Randy Walker was born in 1968 in Springfield Gardens, Queens, to an African American father and Jamaican, immigrant mother. Randy had a younger brother and two sisters. His father died in 1981, and his mother, Lucilda, was a nurse at New York University Medical Center.[2]
In the late 1980s, Randy, dubbed Stretch, and his brother Christopher, dubbed Majesty, teamed with DJ K-Low, forming Live Squad. In 1988, both rapping and producing it, Live Squad debut with an EP, titled BQ In Full Effect, which, featuring Percee P, includes the tracks "Troopin It" and "We Ain't Havin' It." Noteworthy is Stretch's voice, deep and raspy.
In 1990, Stretch met Shock G of Digital Underground, the Bay Area rap group's 1991 album featured Stretch on its track "Family of the Underground." That year, Live Squad remixed the group's single "No Nose Job." That summer, Stretch met Underground ally Tupac "2Pac" Shakur. The two became fast friends. Rapping his February 1992 single "If My Homie Calls" on Yo! MTV Raps, 2Pac was backed by Stretch, friend of host Ed Lover, who, praising Live Squad's demo tape and taking "executive producer" credit on its releases, helped Live get signed to Tommy Boy Records.[2]
In 1992, Live Squad released a double A side, "Murderahh!"/"Heartless," followed by single, "Game of Survival"/"Pump for a Livin'," in 1993. Live Squad also released an ultra-violent promo short film, Game Of Survival, on VHS tape, showcasing six songs from through group's forthcoming album. In June, national outrage broke out over the Los Angeles area's original gangsta rapper Ice-T's side project, his rock band Body Count's album of heavy metal with its track "Cop Killer." Tommy Boy, favoring radio friendliness, dropped Live Squad and shelved the album.
Teaming with 2Pac
While Tupac filmed his breakthrough role in Juice, Stretch and Treach, of rap group Naughty By Nature, were extras. Once Tupac's trailer was robbed of jewelry, they delivered a beatdown on set.[3] In late 1991, after studio recordings, live shows, and TV appearances with Stretch, 2Pac put out his debut album, 2Pacalypse Now, with two tracks, including "Crooked Ass Nigga," where Stretch produces and raps.
Unable to put a track on Juice's soundtrack,[4] 2Pac saw his album sell modestly,[5] but Juice's release in 1992 sent his star on the rise. In 1993, 2Pac's second album, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., found Live Squad producing and featured on "Strugglin'," while featured, along with Treach and rapper Apache, on "5 Deadly Venomz." That was produced by Stretch, who produced two more tracks, "The Streetz R Deathrow" and, featuring Live Squad, "Holler If Ya Hear Me."
Stretch made cameo appearances in music videos for the Mac Mall song "Ghetto Theme," directed by Tupac, and, in 1993, for the Above The Law, Money B, and Tupac song "Call It What You Want,". He appeared in movies, Ed Lover & Doctor Dre's 1993 film Who's the Man? and Tupac's 1996 film Bullet.[6] In March 1994, on The Arsenio Hall Show, 2Pac and Stretch performed "Pain," a track on the Above the Rim soundtrack's only cassette version and merely a single's B side, but swiftly a rap favorite.
2Pac's group Thug Life
In 1992, with rapper Big Syke, 2Pac and Stretch recorded "Thug Life."[7] In 1993, that song is still unreleased, Tupac expanded the group, named Thug Life, and got it on Interscope Records, releasing in 1994 the group's only album, Thug Life: Volume 1. Stretch produced and rapped on the song "Thug Music". Amid controversy over lyrics, the label cut "Out on Bail", which Tupac and Stretch performed at The '94 Source Awards, anyway, and "Runnin' from tha Police", featuring Biggie Smalls.[8]
In 1993, Tupac met Biggie, a promising young rapper from Brooklyn, on his visit to California. Tupac supported and mentored him, a prospective member of Thug Life.[9] During 1993, Live Squad, 2Pac, and Biggie performed a joint set at Maryland's Bowie State University, in Prince George's County, Maryland.[10] and recorded "House Of Pain," unreleased, for Biggie's debut album in the making.
