Recently a letter 2Pac wrote from prison was sold for over a quarter of a million dollars! CNN reports the letter, which was instructed by Pac at the time he wrote it in 1995 not to be released to the public, contains the rappers rejection of Thug Life. The letter is a bit hard to read…so I transcribed what has been released online below!
…All of the souljahs of this nation 2 evaluate your lives. Are you ready to take it to the next level? I did not begin “Thug Life”, I just personified it. I couldn’t stop it if I tried, but in my heart the thug ***** has advanced to be a boss playa. So no Thug Life is not dead, but in MY heart it is. If you are sharp you will learn from this, if not 5 shots & years later u too will see it if you’re lucky. Beware of “playa haters” and “evilonious homiez” they will bring you harm.
It ain’t all good my people be aware. Hopefully this will do some of you some good. If it does than I don’t sit in jail in vain. I’ll see ya’ll in about 18 months. If it’s still in me I’ll drop another album, not 4 me, but 4 the homiez that made it number 1 and platinum in two weeks! I promise you one thing, when I touchdown it will change the world!
Until The End Of Time,
2Pac Shakur
PS: To My Enemiez, What Comes Around Goez around!
It’s unclear if Pac was actually condemning the thug life because he was changed by what he saw in his 1995 prison sentence, or was merely indicating his intention to change his persona. It is noted that Pac explains the meaning of a “Boss Playa” earlier in the four page letter…
“A Boss Playa is a thinker, a leader, a builder, a moneymaker, a souljah, a teacher and most of all a Man!”
Pac was then shot not long after he was released from prison in 1996, so we never fully saw the revelation of the Boss Playa persona he intended to continue. It would have been interesting to see how or if Hip Hop would’ve changed had the rapper made his statement public at the time!
