Interview with MTV

Star rappers Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur spent a lot of time lately trying to stay out of jail. Unsuccessfully, in the case of Shakur, who is headed back to the slammer for a 4-month refresher course for disdaining to do road clean-up work for a parole violation. But the under-fire duo also have flourishing musical careers, and when they shot a video in Los Angeles last weekend for their duet track, "2 Of Amerika'z Most Wanted," we paid a visit.

Tupac: The video is just as much a Snoop video as it is mine.

Snoop Dogg: It's setting up my album.

Tupac: We all move as one 'cause Death Row, we really like that, you know what I mean?

Snoop Dogg: We're a track and field team.

Tupac: We're gonna tag team all day.

And if there's a tag team around that knows about being wanted men, it's certainly Tupac and Snoop Doggy Dogg. "2 Of Amerika'z Most Wanted," was written when Snoop's murder trial was beginning and just as Tupac's jail sentence had ended.

Snoop Dogg: When I wrote it I was so happy that Pac was outta jail. I wanted people to know that I was thinking about my case and I was thinking about him as well, because if they take me away they gotta let him go. You can take one of us, but you can't take both of us and if you let us both go that's where you really did fuck up.

MTV: Snoop, when you were in court I know you went off to shoot a couple videos. How does it finally feel to shoot a music video and not have to wake up and go to early court in the morning? Feeling a bit more relaxed?

Snoop Dogg: I think I got too relaxed. I've been lazy. To these videos, I been lazy.

This time it's Tupac calling the shots as the video's director-instructing Snoop and other Death Row label mates like Nate Dogg and Tha Dogg Pound. But Tupac isn't stopping there, he plans to make movies with Snoop as well.

Tupac: We're gonna be better than Lethal Weapon, better than Danny Glover and Mel Gibson, we're gonna make you think about 48 Hours, we're gonna hit you with something and it's gonna be like, "Damn, there's the future of black cinema. There's the future of cinema in the '90s." When Quentin Tarantino, when he put out his pictures, they all gangster pictures, and they all get critically acclaimed. We get treated like the bad messenger and he gets treated like King Solomon, which I don't want no harm to come over Quentin Tarantino 'cause I enjoy his movies, but I'm just showing how we both doing the same thing and we're both looked upon totally different.

Snoop Dogg: You know what I think Pac, maybe he need to come get at us and put us in one of his movies.

Tupac: I'm willing to say Quentin Tarantino and John Woo, can't even fuck with me and Snoop's stories.

With a new movie division and a new East Coast office in New York, plus a restaurant on the drawing board, Snoop and Tupac's label, Death Row Records, is spreading it's wings and these guys say they're ready.

Tupac: There's not two more confident individuals in this business than myself and Snoop. When people go back and see what we was like living in 1996, and what was going on, I'm almost willing to bet my life and Dogg's betting his life that's it's going to be our stories that they're listening to, I can guarantee you.

On that video shoot, we asked Snoop and Tupac about the recent news that the gifted producer Dr. Dre, who introduced Snoop to the rap world and produced his records has left Death Row Records. And here's what they had to say.

Snoop Dogg: Basically, I don't like to, you know, make too many comments on that. I'd just like to say that, you know what I'm sayin', I'm in the studio doin' my thing, you know? It's goin' to be fly. It's goin' to be real fly. And for the people out there who buy my album to support it, be on the lookout for the same thing, just with a new twist. And that's how I'm going to leave that situation, like that. That ain't for me to speak of.

Tupac: Homeboys... I ain't goin' to speak on that subject, I'll just say in general. Homeboys need to stick together. And if your homeboy don't show loyalty to you, or if your homeboy isn't there when you need him most, he's probably not going to be there through the kinda hard times. So that kinda like lets you know who you should be with and you shouldn't be with. And, I always say, what's done in the dark always comes to light.