The hip-hop world has been completely magnetized to the Tupac murder trial recently. That’s because Las Vegas police recently arrested Duane Keith “Keefe D” Davis for the murder 27 years after it happened. Keefe’s involvement in the murder has long been known, primarily because he’s continued to talk about it for years. In fact, many believe that the only reason the arrest was made and legal proceedings undertaken is because Keefe wouldn’t stop talking about his role in the slaying. One person who believes that is former Outlawz member Napoleon who sat down with The Art Of Dialogue to discuss the situation.
Napoleon criticizes Keefe D quite a bit in the interview. He begins by claiming that discussing the events of the murder nearly 30 years later was a corny move. But he also explains that Keefe’s internet clout-chasing caught up with him and as a result, his arrest isn’t that surprising. Despite all of that Napoleon insists that Tupac wouldn’t have wanted Keefe D to rot in jail as a result of his role in the crime. It’s a similar sentiment to one that Suge Knight expressed when he talked to TMZ about the ongoing legal proceedings. Check out Napoleon’s full interview below.
Many people have expressed a belief that restarting the investigation into Tupac’s murder in 2023 was a bad idea. That includes the rapper’s own brother who criticized the move as re-introducing the trauma of his death. He elaborated saying that for him the case was already closed years ago. He also said that he isn’t getting any closure from the ongoing proceedings.
On the other side of things, Pac’s sister expressed happiness that there was finally a push for justice on the rapper’s behalf. It’s a sentiment that Jada Pinkett Smith also agreed with when asked about the developments. What do you think of Napoleon’s comments on Keefe D’s arrest for Tupac’s murder? Let us know in the comment section below.
Suge Knight is the one “to blame” for the lack of progress made in 2Pac’s murder investigation, says retired Los Angeles Police Department detective Greg Kading. Kading previously led an interagency task force looking into the murder of The Notorious B.I.G. He also authored the book, Murder Rap: The Untold Story of the Biggie Smalls & Tupac Shakur Murder Investigations, in 2011. Speaking with Rolling Stone on Tuesday, Kading explained how Knight’s lack of cooperation hindered the case.
“If there’s anybody in the world to blame for this taking 27 years to solve, it’s Suge Knight,” he told the outlet. “He knew the moment it happened who did it. And all Suge had to do when Las Vegas [PD] asked him to come in and sit down for an interview, all he had to do was say, ‘They pulled up alongside, I looked right across the car, I saw Keefe D in the front seat.’”
Las Vegas Police Share Image Of Suge Knight & 2Pac After Arrest Of Keefe D
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – SEPTEMBER 29: An image on a television monitor shows a photo of Tupac Shakur (L) and Marion “Suge” Knight Jr. in a car in Las Vegas the night Shakur was killed as (L-R) Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson, Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Jason Johansson hold a news conference at the LVMPD headquarters on the arrest and indictment of Duane “Keefe D” Davis for the 1996 murder of Shakur on September 29, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. A Nevada grand jury indicted Davis on one count of murder with a deadly weapon in the fatal drive-by shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
He added: “That’s all he had to say: ‘I saw Keefe D.’ That alone, that witness statement would’ve changed everything. There’s nobody else who could have helped more than him, and he didn’t, because evidently, his reputation was more important than 2Pac’s life.”
The comments come after Knight recently admitted that he doesn’t plan on testifying in the arrest of Keefe D. Las Vegas police arrested the former gang member in connection to the killing, last week. Speaking with TMZ, Knight explained: “I wouldn’t be. Well, number one, I’m not gonna get on the stand and testify on somebody for what? […] I wouldn’t go, I wouldn’t testify. None of that shit.” Be on the lookout for further updates on the investigation into 2Pac’s death on HotNewHipHop.
Suge Knight says that his rights as a defendant were violated in several ways during his 2015 hit-and-run case, and in turn, he wants an early release from prison. The former Death Row Records founder is serving 28 years after pleading no contest to voluntary manslaughter for a fatal hit-and-run. He discussed the state of his case during an interview with AllHipHop.
