Monday, March 17th, 2008

Chuck Phillips On Pac & Diddy

Sometimes a journalist makes the story and sometimes the story makes him. For the better part of the past decade, Chuck Phillips, an investigative reporter for the Los Angeles Times whose beat included the music industry, has been pursuing the Tupac and Biggie murders. Today’s bombshell has been promised for a while, and now it’s here:
a front-pager claiming the FBI has evidence that Diddy’s henchmen plotted the ambush of Pac at Quad Studios in 1994.

The stories of Lil Shawn, his manager Jimmy Henchman, and mob-connected industry insiders James Sabatino and Haitian Jack have been circulating for years, and Cheo Coker discussed Haitian Jack in some detail in Unbelievable, his essential bio of Biggie. What’s new is that Phillips seems to have confirmed the story with a number of witnesses as well as an FBI informant. One, now in prison, even promised to produce the medallion snatched from Pac on that night for a price.

This morning, Diddy issued a terse press release, saying, “This story is beyond ridiculous and is completely false. Neither Biggie nor I had any knowledge of any attack before, during, or after it happened. It is a complete lie to suggest that there was any involvement by Biggie or myself. I am shocked that the Los Angeles Times would be so irresponsible as to publish such a baseless and completely untrue story.”

posted by Jeff Chang @ 11:07 am | 2 Comments

2 Responses to “Chuck Phillips On Pac & Diddy”

easportski says:

March 17, 2008 at 12:53 pm

i’m not sure i’d characterize this as a bombshell. it falls short of definitively proving puffy’s involvement in anything. also, there’s nothing concrete to indicate witness statements are anything but hearsay. even if puffy and biggie knew, so what? should they have warned pac and placed themselves in the way of a mob hit?

theoretically, you could cite tupac himself as a source for this story, since this article appears to confirm that he was set up by someone in his own crew (“indian sent after me,” he rapped on ‘ambitionz az a ridah’ in 1996) and that diddy and biggie knew in advance, which is why he recorded “hit ’em up” and allegedly slept with faith.

but as for phillips’ “new” reportage, all it does is appear to confirm ancient-ass rumors and pac’s account as possibly being factual. it ascribes a partial motive, but doesn’t name the shooter, nor does it actually produce the medallion allegedly snatched from ‘Pac, which would have lent much more credibility.

in my opinion, the revelations concerning the assassination of biggie and the reputed involvement of the LAPD are much more bombshell material. i would have liked to read phillips break new ground in this, instead of digging up what is essentially a red herring.
Sugarbread says:

March 22, 2008 at 3:56 pm

yeah, that’s what i think!

Feed Me!

Revolutions

DJ Nu-Mark :: Take Me With You
DJ Nu-Mark remixes the diaspora…party ensues!
El General + Various Artists :: Mish B3eed : Khalas Mixtape V. 1
The crew at Enough Gaddafi bring the most important mixtape of 2011–the street songs that launched the Tunisian & Egyptian Revolutions…
J. Period + Black Thought + John Legend :: Wake Up! Radio mixtape
Remixing the classic LP w/towering contributions from Rakim, Q-Tip + Mayda Del Valle
Lyrics Born :: As U Were
Bright production + winning rhymes in LB’s most accessible set ever
Model Minority :: The Model Minority Report
The SoCal Asian American rap scene that produced FM keeps surprising…
Mogwai :: Hardcore Won't Die But You Will
Dare we call it majestic?
Taura Love Presents :: Picki People Volume One
From LA via Paris with T-Love, the global post-Dilla generation goes for theirs…

Word

Cormac McCarthy :: Blood Meridian
Read this now before Hollywood f*#ks it up.
Dave Tompkins :: How To Wreck A Nice Beach
Book of the decade, nuff said.
Joe Flood :: The Fires
The definitive account of why the Bronx burned
Mark Fischer :: Capitalist Realism
K-Punk’s philosophical manifesto reads like his blog, snappy and compelling. Just replace pop music with post-post-Marxism. Pair with Josh Clover’s 1989 for the full hundred.
Nell Irvin Painter :: The History of White People
Well worth a Glenn Beck rant…and everyone’s scholarly attention
Robin D.G. Kelley :: Thelonious Monk : The Life And Times Of An American Original
Monk as he was meant to be written
Tim Wise :: Colorblind
Wise’s call for a color-conscious agenda in an era of “post-racial” politics is timely
Victor Lavalle :: Big Machine
Victor Lavalle does it again!