Mr. Shakur gets the upcoming cover of XXL for September. Also inside the issue is a review of Game’s The R.E.D. Album, photos from Tech N9ne’s recent tour, and more.
For the special tribute issue, XXL Editor-In-Chief Vanessa Satten sat down with Tupac’s biological father, Bill Garland. Among the interesting and revealing topics discussed, Mr. Garland offered a heartfelt description of his son’s giving nature. “[Tupac] cared for people,” he said. “That was his main thing. He really cared for people. I think that’s why he would get so upset when people tried to question his commitment, his love for Black women or Black men. The East Coast/West Coast, you know, that’s a fabrication. I don’t have to begin to tell you that. So when that was questioned, it bothered him. Because he would give his heart or soul. He was a giving person. He would give anything to people. He would go in a store. [If there was a] Black man who couldn’t afford a $1,500 pair of boots, he would buy ’em for him. Think that Black man would ever forget Tupac? That’s just the way he is. But I don’t think that he did it for that. He did it because he had it, and he didn’t. That’s the way he is.”