Kurupt has revealed that 2Pac tried to enforce a “dress code” during the height of Death Row Records in the 1990s.
In a recent interview with The Art of Dialogue, Kurupt broke down Tupac’s militant mentality and how he wanted all the artists at Death Row to represent themselves in the highest manner.
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“[2Pac] was strength,” Kurupt said. “Can’t nobody tell him what to do. He tells people what to do. He listens to people but he makes his own decisions. He was very strong-minded. And when he came to Death Row, he didn’t come just for his self, and all that.
“He wanted to change the image of Death Row, he wanted to add to everybody else’s table. He changed our work ethics, the way that we gettin’ to the studio and how many records that we get done during the day.”
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He continued: “He wanted to change our apparel and how we looked, which, you know, that didn’t work. Because that’s you, ‘Pac, that’s y’all shit over here. We in khakis, cuz, you know what I’m saying? ‘Pac loved it, he respected it.
“It’s a fly-ass dress code, cuz. I could understand it if he was like, ‘N-gga, put on the army fatigues.’ This n-gga talking about, ‘Put on some Versace, n-gga! Get fly!’ … That shit didn’t work with us, cuz. We agreed with everything besides the gear. That’s not our shit.”
Kurupt’s recollection of 2Pac’s actions mirror those of Snoop Dogg’s during a December 2022 appearance on The 85 South Comedy Show. While on the show, Snoop reminisced about how ‘Pac changed his mentality about the way he dressed and carried himself once he became a rap superstar.
“I’m still dressing like a n-gga from the hood — khakis, Chucks,” Snoop said of his post-Doggystyle wardrobe. “That n-gga like, ‘Me and you finna have a meeting… We stepping our game up. We gotta change your look, Snoop Dogg. You a pimp, n-gga. Bitches love you. You fly. You gotta start showing your fly side!
“‘I’ma get you suited up.’ ‘I’ma call this n-gga Dion Scott, get your suits fitted, get your hair laid, get your nails done. Put some pimpin’ on screen, n-gga.’”
He added: “He dressed me up in suits, Louis Vuitton, Gucci — shit I couldn’t even spell or pronounce! All this Italian shit,” he continued. “Just look at how I’m standing next to cuh when I’m wearing it. I’m trying to figure it out! I’m like, ‘Do I look right? I hope I don’t look sweet ’cause these pants tight as a muthafucka!’
