Yauch died on May 4th, 2012, just hours before the article was published.
His bandmates later praised Yauch's "incredible optimism" in an interview with Rolling Stone.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available.
Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website
or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).