This is true but people who like to play that argument point seem to not acknowledge that his prison time deeply effected who he was and how he operated post release.
The streets only accept late bloomers and grown ass adult BGs under one
Pretense: state or fed time.... he checked the box and went full blast for the final 2 years of his life.... it sure did rush him to the grave but most the street consensus is that it was a genuine 2 yrs.... not fake to sell more records or land another role...
When did he find the time to be "full blast" though? He was on like 5 movie sets the last two years of his life and recorded 4 albums and was touring the country appearing on TV shows like Arsenio Hall and MTV shit.
I still remember Marlon Wayans doing an interview talking about 2pac a few years ago saying he wasn't a real gangster, but a method actor who was deep into pretending to be one. Marlon Wayans was good friends with 2pac from when they made Above The Rim together up until he died.
All I've ever heard about for the last 20 years from people that were actually around him was that he was a studio gangster that got dragged into Suge Knight's stupid shit. The times he was around Suge meant he was gonna be around Pirus, but I highly highly doubt 2pac was ever actually active in the streets with these Pirus. Seemed more like he went too far playing gangster and it backfired when he got too deep around real ones.
"Let me say for the record, I am not a gangster and never have been. I'm not the thief who grabs your purse. I'm not the guy who jacks your car. I'm not down with people who steal and hurt others. I'm just a brother who fights back. I'm not some violent closet psycho. I've got a job. I'm an artist." - Tupac Shakur, 10 months before he died.
