Tupac was officially inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last Friday (April 7), becoming only the sixth hip-hop act to achieve such recognition. Snoop Dogg had the honor of inducting his friend, collaborator and former label mate into the Hall of Fame, giving a powerful and personal speech during the ceremony at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.
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Snoop not not only honored Pac’s musical impact and accomplishments, but paid tribute to Tupac Shakur, the human being. “With an unapologetic rawness, Pac embraced those contradictions that prove we ain’t just a character out of someone else’s storybook,” he said. “To be human, is to be many things at once: strong and vulnerable, hardheaded and intellectual, courageous and afraid, loving and vengeful, revolutionary and–oh yeah, don’t get it fucked up–gangsta.”
Snoop also shared his personal experiences with Tupac, from funny anecdotes about the time they went parasailing together in South America to more emotional moments like visiting him on his death bed.
“Memories of Mrs. Shakur are embedded in my mind. Right after I heard Tupac got shot, I immediately flew to Vegas. I walked in the room and seen him laid out with all of these tubes and shit in him. I was so weak, I damn near fell over. And his mom came over to me and grabbed me and held me up. She said, ‘Baby you gotta be strong. Be strong.’
“I went and sat next to him and was whispering to him…telling him I loved him and to hold on and that he was gonna be ok. Even in that moment, his mom was thinking more about me than herself and showing me how to love strong. It was amazing to me that his mama was so strong and loved so hard.”
Watch Snoop’s full Rock & Roll Hall of Fame speech below.
Snoop, YG, Alicia Keys and T.I. were all part of the musical tribute, covering Pac classics like “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted,” “I Get Around” and “Keep Ya Head Up.”
