Hip-hop star Kendrick Lamar penned a tribute to rapper Tupac Shakur in honour of the 19th anniversary of his death on yesterday.
“I was 8 yrs old when I first saw you,” says a letter posted on Shakur’s official website and signed “K.L.”
Going further, he wrote: “I couldn’t describe how I felt at that moment. So many emotions. Full of excitement. Full of joy and eagerness. 20 yrs later I understand exactly what that feeling was. Inspired.”
Pitchfok reported on the tribute and wrote about Lamar’s revelation that his hit album “To Pimp a Butterfly” was originally slated to be called “Tu Pimp a Caterpillar,” spelling out “TUPAC.”
The note goes on to say, “The people that you touched on that small intersection changed lives forever. I told myself I wanted to be a voice for man one day. Whoever knew I was speaking out loud for u to listen. Thank you.”
Shakur was gunned down while riding in a car in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996, and died six days later, on September 13. His death remains unsolved.