Movies

‘That’s not savvy—that’s your mama: Afeni Shakur fierce guardian of son’s artistic legacy

By Nekesa Mumbi Moody
AP Music Writer
11-13-2003

NEW YORK Afeni Shakur, the 56-year-old mother of the late rapper Tupac Shakur, does not fit the image of a savvy record executive. She lives on a farm in North Carolina. She prefers to spend her time overseeing her garden, attending to her grandchildren and taking naps. Yet Shakur is the executive producer of the new documentary Tupac: Resurrection, as well as founder and CEO of Amaru Entertainment/Amaru Records, which has released several million-selling Tupac albums. “I’m not a filmmaker. I’m not a music producer by choice,” Shakur says plainly, wearing a velour sweatsuit during an interview in a New York hotel suite. “Whatever it is I’m doing I do because my son was murdered, and he was not able to complete his work. So as his mother, my whole job and responsibility is to see to it that that happens for him, and I do that with love.” Yet as Shakur talks about upcoming projects, soon-to-be completed deals and other tasks, it’s clear she’s much more than just a grieving mother. “I read every agreement of every contract. Anything I put my signature on, I really do read them. And I find things,” says the former Black Panther, laughing about an incident where a company tried to get paid for a photograph they hadn’t even taken. They didn’t get away with it — Shakur, noticing something amiss, had the situation investigated and the proper person credited. But savvy? Please, she says. “That’s not savvy — that’s your mama. That’s how your mama does it as opposed to how they do it,” she says. Certainly, that motherly instinct has helped keep Tupac’s name and legacy vibrant in the seven years since Tupac Amaru Shakur died, gunned down on a Las Vegas street corner at age 25. Tupac was already one of rap’s greatest talents — and certainly its most dynamic, charismatic and controversial figure — when he was killed. But since his unsolved 1996 slaying, Tupac’s allure and mystique have grown exponentially. Tupac: Resurrection is just the latest example of Shakur’s star power after death. The film is being released in conjunction with a picture book and a soundtrack featuring new Tupac material. Although there have been several documentaries produced on her son’s life, this is the first to have a major theatrical release. “I think from the time it’s released, it will always be the reference material that anybody uses about Tupac,” his mother says. “And that’s because this is a documentary feature film that has Tupac talking about Tupac.” Indeed, the most remarkable aspect of the movie is that the slain rapper serves as narrator of his own short life. Filmmakers created this eerie effect by poring over more than 40 interviews, then splicing them together to create one seamless narrative. Director Lauren Lazin said Shakur wanted the film to be “an honest movie, not a whitewash. In some ways, she was tougher on him than I was.” “She just wanted to make sure it was honest, that we weren’t going to put words in his mouth,” she adds. Honesty is one of Shakur’s strongest characteristics. She talks with frankness and candor, whether discussing her former crack habit or her son’s own mistakes, which are chronicled in the film. “I have respect for my son because he had sense enough to take responsibility for his own actions,” she says. “The critics never ever one time fairly criticized my son.” Making sure that her son and his message are not misrepresented is a key goal for Shakur, who maintains creative control of — and collects proceeds from — just about all projects relating to her son. Even in cases where she doesn’t own his music, like with Tupac’s recordings for Suge Knight’s Death Row record label (now Tha Row), she still has a say in the manner in which it is presented. Shakur is currently talking with MTV to produce a biopic of Shakur’s younger years, and is looking to produce a Broadway play about his life using his music. She’s also planning a Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts; she’s already started a camp where children can get arts training, through a foundation named for her son.