TUPAC’s slam-mer poetry lives on. Actress Jada Pinkett Smith celebrated Tupac Shakur’s 50th birthday by reciting a never-before-seen poem the late rap icon wrote while serving time on Rikers Island.
The “Nutty Professor” star posted a clip of her reading on social media Tuesday, a day before the deceased hip-hopper’s birthday.
“As many of you know, today is Pac’s birthday — he would have been 50 this year,” announced Pinkett Smith, 49, who was reportedly good friends with the “Changes” singer when they attended Maryland’s Baltimore School for the Arts together in the 1980s, People reported.
Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting in 1996 at the age of 25.
The “Red Table Talk” host described the lost work, titled “Lost Soulz,” as a trip down “memory lane” for her.
“Pac wrote me many letters and many poems,” Pinkett Smith said. “I don’t think this one has ever been published. I don’t think he would have minded that I shared this with you guys.”
The mother of two then proceeded to read aloud the rediscovered rhymes, which allude to death in crushing verses, such as, “Let me live to see what was gold in me/Before it is all too late.”
Jada Pinkett Smith was friends with Shakur when they attended school together in Baltimore in the 1980s.Getty Images
Smith pointed out that the poetry might be the “original concept” for Tupac’s hit “Lost Souls,” which was a track on the 1997 soundtrack album for the film “Gang Related.”
This isn’t the first time the “Madagascar” actress has spoken about her special connection to Shakur. Pinkett Smith famously fawned over the late rapper in a 2015 interview with Howard Stern, gushing, “I’ve never in my life met a person like Pac. He had so much charisma.”
“Lost Soulz” was reportedly the inspiration for the Tupac song “Lost Souls.”@jadapinkettsmith Instagram
Later, on a 2019 episode of “Red Table Talk,” Pinkett Smith famously recalled how she and Shakur “were an anchor for each other.”
In fact, the star’s husband, Will Smith, admitted last year that he was jealous of his wife’s years long friendship with the “California Love” singer.
Despite being close, however, Pinkett Smith and Shakur were reportedly never an item.
Their complex relationship was featured prominently in the 2017 Tupac biopic “All Eyez on Me.”
- New York Post
