Napoleon appeared on Cam Capone News for the long awaited sit down interview where the former Outlawz member explained the reason why Tupac’s Thug Life rap group broke up.
Back in September of 1994, Thug Life: Volume 1 was released via Interscope records. Tupac along with step-brother Mopreme Shakur, Rated R, Macadoshis, Stretch and Big Syke formed the short lived rap group.
The album till this day is a fan favorite with hits that gave us “Pour Out a Little Liquor” and “How Long Will They Mourn Me?” During those times, Tupac also had another rap group, Dramacydal, which consisted of Yaki Kadafi, E.D.I. Mean, Kastro and Napoleon.
Napoleon who would then become a member of Tupac’s Outlawz, was around when Tupac was promoting the Thug Life debut album in New York. The former Outlawz member sitting down with Cam Capone News revealed why Tupac’s Thug Life rap group broke up.
“They were wild. There wasn’t too many people who wanted to sign them. That’s how they actually lost their record deal with Interscope, because of gang politics,” Napoleon recalled. “That’s probably why ‘Pac at the end you didn’t really seem him around Macadoshis and Rated R. Even though he loved them and he respected them, but because he was more closer to Big Syke. Rated R was a hot head back then. That dude was crazy.”
“Rated R and Macadoshis was from Rolling 40 crips and they got into it in the middle of Interscope in front of all the execs. Big Syke is from an Inglewood gang, IVC. So, they started banging on each other. Rated R called all his homies to Interscope records and wanted to fight Big Syke,” Napoleon revealed. “That’s how they lost their record deal. After that Interscope didn’t want anything to do with them.”
In 1996, Tupac spoke about Thug Life the movement as well as Thug Life the rap group in his last interview conducted by Rob Marriot. “It was out of that love that I said Thug Life was dead. I was like, while I’m in jail this is going to jail with me. Nobody has the power. Nobody is like me to be able to represent this while I’m locked down. I thought I was going away for years. I couldn’t let nobody else represent that and I was seeing how many soldiers I had by coming to jail,” Tupac explained. “I was like, Oh nah I gotta stop it and rethink it. Cause I didn’t plan Thug Life. I just said it. It was how I felt.”
Tupac was facing years behind bars on an alleged rape charge after being shot 5 times in New York’s Quad Studios. An incident which he lost his trust in Biggie Smalls and Stretch. Aside from the altercation between Rate R, Macadoshis and Big Syke; Tupac partially blaming Stretch for his setup shooting at Quad Studios, also doomed the rap group forever.
“Now I gotta take my life. See what I live, what I represent and then I gotta dictate what this is and then let ni**as be apart of it. That’s why I killed it murdered it, killed it and choked it. And all the ni**as that was rapping with me, I murdered and choked their careers as far as being with me,” Tupac continued. “Cause if there was a Thug Life, sh*t would have happened different. I wouldn’t have gotten shot like that. So, Thug Life got destroyed. I came back out with my sh*t and even then I still had ni**as on my team that I shouldn’t have on my team. I should have started all new with family.” That family would consist of to former Thug Life members Big Syke and Mopreme Shakur and the newly formed Outlawz.
