Veteran radio personality Angie Martinez has shared an excerpt from her new memoir My Voice about her volatile 1996 interview with 2 Pac.
Angie Martinez interviewed 2 Pac at the height of the East Coast vs. West Coast war that grew out of his frayed relationship with Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs, The Notorious B.I.G. and Bad Boy Records. At the time she was a radio personality for New York’s Hot 97 FM and ‘Pac apparently had a lot to say for the crew that was running the city at the time. She talked with 2 Pac in his California home for over an hour, but opted to air only a few minutes of the interview in fear of making the East Coast vs. West Coast beef worst than what it was.
Obviously, her holding on to that audio didn’t do much to help as both Biggie and 2 Pac wound up getting killed, supposedly over the bi-coastal beef. Angie Martinez sat down with Billboard to explain why she never released the full audio.
Per Billboard:
Describe the mindset you were in while writing Chapter 5, where you detailed your interview with Tupac during the East Coast/West Coast rap war and only aired 12 minutes of the two-hour session.
That just poured out really quickly because I’ve often thought about it through my career and I’ve often reflected on it. I don’t know that I would have necessarily shared that story so it’s something that I decided to get out. I’m grateful for in a lot of ways because it was a turning point in my career. It forced me to make some decisions that kind of set me off on a path on what type of personality I wanted to be. It taught me a good lesson. I went with my gut. I didn’t know how it was going to work out. I was scared to air this interview and I didn’t want to be responsible for making it worse. And the truth is that I made that decision and I’m proud of that after all these years later. I think about the tragedy that happened to both [Tupac and Biggie] like, “What if I had put that out?” I would’ve forever wondered if I had contributed in any way to what happened, even though it may not have. Ultimately, it happened anyway but I know that I did what I could do to not contribute to it. That gave me strength. That helped me draw my line in terms of who I am as a personality.
After years of keeping the interview locked away, Angie Martinez is finally sharing it in her book. Click over to read the excerpt.
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Photo: Screenshot
From Billboard:
In walks Pac and the room immediately lights up. He’s laughing, giving his friends pounds and hugs. He gives me a big hug. “You good? I had my peoples go to this spot and get you some pizza.” The box says NY Pizza. “I wanted to make you feel comfortable,” he says. “I know people be saying bad shit about me. I’m a good guy.” Somebody lights a blunt. The room is starting to feel comfortable. I fumbled with the tape, hit record, and so it began.
Angie: I’m sitting with Tupac in his crib. We need to talk about the East Coast-West Coast thing. Aren’t you from New York?
Tupac: That’s where I was born, but that’s not where I learned how to make money. This is where I got laced. This is where I became a man.
I could see that he was far more articulate and calculated than I was, more seasoned.
Angie: Are you saying that you do not have a beef with New York?
Tupac: Nah, I have a beef with anybody in my way, anybody that feel like they could criticize me because they bought my album. That feel like just because they read an interview that they know who I am. I have a beef with them interfering with me getting my money. I got a beef with Wendy Williams saying I got raped in jail because that disrespected me, my family and what I represent. I got a beef with New York rappers just saying whatever they wanna say about where I’m from.
My Voice hits stores Tuesday, May 17.
