If there was ever a music equivalent of the JFK assassination, it would be the unsolved murders of hip-hop legends Notorious BIG and Tupac Shakur.
The untimely death of these two gifted rappers in 1997 have garnered almost as much conspiracy theory and finger pointing, the majority of which surrounds the Los Angeles Police Department for either its willful indifference or clueless ineptness, depending on your viewpoint.
CNN, not usually a hub of music news activity, reported recently that the LAPD is reopening the Biggie Smalls case because of new information. CNN’s source couldn’t reveal what these new leads are or how they’ve given the 14-year old unsolved case a fresh perspective on that shooter riding shotgun in a Chevy Impala.
Biggie’s mom, Voletta Wallace, says she’s “pleased” about the developments while his widow Faith Evans has not commented yet, but showed skepticism in an interview late last year with a UK paper, saying the family knows what went down but doesn’t expect the judicial system to get it right any time soon.
You can’t help but share Evans’ cynicism. What are the chances of the LAPD, FBI and the local DA finally getting this right after some many idle years? Those law enforcements agencies might want to consider consulting British filmmaker Nick Broomfield or at the very least watch his 2002 documentary Biggie & Tupac.
Broomfield is fearless in that film, as he puts himself into all kinds of un-advisable situations while going after the truth behind the murders. The doc culminates with a penitentiary visit to Suge Knight which is so nerve-wracking Broomfield’s cameraman completely loses his composure.
Half of CNN’s report is a recap of Broomfield’s theories, including former LA detective Russell Poole insisting Biggie’s hit was the work of Knight’s crew as payback for Shakur’s attack.
Poole’s testimony will likely be ignored by this “reinvigorated” investigation due to his damning claims of other police officers intentionally blocking his attempts to solve this case. His accusations of corrupt cops on the take from Death Row Records have been vigorously denied by the police chief at the time.
This is an old wound we’re picking at, and there probably won’t be much satisfaction in the unlikely event they finally finger the shooter. But maybe at least there will be a semblance of closure to the lingering belief that law enforcement officials just didn’t really care all that much because of who these artists were and what they represented.
