We recently heard Tupac make an appearance on "Mortal Man", the last track off Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly. The recording was taken from a 1994 interview, but it was still chilling to hear Shakur's voice almost 20 years after his death. Now, according to Billboard, we could be hearing brand new Tupac music in the near future.
JAM Inc., Shakur's mother, and Tom Whalley, who signed Tupac to Interscope in 1991, are currently working together to manage Tupac's estate, which, apparently, contains a wealth of unreleased music. In fact, when Kendrick wanted to put the Tupac interview on To Pimp a Butterfly, he approached Whalley, who was 100 percent supportive of the idea.
Some of the new music "is in bits and pieces, some of it is complete; some of it is good, some of it needs work," says Whalley, "But I think the work that is left can be completed, and is worth his fans hearing." Aside from unreleased music, Tupac's estate also includes: "remixes, original demos, writings, scripts, plans, video treatments, poems." JAM president Jeff Jampol also says we can expect a forthcoming biography from "a very serious writer."
It's also possible we haven't heard the last conversation between Kendrick and 'Pac, as Whalley says he's considering consulting Kendrick about ideas for Shakur's unreleased material: "At some point in time, Kendrick would be brilliant to work with Tupac's [material]. He's one of the new great poets."
How do you think unheard Tupac music should be released? Do you trust his legacy in the hands of the music industry?