“So an unfixable error, the only thing you got to do is you got to make a deal and let me go home or show I was right or you let me take my plea back and start all over,” he told the outlet. “But it’d be harder to start all over because you did all this bullshit with my case.”
Suge Knight Found Guilty Of Voluntary Manslaughter
LOS ANGELES, CA – MARCH 09: Marion “Suge” Knight appears for a hearing at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center March 9, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. The hearing was scheduled to determine if the two criminal cases against Knight, one for murder and attempted murder when Knight allegedly ran over two men in a Compton parking lot after an argument and another case involving an alleged robbery and criminal threats to a photographer in Beverly Hills, should be moved to the downtown Los Angeles courthouse. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
“This [is] my bed,” he further told AllHipHop. “If they allowed me to go to trial, I would have won my case. I would have beat my case. But they didn’t. OK, I understand that, right? My crime carries two, six, 11 [years], if I was guilty. They gave me–naturally, they going to give me the high term, right? So my past, who I am, definitely is going to make sure I get some time. And I’m fine with that. But you don’t have the right to double me up.”
He continued: “You don’t have the right to give me time and a half. You don’t have the right to not let me have a lawyer. So, I wasn’t pushing the envelope as hard at first because I know I got to do some time. But I’ve been gone for nine years, so I did my time already.” The comments come after Knight recently discussed the arrest of Keefe D in the killing of 2Pac. Knight told TMZ that he has no interest in testifying in the case.
The 27-year-old murder case of Tupac Shakur took a turn last month when it was reported that Las Vegas Police had arrested Duane “Keefe D” Davis after raiding his wife’s home in July. Davis was charged with murder with use of a deadly weapon in Tupac’s death; he maintains that he in the vehicle with others who committed the drive-by shooting that killed the rapper in 1996.
However, Tupac’s fellow occupant of the other involved vehicle, Death Row Records founder Suge Knight, said that the police have the wrong man. Furthermore, he said he will refuse to testify against Davis despite being one of only a handful of people who might have firsthand knowledge of the shooting (and one of only two still alive to talk). TMZ reports that Knight expressly denied Davis’ account of events and that Davis’s nephew Orlando Anderson pulled the trigger. According to police, though, Davis was the owner of the gun used to kill Tupac in retaliation for a brawl at the MGM Grand just after Mike Tyson fought Bruce Seldon.
Although Knight has said that Anderson didn’t shoot Tupac and that Davis wasn’t involved, he will never tell who did — if he even knows. However, Davis has been adamant for years about his recollection, even writing a memoir that detailed the events leading up to the shooting. That memoir was a big part of what prompted the raid, and a copy was among the evidence collected. Knight’s reasoning for defending Davis is simple; per TMZ, “he’d never wish prison time on anyone.”
Suge Knight discussed the arrest of Duane “Keefe D” Davis in connection to the killing of 2Pac during an interview with TMZ on Monday. The Death Row Records co-founder explained over the phone that he doesn’t plan on testifying in the investigation. The arrest of Keefe D marks the first time charges have been made in the long-unsolved case.
“Well, surprise, number one,” Suge said of his reaction to the news. “Because I don’t think Keefe D would ever get arrested, nor do I want to see him get arrested. Let’s get one thing straight, first and foremost: me and Keefe D played on the same Pop Warner football team. And whatever circumstances — if he had an involvement with anything, if he didn’t have an involvement with anything, I wouldn’t wish somebody going to prison on my worst enemy.”
