One glaring reason, was Suge was running death row like a gang/drug trafficking conspiracy, and not a business, shady as record companies can be. So, even worse than Bad Boy or whatever, because Suge was playing favorites, manipulating people, I don't doubt he had love for Pac, and some of the accounting was just street guys running wild, and probably spending obscene amounts of money.
Why Tupac Died Broke
- Thread starter Rollie Forbes
- Start date
Breh hustling them royalty checks is the only way rappers was really eating in the 80s and 90s before hip hop became mainstream
Elim Garak
Veteran
This isn't news. It's well known he had a shyt ton of legal fees and couldn't even raise bail on his appeal. Death Row obviously got him out but even with the success of All Eyes on Me the money isn't going to come in immediately. If he had at least lived a few more years obviously he would have become very wealthy.
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This is the answer.
Folks can’t act like the artist gets a weekly “sales” check when their album is out.
Before the NY shooting he spent $$$ taking care of alot of people + legal fees + himself. This continued while at Death Row. Simon might have fronted him cash as an advance but that $ obviously went to making sure his people were straight. I’m sure he wasn’t going to say no to family but he also knew he was generating $$$ thru sales of a successful album so he’d be okay.
And like you said, the royalty checks were coming. That’s the nature of the business. You recoup and then get paid. Most artists don’t recoup a damn thing, so Pac was going to be fine. And he was a worker, so the label was going to put his shít in stores so it could sell out.
Being on the label less than a year how does this $$$ magically show up? The man simply needed to stay alive so he could enjoy the fruits of his labor.
DontEemTry
Superstar
All of them?
360 contract was invented damn near 15 years after Pac died to cut into revenues like tours/Merch etc as record sale revenue shrunk. What type of shyt you be on?
ReturnOfJudah
Veteran
Cuz he died young. Them youngsters in that era was signing shady deals. If he would have made it to his mid 30s he would have learned the business side.
Tommy Gibbs
Superstar
Bad Boy
Cash Money
Death Row
Rap A lot
4 very successful black owned labels known for NOT paying their artists.
biggie ?
Imagine if Pac didn't get killed and survived the Death Row days. I always pictured Pac wearing Iverson braids and spitting over dog shyt digital thug beats. The realization that dude is officially broke, he does made for DVD movies with Steven Seagal and Chuck Norris. The pro black revolutionary shyt and the gangbanging thuglife riff raff dies quick with Koch releases.Then comes the commercials. Pac doing auto insurance ads with Ice T and the entire world looks at this man like "IS THIS YOUR KING?"
Fast-forward to late 2000s to the 2010s, we are going social media/reality TV routes. Pac on Twitter arguing with griefers and cacs like the angriest of Coli brehs. Took a picture with Biggie Smalls and they have an upcoming podcast which is all sort of hilarious. Trading war stories and talking about the industry, as they end up both getting fukked by their past labels.
Old minds think alike from the east to the west coast.
Couldn’t even imagine seeing pac survive to see the 2000s if am been honest to much of a hot head to easily to get himself caught up in another situation that gets him shot …. Basically if he survived vegas then I could see him getting shot and killed in another conflict later down the line ..
Then comes the commercials. Pac doing auto insurance ads with Ice T and the entire world looks at this man like "IS THIS YOUR KING?"
Fast-forward to late 2000s to the 2010s, we are going social media/reality TV routes. Pac on Twitter arguing with griefers and cacs like the angriest of Coli brehs. Took a picture with Biggie Smalls and they have an upcoming podcast which is all sort of hilarious. Trading war stories and talking about the industry, as they end up both getting fukked by their past labels.
Old minds think alike from the east to the west coast.
Tommy Gibbs
Superstar
Yea Biggie. Biggie was borrowing money from Faith the December before he was killed. This is public information. All of these guys had bad deals. Stop believing rappers had millions of dollars.
Pool_Shark
Can’t move with me in this digital space
I just remember what you told me
You said don't go to war till I got my money right
Now I got my money right
Now I want war
You said don't go to war till I got my money right
Now I got my money right
Now I want war
borrowing money from your wife …. what type of nonsense is this
again, i always wonder where do people come up with this notion that he was broke
he took his 1993 advance money to start his own label with his homie, Lance which produced 2 albums, where he was the executive producer, and wrote all of the albums. Those 2 albums, one from Junior M.A.F.I.A., and the other one from Lil Kim was very successful.
Add the fact he was puff executive producer for his album
owned a clothing line, called Brooklyn mint
owned 3 properties in a gated community in New Jersey one for his mother, one for him and fay and the other one for Junior mafia again
where is this ridiculous notion that he died broke