Wendy Day of Rap Coalition appeared on Hip Hop XXIV where she revealed that Tupac was indeed leaving Death Row records to create his own Euthanasia label.
There has been much debate over the years on whether or not Tupac was planning on leaving Death Row records. Wendy Day who formed a friendship with Tupac dating back to his New York shooting in 1994, (View: Niccolò Machiavelli Books Was Sent To Tupac In Prison By Wendy Day), claims she was actively shopping a distribution deal for Tupac prior to his death.
Wendy Day stayed in contact with Tupac during his incarnation at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, NY. Although she was not excited about Tupac signing with Death Row records, Wendy Day sent Tupac “countless letters explaining what he should ask for” and “what he should look out for.”
After Tupac’s release from prison, in late 1995, Wendy Day did not have contact with Tupac until about four months before his passing. This is when Wendy Day was helping Tupac with his plans for his own label, Euthanasia.
“I was shopping a deal with him. He had delivered the three albums he had to deliver to Death Row and he was starting a label called Euthanasia,” Wendy Day said on Hip Hop XXIV. “I had put a business plan together. Literally actively shopping it to get distribution when he was shot.”
Rumor has it that Tupac wanted to leave Death Row records and according to Wendy Day “they knew” Tupac was leaving. “He even stopped wearing the chain. He stopped wearing the Death Row chain and he was wearing an angel pendant with rubies,” Wendy Day said.
That pendant was Tupac’s Euthanasia chain which he showcased at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards in New York. Tupac would also wear the chain at the after party during his infamous face-to-face meeting with Nas and three days later in Vegas on September 7th, moments before he was shot.
According to Wendy Day, Tupac had delivered two albums with his double album ‘All Eyez On Me,’ with the third album ‘One Nation’ on the way. Tupac’s demise, left the ‘One Nation’ album unfinished. Death Row records would then release Tupac’s “Makaveli” album, a project which Shakur had plans of releasing as a free mixtape.
Part of Tupac’s plans for his Euthanasia record label also included community based programs and centers. (View: Tupac’s Euthanasia Record Label And Plans For 3rd Album On Death Row) “Well the great thing about what he was trying to do is that it was more than a record label. He was trying to build centers for kids inside the hood and every urban area,” Wendy Day explained. “He wanted to have child care inside the label, so that when the men or women came to work there was a place to leave their children like in a day care.”
Scholarships for employees who wanted to pursue a college education was also in the plans for the label. Unfortunately Euthanasia and its vision died with Tupac on September 13th 1996. “When he passed away, I wasn’t in a financial position to run with the ball. So, the whole concept died with him,” Wendy Day said. “I brought the idea to other people, thinking maybe the idea doesn’t have to die with him. Most people don’t care about helping society, they just want to help themselves. So, I really couldn’t find an investor or another artist who saw his vision.”