From left, American record executive Suge Knight (born Marion Knight Jr), Rap musician Tupac Shakur (1971 – 1996), and rapper and producer Dr Dre (born Andre Young) on the set of Shakur’s ‘California Love’ music video, El Mirage, California, October 13, 1995. (Photo by Nitro/Getty Images)
Knight went on to confirm that Orlando Anderson, the nephew of Keefe D, was not the shooter. The comments match up with another witness in the investigation who told a Las Vegas grand jury Deandre “Big Dre” Smith shot 2Pac. “There were only two people in the car; ‘Pac’s not gonna tell the story, I ain’t gonna tell the story,” Knight continued. “But I can tell you this: I never had nothing bad to say about Orlando because […] he wasn’t the shooter [..] It wasn’t Anderson, so that’s all I got to say about that part.” From there, he confirmed he won’t testify in the case. “I wouldn’t be. Well, number one, I’m not gonna get on the stand and testify on somebody for what? […] I wouldn’t go, I wouldn’t testify. None of that shit.”
Suge Knight is currently serving a 28-year sentence for voluntary manslaughter. Keefe D will appear in court on Wednesday, October 4, for his arraignment. Be on the lookout for further updates on the investigation into 2Pac’s murder on HotNewHipHop.
Cultural icon Tupac Shakur was then taken to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada hospital after being shot several times in a drive-by on a Las Vegas strip on September 7, 1996, and was under a medically induced coma for six days before dying from internal bleeding on September 13, 1996.
After several failed attempts by doctors to revive 2Pac, his mother Afeni Shakur requested for his life support machine to be turned off. What were the events that transpired the days before the September 7th shooting that caused his early demise and why has the mystery of his death never been solved? These are the questions that remain 19 years later. Chris Carroll, a retired Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department sergeant, told Vegas Seven Magazine in an interview last year that we may never know;
“Shakur’s murder is still considered an unsolved homicide and an unsolved homicide case is technically never closed. But nothing more is ever going to happen with it.“
After all the documentaries that have been put out pertaining to Pac’s death, most fans attempt to put the clues together and create their own hypothesis yet without hard evidence it’s still just an educated guess as to what really happened the night of September 7, 1996.
The only real evidence police have are the witness accounts from Outlaw member E.D.I Mean, who claimed to have seen all four men in the vehicle and Yaki Kadafi, who was involved in a scuffle with officers two days following the shooting after they pulled over a driver he was with and he protested. Officers did not try to locate Kadafi, who was later gunned down in Irving, NJ two months after the shooting.
Compton investigators assembled mug shots of several gang members, which included Orlando Anderson, the Crip that Tupac attacked in the MGM Grand lobby hours before the shooting. Anderson is the suspect said to have fired the fatal shots that killed Pac. Las Vegas police later discounted Anderson as a suspect and interviewed him only once. He was later killed in an unrelated gang shooting.
‘Pac’s killer has yet to be found or even suspected, but the fight to bring his killer(s) to justice icontinual and highly publicized, which will hopefully bring the truth about his untimely death to light.
On this date in 1996, Tupac Shakur, who’s just left the Mike Tyson vs. Bruce Seldon fight at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, was gunned down in Suge Knight’s BMW while at a stop light at East Flamingo Road and Koval Lane. He was shot four times, with two of the .40 caliber shots landing in his chest. Shakur would succumb to his injuries six days later. He was only 25 years old.
What were the events that transpired the days before the September 7th shooting that caused his early demise and why has the mystery of his death never been solved? These are the questions that remain a quarter century later. Chris Carroll, a retired Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department sergeant, told Vegas Seven Magazine in an interview in 2014 that we may never know;
The only real evidence police have are the witness accounts from Outlaw members E.D.I Mean, who claimed to have seen all four men in the vehicle and Yaki Kadafi, who was involved in a scuffle with officers two days following the shooting after they pulled over a driver he was with and he protested. Officers did not try to locate Kadafi, who was later gunned down in the PJs in Irving, NJ two months after the shooting.
Compton investigators assembled mug shots of several gang members, which included Orlando Anderson, the Crip that Tupac attacked in the MGM Grand lobby hours before the shooting. Anderson is the suspect said to have fired the fatal shots that killed Pac. Las Vegas police later discounted Anderson as a suspect and interviewed him only once. He was later killed in an unrelated gang shooting.
