Tupac Shakur is featured on the cover of the latest issue of XXL, which hits stands on August 16. The legendary rapper tragically passed away 15 years ago, and XXL pays tribute to him by interviewing his loved ones. This includes his Bill Garland, his biological father, who said:
“[Tupac] cared for people,” he said. “That was his main thing. He really cared for people. I think that’s why he would get so upset when people tried to question his commitment, his love for Black women or Black men. The East Coast/West Coast, you know, that’s a fabrication. I don’t have to begin to tell you that. So when that was questioned, it bothered him. Because he would give his heart or soul. He was a giving person. He would give anything to people. He would go in a store. [If there was a] Black man who couldn’t afford a $1,500 pair of boots, he would buy ’em for him. Think that Black man would ever forget Tupac? That’s just the way he is. But I don’t think that he did it for that. He did it because he had it, and he didn’t. That’s the way he is.”
Additional contributors include Tupac’s ex-wife, Keisha Morris, his first manager and one-time roommate and mentor, Leila Steinberg, his stepfather Mutulu Shakur, and his rap group the Outlawz.
It’s crazy to think that 15 years have already passed; time truly flies. R.I.P.