In late 1994, Tupac was reportedly hired by fledgling music manager James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond to record a verse for rapper Lil' Shawn's single "Dom Perignon." Arriving with Stretch and two others, they reportedly found rapper Lil' Cease—a member of the Bad Boy record label's circle via Biggie's side group Junior M.A.F.I.A.—watching the sidewalk from above and greeting them. In the lobby, three men pulled pistols to rob Tupac, who, resisting, was shot five times.[2]
Suspecting a shooting as the primary motive,[11] Tupac pointed to, among others, Henchman and Biggie.[12][13] Blaming Henchman and Haitian Jack for the setup, Tupac accused Biggie of withholding prior knowledge.
The day after the shooting Tupac was convicted in a Manhattan court of sexual assault. On February 14, 1995, he was sentenced to at least a year and a half in prison. In March, 2Pac's third album, Me Against the World, was released with Stretch removed from its track "So Many Tears." In a jailhouse interview published in April, Tupac discusses the November shooting and Stretch, incidentally 6'8":[2]
"I was, like, 'What should I do?' I’m thinking Stretch is going to fight; he was towering over those niggas. From what I know about the criminal element, if niggas come to rob you, they always hit the big nigga first. But they didn’t touch Stretch; they came straight to me."[12][13]
In the interview, Tupac reflected,
Stretch was my closest dog, my closest homie. I did a lot of drama, I got into a lot of cases and shit because of Stretch. Money-wise, he could've had anything. His daughter was my daughter; whatever she wanted she could have. Then this shit happened and the nigga didn't ride for me. He didn't do what your dog is supposed to do when you shot up. When I was in jail, nigga never wrote me, never got at me. His homeboys was coming to see me and he wasn't coming to see me. And he started hanging around Biggie right after this. I'm in jail, shot up, his main dog, and he hanging out going to shows with Biggie. Both these niggas never came to see me.[14]
No strong evidence emerged to implicate Stretch in the crime. Publicly responding, Stretch contended, "Pac's saying all this shit in the interview, like, 'I thought that Stretch was gonna fight. He was towering over them.' Now, that nigga know I ain't never going out like no bitch. But I ain't dumb. I ain't got no gun, what the fuck am I supposed to do? I might be towering over niggas, but I ain't towering over no slugs."[9][15][16]
Some reporting suggested forensics evidence that Tupac had shot himself. Stretch offered, "Me personally, I only heard one shot. ... Tupac got shot trying to go for his shit. He tried to go for his gun, and he made a mistake on his own. But I'll let him tell the world that. ... He tried to turn around and pull the joint out real quick, but niggas caught him. Grabbed his hand when it was by his waist."[9][15][16]
Me and Pac have been down from day one. Before he did Juice, before his first album. That's my man. So the interview he did in Vibe bugged me out. But I know him. He likes to talk a lot. Especially when he's upset, he'll say shit that he won't even mean. And then he'll think about it later and be, like, "Damn, why the fuck did I say that?" ... In that interview, Pac was talking all that shit about Thug Life is ignorance and telling niggas' names and all that shit. I don't even understand why he went there. I've seen Pac mad times after the shooting and he never kicked none of that shit to me. You know how he feels about the media, so why would he go and do an interview like that? He's supposed to be a street nigga; he should've kept it in the street. I mean, niggas had to go and get their names changed. I want him to get a reality check. Recognize what the fuck he's doing. Niggas on the street live by rules, man. And that rule right there, that's a rule that's never to be broken.[15][9]
Bill Courtney, retired New York Police Department officer, once with its infamous "Hip-Hop Squad," suggested that the stickup answered Tupac's comments, published in New York's Daily News,[17] about Jimmy Henchman's associate Haitian Jack, big in the Queens nightlife scene and criminal underworld. Haitain Jack and two other men had been indicted with Tupac for the November 1993 sexual assault on a woman in Tupac's hotel room, whereby Tupac was convicted on December 1, 1994.[9][18]