Las Vegas homicide Sergeant Kevin Manning said detectives called his lawyer to set up a meeting with a witness, so that the pictures could be reviewed, but according to Manning the calls were not returned. E.D.I. Mean and Frank Alexander, Pac’s body guard, told The Los Angeles Times in early 1997 that they had never been asked by the Las Vegas police to view photos of possible suspects in the case despite having seen the shooting and the faces of the men in the car from which shots were fired at Pac and Suge Knight. Alexander reported seeing the face of the suspect that shot Shakur but he was found dead with a bullet wound to the head in his home in Murrieta, CA on April 28, 2013. It’s being reported that it was suicide and there haven’t been any further updates about Big Frank’s death and who killed him. To this day, Las Vegas police dispute the witness accounts of what they reported to the officers the night of the shooting.
Early this month, it was revealed that Duane “Keefe D” Davis will now face charges related to the death of Tupac Shakur after years of claiming he was directly involved, but avoided prosecution with a immunity deal. It seems 2023 is the expiration date of that said deal.
The ‘90s is often referred to as the golden age of R&B, and for good reason. However, with so much quality music being churned out, maintaining a high profile isn’t easy. Nonetheless, it is entirely impossible to disregard the caliber of R&B talents that saturated the scene in that era. Take the alluring songstress Michel’le. Although she’s flown under the radar in recent times, her impact in the 90s was indelible.
The R&B superstar had a successful career throughout the decade. The albums she dropped between 1989 and 1998 speak loud and clear. This is also despite not releasing any new albums since 1998. It is also unsure whether or not the music scene can wholly welcome Michel’le’s return. Regardless, she still continues to perform live. It has been nine years since her last single though, but her time in the spotlight was marked with great success.
WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA – JANUARY 14: Michel’le Toussaint performs at Celebration Of Life With TV One’s R&B Divas LA at House of Blues Sunset Strip on January 14, 2015 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for TV One)
Michel’le Toussant was born on December 5, 1970 in Los Angeles, California. The singer grew up in Compton where she faced a challenging upbringing. During her early life, she had to deal with living in a tough neighborhood and working her way out. Michel’le’s interest in music served as a form of escapism. She was determined to chase a career as a singer and leave Compton despite her limitations. At the age of 16, her world was positively upturned when she was discovered by rapper and record producer, Dr. Dre.
Michel’le caught the attention of Dr. Dre when recording a vocal part for his group World Class Wreckin’ Cru, and her life changed from then on. In the late ‘80s, she became the first female artist signed to Ruthless Records, a label founded by Eazy-E. Under Dr. Dre’s guidance, Michel’le released her self-titled debut album in 1989. The album spawned several hit singles including “No More Lies,” which peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. Other successful singles on the album include: “Something in My Heart,” and the sleeper hit, “Nicety.” Michel’le was felt throughout the ‘90s and was certified Gold in the U.S. six months after its release.
She was also a featured artist on 2Pac’s song “Run Tha Streetz,” from his acclaimed 1996 album, All Eyez On Me. She also appeared on several other projects before taking a hiatus. Michel’le marked her return to the music scene with the release of her sophomore studio album in 1998, nine years after her debut. The album, Hung Jury, did not enjoy the level of success Michel’le did, however.
(Photo by Vinnie Zuffante/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Michel’le and Dr. Dre began dating soon after they met. They share a son, Marcel, born in 1991. However, it wasn’t all rosy concerning Michel’le and her relationship with Dr. Dre. Indeed, he changed her life by giving her a platform for her talents, but she also suffered a strained and abusive relationship with him, which included multiple instances of domestic violence. In an interview with VladTV, the singer spoke about his infidelity, as well as his physical violence.
