Murder Rap: Inside the Biggie and Tupac Murders

Since the murders of hip-hop stars Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur have already been explored extensively in films like Nick Broomfield's 2002 Biggie & Tupac (VL Online-7/03), Mike Dorsey's documentary feels somewhat redundant. Still, armchair investigators are sure to find plenty of interesting evidence here, including emergency calls, surveillance footage, and interrogation recordings. Dorsey draws from retired LAPD homicide investigator Greg Kading's 2011 book Murder Rap: The Untold Story of the Biggie Smalls & Tupac Shakur Murder Investigations, briefly sketching out the artists' careers before proceeding through the events that exacerbated their rivalry, many involving Sean "Diddy" Combs (Bad Boy Entertainment), Suge Knight (Death Row Records), their bodyguards, and gang members who floated around the periphery. The artists also made defamatory statements about each other at awards shows and on studio tracks such as Biggie's " Who Shot Ya?" and Tupac's "Hit 'Em Up." Tupac attended the Mike Tyson fight at Las Vegas's MGM Grand in 1996, and was murdered later that night. A year later, after the Vibe Awards, Biggie was killed. At the time, off-duty cops were implicated in both deaths, but Kading offers insights that contradict that theory, suggesting that Tupac was murdered by a member of the Crips and that Biggie was killed by a Knight associate. Other interviewees include author Cathy Scott (The Murder of Tupac Shakur) and Reggie Wright Jr., former head of security for Death Row. Since the cases remain unsolved, more books and documentaries seem likely to materialize in the future. A strong optional purchase. Aud: P. (K. Fennessy)