Tupac Shakur: the king of rap

This article is published in issue 37 of Vanity Fair on newsstands until 12 September 2023

He remembers it like it was yesterday, the day he painted Tupac for the first time. «We were in Los Angeles and he was standing next to director John Singleton with whom he had recently finished filming Poetic Justice. He loved cigars, he had lots of them. Suddenly, he got a gigantic one. It was a splendid Monte Cristo. He emptied it of all the tobacco and filled it with marijuana. Then, as if nothing had happened, she started smoking it. Never seen a man with so much charisma». Yet Michel Haddi, the famous French-Algerian photographer, has met many great people. He became friends with some, and even fell in love with others (not to mention names, Debbie Harry). “But no one had the same grace as Tupac,” he says.

Haddi is now dedicating a photography book to the East Harlem rapper. A coffee table book of 40 pages where the shots of that shooting are collected. Tupac – The Legend it is a tribute to a unique character in the history of African-American culture. A figure that has entered myth and ended up on T-shirts, posters and tattoos, as befits immortal idols, but has always remained contemporary, despite having left us almost 30 years ago. It was the night of September 8, 1996 when Tupac was shot to death four times while traveling in a car through the streets of Las Vegas. Hospitalized in desperate conditions, he died a few days later, on September 13 (new evidence on the unsolved case has recently emerged). The book is scheduled to be released on September 13th. 2023 is also the year of an important anniversary, 50 years of Hip Hop. Born in the Bronx in 1973, it is much more than a musical genre: it is the expression of a culture that has never stopped, the one that defends the rights of African Americans.

Why now a project about Tupac?
«Because he remains a very current figure. I have had the opportunity to work with many icons black: from James Brown to Aretha Franklin. Tupac is like one of them. He is a timeless character who managed to make both his music and his fight for the rights of African Americans contemporary. For him it was almost like a mission, something he carried within him thanks to his mother, an old militant of the Black Panthers».

Do you remember when you took the photos?
«How could I forget? Magazine The Source he had asked me for a report on him. To reach the studio, we had to walk the Freeway 10. While we were in the car, a gigantic truck started skidding at full speed, risking crashing into us several times. It was a matter of moments, but we really risked dying. When I met Tupac I was literally shocked. I never told him about that adventure. But it’s as if, from that moment on, death hovered over us.”

How did the service go then?
“Very good. Apart from some initial disagreements with Singleton, who was a great director but also considered himself a great photographer. So he gave the directions, decided on the lights and positions. Suddenly I gave him the camera in my hand and said: “Dear John, it seems clear to me that you want to take the photos. I leave you the assistants and the study. Good luck”. Tupac, who was a real gentleman, burst out laughing and said, “Come on, relax John, let him work.” From then on I had no problems.”

What was Tupac like in life?
«Very polite and educated. He was a sort of 20th century dandy who didn’t like injustice. Unfortunately, however, he kept bad company. I portrayed him in 1993. After the service I went to visit him at home, where he kept a real arsenal. He was very proud of it. In front of the entrance, on a large stone, he then had the word “outlawz” (outlaw, ed.). In short, a man always on the limit.”

Why is his image still so current even though so many years have passed?
«Because there are legends destined to become myths. Characters such as James Dean, Bruce Lee and Tupac himself have managed to subvert the rules ofestablishment in a few years. Even if they died young, people will forever see them as immortal beings, who never grow old.”

In your opinion, did Tupac know he was in danger of dying?
“I do not know. He certainly knew that he was surrounded by many friends and many enemies and he could not escape from this reality.”

What might he have become if he had lived longer?
«He would have become a formidable politician who would have fought for the rights of black people in America. He would also become an actor, perhaps one of the best in Hollywood.”

If he were alive what would he think of our times?
«He would say: “Hey, what the fuck…!”».

Is there a figure like yours today?
«I love Jay-Z. But no one will ever have his mystique.”

How did you become a photographer?
«I was 18 years old and I understood that mathematics and electronics were not for me. At the time, I worked as a night porter in Montparnasse on weekends, while every evening I waited tables in the gay restaurant Chez Maria. Here I regularly met people like Grace Jones and Gerard Depardieu. I was strongly attracted to it. The real turning point, however, came from looking at a cover of French Vogue by Helmut Newton while walking along Boulevard Montparnasse. I said to myself: “What the hell, this is what I want to do with my life!”».

From 19 October to 22 December the 29 Arts in Progress gallery in Milan will host Beyond Fashion, an anthology in two parts dedicated to his works. What should we expect from this exhibition? «Beyond Fashion tells you exactly who I am. I have never been interested in taking photos just to create soulless images. My works offer the viewer a second option. There are no straight lines, but you must always let yourself go to your instincts, to your imagination. I am from the school of Helmut Newton, Richard Avedon and Gian Paolo Barbieri: on stage there will never be black or white, men or women, but simply what the public wants to see.”

He was born in Paris but has Algerian blood. Recently anger has exploded again in France suburbs. I read that you have never appreciated the way Arabs are treated in your country. It is true?
«I was born in the 6th Arrondissement, one of the most elegant in Paris, just a few steps from the Café de Flore. My father was a soldier who came from a wealthy family and my grandfather was a dentist on Rue Saint-Honoré. I had everything to be happy. Then my life changed: I ended up in a right-wing Catholic orphanage and, after that, in the ugliest place in the world, Clichy-sous-Bois (a municipality in the Île-de-France region where a high number of immigrants are concentrated, ed.). At 12 I discovered that the suburbs were nothing more than closed places where Algerians, Moroccans and Tunisians could fit in. Obviously, then, I feel angry about how Arabs are treated in France. If the government does not address the issue of suburbs and ghettos once and for all, the situation will only get worse. And to think that the solution to solving these problems is there for all to see.”

What would it be?
«Treat every human being with style and kindness. After all, if you think about it carefully, nothing else would be needed.”

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