“I was getting dragged on the floor… shot at,” she said. “He shot at me… and I left the bullet in the door.” While she admitted “he never tried to shoot her anymore,” she did refer to the beatings as “a lot.” When asked about the movie StraightOuttaCompton, which was widely anticipated at the time, Michel’le insisted she would probably not make it to the biopic. “Why would Dre put me in it?” she said. “I was just a quiet girlfriend who got beat up and told to sit down and shut up.”
Shortly after the movie was released, Dr. Dre shared a statement to the New York Times, apologizing to the singer. However, she felt as though it wasn’t genuine. “He apologized to the public. I don’t think that was an apology to me, because if it was, he would’ve either called me without the public and said ‘Michel’le, I am so sorry for what I did to you 20-something years ago,’ that’s an apology,” she told the Huffington Post. The following year, she narrated Lifetime’s documentary, Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel’le, which explored her relationship with both West Coast moguls.
Michel’le’s unique speaking style, characterized by her high-pitched and childlike voice, set her apart from other artists in the genre. Nonetheless, she could tame any audience with the vast size of her singing voice. Her vocals added a distinctive touch to the West Coast Hip Hop and R&B sound of the era. Consequently, that increased the appeal and intrigue of her sound, and music even further.
Her career may not have enjoyed the level of longevity she had the potential for. After her first child was born, Michel’le took time off from music, which was detrimental to her career. Despite it all, Michel’le definitely made her mark in the R&B music scene. She will always be regarded as a trailblazer in the genre, known for her unforgettable voice, and memorable songs.
When reports surfaced that Keefe D was being looked at as the main suspect in Tupac’s unsolved murder, it became huge news. Since 1996, there has been plenty of speculation over who took the rap superstar’s life, but no arrests. After authorities announced Keefe D was facing imminent charges, there was buzz the case would finally come to an end.
Sixty-year-old Keefe D has deep ties to the late rap legend Eazy-E and the South Side Compton Crips. Everybody wanted to know more about the man. Who is he? What is his connection to Tupac? Here’s a deeper look into Keefe D and his relation to the Tupac murder investigation.
Keefe D said he first met Diddy in 1991 when Puff was working on an Usher video. Keefe let them use some of his cars for the shoot, with Usher damaging one when dancing on it. Diddy covered the cost, which seemed like a friendly gesture at the time. However, Keefe would see that things aren’t always what they seem.
The Murder Of Tupac
Tupac Shakur and Marion Suge Knight (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
On September 7, 1997, Tupac was in Las Vegas with Suge Knight and some of his Death Row associates. One of the guys pointed out Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, a Southside Compton Crip, and accused Anderson of trying to rob him. Orlando just happened to be the nephew of Keefe D. As the story goes, Tupac ran up on Orlando, and a whole melee ensued.
Hours later, Suge drove to another spot with Tupac as his passenger. Before they could arrive, a car pulled up next to them and opened fire. Tupac was hit four times and ended up dying six days later on September 13. The hip-hop world was left shocked and in mourning. Everybody wondered who could have killed the rap legend.
The Keefe D Connection
Plenty of conspiracies spun the block as the streets began talking and the investigation heated up. Orlando and Keefe D’s names were soon brought into the mix, with many pointing fingers at Orlando as the shooter. He continuously denied his involvement. Even after Orlando died in a gang-related shootout in 1998, numerous documentaries, witnesses, and police investigations have named Orlando as the main suspect. Since Orlando was gone, the focus often turned to Keefe. Multiple times, he put himself in that position.
The Keefe D Admission
In a 2018 interview, Keefe admitted he was in the backseat of the car when Tupac was shot. He boasted he was the one who handed the gun to the shooter. While he wouldn’t name the shooter, he acknowledged he was “the only one alive” who knew what happened that night. Keefe claimed he was speaking out because he had cancer and wanted the truth to be told.