By then, Haitian Jack had taken a misdemeanor plea deal for no jail time, and the newspaper published Tupac's gripe. The onetime "Hip-Hop Squad" officer hazards, "A message was being sent to him not to name-drop." Jimmy Henchman has since commented, "Nobody came to rob you. They came to discipline you."[9][18]
On June 15, 2011, the day before what would have been Tupac's 40th birthday, Dexter Isaac, imprisoned for murder, sent from Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center to AllHipHop.com a confession.[13] Isaac stated that he had been one of the men who in November 1994 robbed and shot Tupac at Jimmy Henchman's behest.[13]
Death
On October 12, 1995, with bond posted via Suge Knight, former CEO of Death Row Records, and pending appeal, Tupac was released from prison in upstate New York. Joining the label in Los Angeles, Tupac feverishly recorded his fourth album, All Eyez on Me. Two tracks, in particular—"Ambitionz Az a Ridah" as well as "Holla At Me"—have lyrics that some people believe, though not proven, to be against Stretch, one envisioning his death.[19]
By the album's release on February 13, 1996, Stretch was already dead. Released a few months later, in July 1996, the sophomore album, It Was Written, by rapper Nas, from Queensbridge in Queens, had Live Squad production on two tracks, "Take It In Blood" as well as "Silent Murder," from Stretch's final recording session exactly one year after the November 30, 1994, shooting of Tupac.[20]
On November 30, 1995, Stretch was on his way to a Biggie Smalls event after leaving the Nas recording session at midnight. He dropped off his own brother Majesty at his Queens Village home. Two or three men in a black car pulled up beside Stretch's green minivan, and gave chase, firing from a rolled down window. Stretch crashed at 112th Avenue and 209th Street, just after 12:30 AM. He was found dead with four bullets to his back.[2]
In one theory, Stretch had robbed "a big drug dealer of over 10 bricks". Despite the "pressure on the street," he refused to return the over 10 kilograms of cocaine, and this is why "a hit was issued."[21] In April 2007, via separate investigation into the murder of Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC, in his native Jamaica, Queens, federal prosecutors named Ronald "Tenad" Washington as a suspect in both murders.[22] Washington would eventually be indicted for Jam Master Jay's murder in August 2020;[23] Washington's trial would then begin in January 2024,[24][25] and he, along with another defendant, would be convicted for Jam Master Jay's murder in February 2024.[26][27]
After Tupac's death in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, in September 1996, a Live Squad production, the track "Nothing to Lose," appeared on the first posthumous 2Pac album, released in 1997, R U Still Down? (Remember Me). Released in 1997, Greatest Hits has the cryptic "God Bless the Dead," dedicated to "Biggy Smallz," but not the famed Live Squad and onetime 2Pac associate Biggie Smalls who is otherwise called The Notorious B.I.G., and instead a Latino rapper who worked with one of 2Pac's main producers, Johnny J.[28]
In 1999, a promotional release for The Notorious B.I.G.'s posthumous album Born Again, has a Bad Boy remix of "House of Pain," featuring Stretch and 2Pac. Stretch's brother Majesty founded Grand Imperial Records jointly with rapper E-MoneyBags. He was killed in July 2001, allegedly by order of Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, a suspect behind the murder of Jam Master Jay;[29] McGriff would eventually be convicted for E-MoneyBags' murder and be sentenced to life imprisonment in February 2007.[30][31] In 2001, Majesty released the Live Squad album that Tommy Boy Records had nixed, Game Of Survival.
↑ In "Ambitionz Az a Ridah", 2Pac raps, "Had bitch-ass niggas on my team / So, indeed, they wet me up". And in his first verse in "Holla At Me", 2Pac raps, "When me and you was homies / No one informed me it was all a scheme / You infiltrated my team and sold a nigga dreams / How could you do me like that? / I took ya family in / I put some cash in ya pocket / Made you a man again ... You're a shell of a man / I lost respect for you, nigga / We can never be friends / I know I'm runnin' through your head now / What could you do? / If it was up to you, I'd be dead now / I let the world know, nigga, you a coward / You could never be Live—until you die / See the motherfuckin' bitch in your eye".
