Appearing on Drink Champs, Mic Geronimo recalled meeting Tupac for the very first time and defending Shakur at the Tunnel in New York.
Irv Gotti would always talk to Geronimo about Tupac, encouraging the young artist to find a way to record with Shakur. For Mic Geronimo, he’s hesitation was due to the fact he did not have a close relationship with Tupac. But on one particular day in Atlanta, Irv Gotti pushed for Mic Geronimo to interact with Tupac.
“I remember we were at Freaknik and we were in the van,” Mic said on Drink Champs. “Irv was like, ‘Yo, there’s ‘Pac right there in front of the hotel.’ And the ‘Pac was there smoking a blunt chilling. And I’m like nah I’m not going over. That n**** is smoking. I’m not bothering this dude. And he was like, ‘Go give him your CD.'”
“So I jumped out the van,” Geronimo recalls. “I walk right up to the n**** ‘Pac and he was all into his blunt. I was like, ‘Yo, bro I don’t want to bother you, but my name is Mic Geronimo I spit. Whatever it was that I said. I was like, ‘Here’s my CD. If you like it, rep it. If you don’t, break it over your knee.'”
Accepting the CD, but not knowing if Tupac would actually go on to hear the project, Mic Geronimo would see Tupac a few years later at the legendary Tunnel in New York. Linking up together through mutual connections, Mic Geronimo would find himself in a situation where he held it down for Tupac.
As Tupac, Geronimo and his entourage made it through The Tunnel not once, but on two separate occasions, different individuals would go on to bump Shakur in what appeared to be intentional. Geronimo wasn’t haven’t it, especially when he looked over to Tupac and saw the look on his face.
“I never forget the look on his face, it was the first time I said to myself it must be a nightmare for somebody to have to consistently be persecuted,” the New York MC explained. “He had this look on his face that was like I’m so tired of this s—.”
Geronimo made it clear to himself that he was not allowing anyone to disrespect Tupac going forward. “He just looked drained. Not like he can’t do this and I won’t win, but he looked like why I do have to keep doing this. And when I seen it I was infuriated,” Geronimo said.
As they continue to make it through The Tunnel, now with Tupac in the middle, another individual approaching is looking to become the third individual who bumps Tupac. Mic Geronimo quickly intervenes and sends out a warning to the individual and the entire club.
Tupac and Geronimo would never record a song together, but years later Geronimo was considered for Death Row East and would also go on to feature Hussein Fatal on his 1997 single “Usual Suspects.”