Eventually, according to The Daily Mail, Keefe D named Orlando as the shooter “during a taped conversation under immunity.” He said he first tried to give the gun to another guy in the car, Dre Smith. After Dre refused, Keefe gave it to Orlando, who “popped the dudes.” Further, around this time, there were reports that an arrest was “imminent,” but that didn’t happen. The authorities said they were still investigating Tupac’s death, which remained an open case. The whodunit continued.
New Keefe D Investigation
In 2023, everything changed. Reggie Wright Jr., the former head of security at Death Row Records, predicted there would be some movement in the case. He told Bomb1st, “Let’s put it this way, I bet Keefe D [has] been having the runs for the last two weeks.” He added, “Because yeah, they are knocking on doors and there’s some activity.” Keefe said it wasn’t true and claimed, “This dude obsessed with me … He need to leave me the f*ck alone.”
Reggie ended up being right. On July 17, 2023, the police executed a search on a Henderson, Nevada property connected to Keefe. They looked for any evidence connected to Tupac’s murder. According to police, they found several bullets that would undergo forensic testing to match those found in Tupac’s body and on the scene. Police also gathered photos, computers, and more.
The home turned out to be that of Keefe D’s ex-wife. He admitted that murder-related evidence was located at the residence. While authorities collected various items, they said they would present the evidence to a grand jury. They warned it could take months before the jury came back with a decision.
Diddy-Keefe D Connection
Shortly afterward, Keefe explained that his connection to Diddy landed him in the investigation’s crosshairs. Keefe said he regretted ever meeting Diddy. “If I wouldn’t have ever met him, I wouldn’t have ever been involved in this bullsh*t. I would’ve never met the brother.” He also accused Diddy of playing him and Suge. He said, “Because he pitted us against each other, which was kinda smart. We’re Crips and Suge was Bloods.”
Pressing Forward
The bullets police collected from Keefe D’s residence didn’t match the ones found at Tupac’s murder scene. However, that didn’t mean he was off the hook. Authorities said some evidence showed “individuals who might have been connected to people directly or indirectly involved in the drive-by shooting.”
Sources told The Daily Mail that prosecutors expected “this matter to become a criminal case imminently.” Detectives said, “Keefe has gloated so much about this that he has effectively talked himself into huge legal trouble.” Some of the biggest evidence against him was truly his own words.
Many are hopeful that Keefe D will go to trial to put to rest one of the most intriguing unsolved mysteries in modern history. Reports have surfaced that Suge Knight might testify if he goes to trial. Although there have been so many twists and turns in this 27-year case, there is hope it could end. The grand jury is expected to come back with a decision by the end of September.
In an exclusive interview with Cam Capone News, Terror Squad general Fat Joe spoke about one of the most infamous, yet unbelievable stories about Death Row CEO Marion “Suge” Knight.
After giving Suge his flowers for his tremendous contributions to Hip Hop culture, Joey Crack went on to explain why Knight was also such a problem in the game. Joe began, “At the end of the day, he did a lot of good things for Hip Hop, the man made $300 million legitly and got it taken from him…he lost his eyesight and eventually went to jail.” He continued about Knight, stating, ” Suge Knight is no different than O.J. Simpson. O.J. Simpson got away with some shit, but then went to get his own shit and went to jail. Some motherf*****s walking the earth know that if you slip on the wrong banana peel, they’re gonna give you 10,000 years.They got a bed waiting for you. it’s just what mistake are you going to make to get in that bed.”
Joe merged into a story about Terror Squad producers Cool and Dre at the BMI Awards in Los Angeles, where they both had their first run-in with the general of “the world’s most dangerous record label”. Both Cool and Dre noticed as they entered whatthey thought was the VIP entrance, that all of the attendees, including some famous, yet unnamed people, were being relieved of their jewelry at the door. At the door’s threshold was Suge Knight, who Joe says was “professionally” taking everyone’s shines. Because of their association with Joe, they were allowed to keep their jewels, but the Terror Squad producers felt guilty for being allowed to keep their ice.