↑ Nas recalls, "I met Stretch by some dangerous cats that I was hanging with. They put me with Stretch, who they were cool with. Stretch became my brother immediately. He wasn’t really recognized for the great work he was doing with Tupac and the hardcore records he did with his own group Live Squad with his brother Majesty. ... Stretch was really hurt by Tupac. I would hear him talking about how Pac was so mad at him because Stretch was with Tupac when he got set up and robbed in the studio lobby. Tupac was mad at everyone after that. I felt bad for Stretch because he really had a lot of love for Pac and he couldn’t believe that Pac thought he had something to do with it. [After the recording session,] Stretch dropped me off at home and went home and he was killed. That was a real great guy. He produced "Take It In Blood" and "Silent Murder"—the irony. It was just a messed-up moment for me. It was the last work he did. Very sad" [Insanul Ahmed & Rob Kenner, "The making of Nas' 'It Was Written' ", Complex.com, Complex Music, 25 May 2012, archived from original on 29 Jun 2012].
Tupac Amaru Shakur, also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and songwriter. Considered to be one of the most influential and successful rappers of all time, academics regard him as one of the most influential music artists of the 20th century and also a politically conscious activist voice for Black America. Shakur is among the best-selling music artists, having sold more than 75 million records worldwide. His lyrical content has been noted for addressing social injustice, political issues, and the marginalization of other African-Americans, but he was also synonymous with gangsta rap and violent lyrics.
Christopher George Latore Wallace, better known by his stage names The Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta rap, he is widely considered to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Wallace became known for his distinctive laid-back lyrical delivery, offsetting the lyrics' often grim content.
Me Against the World is the third studio album by American rapper 2Pac. It was released on March 14, 1995, by Interscope Records and Out da Gutta Records and distributed by Atlantic Records. 2Pac draws lyrical inspiration from his impending prison sentence, troubles with the police, and poverty.
The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory is the fifth studio album by American rapper Tupac Shakur, his first posthumous album and the last released with his creative input. Recorded in July and August 1996, it was released on November 5, 1996, almost two months after his death, under the stage name of Makaveli, through Death Row Records, Makaveli Records and Interscope Records.
Loyal to the Game is the ninth studio album and fifth posthumous studio album by American rapper Tupac Shakur. The album was produced by Eminem and consists of remixes of previously unreleased music recorded by Tupac before his death in 1996. Released in the United States on December 14, 2004, Loyal to the Game debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. It was later certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Maurice Shakur, better known by his stage name Mopreme Shakur, originally known as Wycked, is an American rapper. He was a member of the hip-hop group Thug Life and is the stepbrother of rapper Tupac Shakur. He was also a member of the Outlawz, but later dropped out because of a financial disagreement with Death Row Records.
"Hit 'Em Up" is a diss track by American rapper 2Pac, featuring the Outlawz. It is the B-side to the single "How Do U Want It", released on June 4, 1996. The song's lyrics contain vicious insults to several East Coast rappers, chiefly Shakur's former friend turned rival, The Notorious B.I.G.. The song was recorded at Can Am Studios on April 19, 1996. A previous version of the song was recorded on October 31, 1995.
R U Still Down? is the sixth studio album and second double album by American rapper, 2Pac, released on November 25, 1997. It is his second posthumous release and the first to be released without his creative input and contains previously unreleased material from the time period of his albums Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., Thug Life: Volume 1 and Me Against the World. Throughout the album, 2Pac airs his views on life from a time before he became involved in the controversial East Coast–West Coast rivalry. His lyrics foreshadow his death in songs like "Open Fire", "Thug Style" and "Only Fear of Death." The album spawned two hits, "Do for Love" and "I Wonder If Heaven Got a Ghetto", of which "Do for Love" was certified Gold by the RIAA. R U Still Down? sold 549,000 copies in its first week, and topped the R&B charts in the United States for three weeks.
