Jay Z has an issue with how white people say ‘Tupac’
Ali Condon
Featured Image Credit: YouTube/@rapleaks100
Jay Z has an issue with how white people pronounce Tupac Shakur's name, and hopes to bring the confusion to an abrupt end.
You would think that an artist as famous as Tupac, who has had such an enormous impact on music and culture, would have his name pronounced correctly by all - but Jay-Z is a little annoyed that that isn't the case:
Jay, real name Shaun Carter, put the apparent confusion to rest back in 2010, when he sat down with talk-show host Charlie Rose at the Brooklyn Museum.
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The two talked about everything, from Jay's music empire to Beyoncé to his drug-dealing past.
But, one of the most infamous moments from the interview came when Rose asked Hova about Tupac Shakur.
When Rose, who is obviously not a Tupac super-fan, mispronounced the 'All Eyez on Me' rapper's name, Jay poked fun at the interviewer.
Jay-Z dryly looked out to the audience, who roared with laughter, immediately spotting Rose's mistake.
"Can I explain something here tonight?" Jay asked Rose, prompting an even bigger laugh from the crowd.
"White people always - I can say this because I'm so not a racist - white people call Tupac, 'Tu-pack'.
"If it was 'Tu-pack', it would have a 'k'."
After Charlie apologised, Jay Z assured him: "You're not the first. Hopefully after tonight, you will be the last."
Charlie managed to redeem himself with the '99 Problems' rapper when he leaned over for a fist-bump - an unspoken agreement that the journalist had learned his lesson.
Before his passing in 1996, Tupac and Jay Z famously had beef after Jay collaborated with Biggie Smalls on the single 'Brooklyn's Finest'.
Although the pair threw disses back and forth for a while, the two managed to squash their beef at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1996 - just three days before the rapper's untimely death.
Tupac died on 13 September, 1996 after being hit in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas.
The rapper had been in Vegas for a Mike Tyson vs Bruce Seldon boxing match and was leaving the MGM Grand hotel in a car with Death Row Records head, Suge Knight, when a white Cadillac pulled up beside them and opened fire, hitting Tupac four times.
To this day, no arrests have been made in connection with Tupac's murder, though some conspiracy theorists believe that he's still alive today.