Ever since his untimely death in 1996, the life and times of Tupac Shakur has been a constant source of intrigue. His undeniable, generational talent – coupled with the question mark over his death – assured the rapper’s legacy would live on long after he was gone. And with the recent news that the 27-year-old mystery may have been solved, and the person who ordered the killing may be brought to justice, interest in Shakur’s life has reached a fever pitch. Michel Haddi’s new book, Tupac: The Legend, couldn’t have arrived at a better time.
The new edition contains rare photographs of the rap legend that Haddi took three years before Shakur was killed, ones that have never been published before now. When we caught up with Haddi about his photographic practice, he recalls the storage space that he has owned in Venice Beach for the past 28 years. “I decided to clean it out last year”, he says, “and it was then that I opened the boxes to find many forgotten photographic treasures, which to this day I am still unpacking.” Of the specific interaction with Shakur, Haddi remembers the time fondly. “He’d just finished [shooting] Poetic Justice with Janet Jackson,” says Haddi, and because of that his demeanour on set was that of a “complete actor”.
For the shoot, Haddi was convinced that he wanted to make the rapper look like a modern-day Martin Luther King, so he ordered the stylists to call in a rack of Armani suits. “He was kind and thoughtful, so as an artist he understood my quest,” says Haddi of Shakur’s response to the styling. Ultimately, what Haddi remembers of the rapper was his carefree demeanour: “a young man, on top of the world, smoking a blunt and having a laugh.” Because of the tragic events that came to be, it’s somewhat satisfying to remember him in this way.
Tupac: The Legend is launching at Reference Point, 2 Arundel St, Temple, London WC2R 3DA on October 7 at 7pm, where Haddi will also be in conversation. For free tickets to the event, click here.
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