Thug Life, Volume I is the only studio album by the American hip-hop group Thug Life. The album was released on September 26, 1994, by Interscope Records and Out da Gutta Records and distributed by Atlantic Records. The group, started by American rapper 2Pac, comprised 2Pac, his stepbrother Mopreme Shakur, and Stretch, who was heavily involved in 2Pac's previous two albums, Big Syke, The Rated R, and Macadoshis.
Live Squad was an American hip hop group and production team from Hollis, Queens, New York consisting of brothers Stretch and Majesty and DJ K-Low, best known for their early collaborations with Tupac Shakur.
"2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted" is a song by American rapper 2Pac from his fourth studio album, All Eyez on Me (1996). The song features fellow West Coast rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg and was produced by Dat Nigga Daz. The song was released as a promotional single for the album on May 7, 1996 and later as the B-side to the album's second major and third overall single, How Do U Want It. The song peaked at number 46 on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart. The song contains interpolations of Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five's song "The Message" and "Radio Activity Rap " by MC Frosty and Lovin' C.
The East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry was a dispute between artists and fans of the East Coast hip hop and West Coast hip hop scenes in the United States, especially from the mid-1990s. A focal point of the rivalry was the feud between East Coast–based rapper the Notorious B.I.G. signed by Puff Daddy and their New York City–based label, Bad Boy Records, and West Coast–based rapper Tupac Shakur signed by Suge Knight and their Los Angeles–based label, Death Row Records. Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. were murdered in drive-by shootings within six months of each other, after which the feud soon ended with a "peace" summit in 1997 at the behest of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
"Who Shot Ya?" is a song by American rapper the Notorious B.I.G., backed by Sean Combs. Bad Boy Entertainment released it on February 21, 1995, on an alternate reissue of Wallace's single "Big Poppa/Warning". Its new B-side "Who Shot Ya", a revision of a track already issued earlier in 1995, was "controversial and hugely influential." Widely interpreted as a taunt at Tupac Shakur, the single provoked a "rap battle" between the two rappers, formerly friends.
All Eyez on Me is the fourth studio album by American rapper 2Pac and the last to be released during his lifetime. Released on February 13, 1996, by Death Row and Interscope Records, the album features guest appearances from Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Redman, Method Man, Nate Dogg, Kurupt, Daz Dillinger, E-40, K-Ci & JoJo, and the Outlawz, among others.
"So Many Tears" is a song by American rapper 2Pac from his third studio album, Me Against the World (1995). It was released on June 13, 1995, as the album's second single. It was produced by Shock G, who used a sample of Stevie Wonder's That Girl, and is often described as one of the album's best. A music video was made for "So Many Tears" and there were also numerous live performances of this song on Saturday Night Live and on Shakur's House of Blues concert, his last recorded show.
Malcolm Greenidge, known as E.D.I Mean and EDIDON, is an American hip hop artist and a member of the Outlawz. The name is a play on the name Idi Amin, former dictator of Uganda. While in the third grade, Malcolm became friends with Katari "Kastro" Cox who later introduced him to his cousin, Tupac Shakur.
Johnny Lee Jackson was a Mexican-American multi-platinum songwriter, music producer and rapper best known for his early career with Death Row Records, and for his work with 2Pac on Me Against the World and All Eyez on Me, as well as 2Pac's posthumously released albums. He was born in Juárez, Mexico, in 1969 and raised in South Los Angeles. Johnny "J" was co-owner and CEO of Klock Work Entertainment Corp.
Demetrius Shipp Jr. is an American actor. He portrayed rapper and actor Tupac Shakur in the 2017 biopic All Eyez on Me, as well as gang leader Tyrone Moore in All American.
Jacques "Haitian Jack" Agnant is a Haitian-born music executive and promoter in the rap music industry as well as a convicted felon and accused rapist. He has worked with several popular artists including Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., Justin Rose, and Wyclef Jean. In 2007, he was deported from the United States.
10% Dis is a single from MC Lyte's album Lyte as a Rock produced by the hip hop duo Audio Two, who are also credited as songwriters.
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