Late rapper's music to get future release

jonathan

March 30, 2015 2:59 PM

Rumouredly there will be new merchandise out later this year and a biography by a "very serious writer" too.

Tupac Shakur

Tupac's voice was most recently sampled on 'Mortal Man' from Kendrick Lamar's album 'To Pimp A Butterfly' and prior to that in a Powerade commercial featuring the rapper reading poetry taken from his song 'Mama's Just a Little Girl'.

But there's more to come – an "embarrassment of riches" according to Jeff Jampol, president of JAM Inc, the company responsible for Shakur's estate.

According to a Billboard exclusive, there is a wealth of material due for an as-yet-undisclosed release date. Jampol has been working with Tom Whalley, who signed Tupac to Interscope in 1991 and Tupac's mother.

Having sifted through a large amount of unheard material, he told Billboard about a host of "unreleased music, released music, remixes, original demos, writings, scripts, plans, video treatments, poems" describing it as a "total reset".

JAM Inc has undertaken similar previous projects around the estates of The Doors, Michael Jackson and Ramones, among others, and is now looking to do similar with Shakur, potentially in time for the 20th anniversary of his death in September 2016. Rumouredly there will be new merchandise out later this year and a biography by a "very serious writer" too. Whalley: "Some of it is good, some of it needs work. But I think the work that is left can be completed, and is worth his fans hearing."

Whalley has also suggested there may be more collaborative work coming with Kendrick Lamar. "At some point in time, Kendrick would be brilliant to work with Tupac's [material]. He's one of the new great poets."Elsewhere, a Grammy Museum exhibit is currently displaying Tupac's personal possessions. Among the items featured at the Los Angeles museum include a number of the late rapper's outfits, including a Versace suit worn at the 1996 Grammy Awards.

Handwritten notes, lyrics and poems are all available to view in the exhibition, titled "All Eyes on Me: The Writings of Tupac Shakur", and fans can watch interview and performance footage at the display which runs until April 22.

jonathan