Legendary rapper E-40 appeared on Club Shay Shay where he revealed a conversation with close friend Tupac detailing his ambitious plans.
Earl Tywone Stevens Sr., also known as E-40 has brought an extensive amount of content throughout his thirty-year career. Releasing close to thirty albums, E-40 helped to put the Bay Area’s Hip Hop scene on the map. In a recent episode of Club Shay Shay, E-40 speaks to host Shannon Sharpe about another Bay Area pioneer, Tupac Shakur.
With living in Oakland before signing with Death Row Records, most of his earlier material came from the Bay Area, even giving credit to Oakland for teaching him the game. Even at that young age, he had ideas ranging from music, movies and poetry to political and revolutionary visions. E-40 collaborated with Tupac on a number of songs including “Ain’t Hard 2 Find” and “Dusted ‘n’ Disgusted.” Remembering back, E-40 tells Sharpe a rare story of how Tupac had an idea to open a gangster cafe.
It came about at the end of a telephone conversation between the two rappers. After winding up the conversation, Tupac excitedly interrupts and tells E-40 about an investment idea that he had. Pitching the idea, Tupac said: “I came up with an idea, you know how they got Planet Hollywood. I think I wanna do something called Gangster Cafe where you have all the gangsters, Al Capone and Lucky Luciano, all these cats on the walls but it’s a cafe.” Tupac told E-40 what music would play in the background and the type of food served at the cafe. He also wanted fellow artists to invest in the idea. E-40 believes the cafe would have become a reality if it wasn’t for lack of opportunity.
Referencing Brenda’s Got A Baby and Dear Mama, Sharpe admitted the way Tupac talked about real issues spoke volumes. His uniqueness comes down to many factors including his revolutionary upbringing with the Black Panther era. How Tupac put all of the pain and reality into a song, E-40 believes that’s why people should consider Pac as the greatest ever. “He would uplift male and female spirits. It touched home the stuff he was saying. And that’s what made him so dope. He did a lot of pain rap, he was doing that way back then, we all felt it. That’s what he specialized in, that’s why his music lasted so long. That’s why you gotta consider him the greatest rapper of all time.”
Furthermore, emphasizing Tupac’s age of 25 when he lost his life in Las Vegas, E-40 says that he was so far ahead of his time. The Oakland legend also thinks that Tupac would be at the forefront of the protests voicing the people’s opinion. Lastly, the legacy of Tupac Shakur will undoubtedly live on forever, with his music, movies, poetry and more. Sharpe asked the question that a lot of music fans have many times in the past. This question is what the rap game would look like if Tupac and Biggie had lived. In response, E-40 said: “Sometimes god want them upstairs early man. He called them in early.” He went onto say that Tupac would become a Billionaire if he was alive.
