An episode that just came out.
This is an anecdote that is necessarily very well known around Tupac’s first posthumous album, “The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory” released only two months after the murder of the Los Angeles rapper, in September 1996, under the pseudonym of Makaveli. EObviously, this disc has already been a great event but could have been even more so since the Pac team had officially asked Michael Jackson to participate as we learned on BET. The King of Pop was scheduled to sing along to “Thug Nature” as explained by Quincy “QD3” Jones III – the son of legendary Quincy Jones and “To Live & Die in LA” producer. This collaboration had everything to appear in the history books with one detail: Michal Jackson said no. He said no out of loyalty to Pac’s rival The Notorious BIG, with whom he had worked on “This Time Around” the previous year.
At this stage, it is QD3 who says:
“I arranged a meeting at Neverland [Ranch]. I went there and told Michael about it. And do you know what Michael said? That he loved Biggie.”
Result, the title “Thug Nature” which samples the hit of the king of pop found on “Thriller”, “Human Nature”, was not included in the tracklisting. In 2000, he found himself on a “Death Row Too Gangsta For Radio” compilation, as well as various posthumous 2Pac projects.
Despite this failed collaboration, “The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory” remains one of 2Pac’s biggest albums. The record was number one on Billboard with 660,000 copies sold in its first week and has since been certified quadruple platinum.