CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Fans, family and those who worked with Tupac Shakur continue to process the news released on Friday afternoon that a person has been arrested for their alleged connection in the murder of the legendary hip-hop artist.
Las Vegas police announced that Duane Davis was arrested at his home and charged for murder in the 1996 killing.
“It is often said that justice delayed is justice denied,” Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson told reporters Friday. “But not in this case.”
“It’s been a long time coming,” exclaimed Doug Rasheed, one of the handful of record producers who got a chance to work with Tupac in the studio.
He called his work ethic, “insane,” and “he brought a lot of energy.”
“You knew he was going to be legendary,” Rasheed said.
Rasheed lives in Charlotte now and owns and operates his own studio, D-Ra Beats LL.
But, on the walls of his basement lie staples of his earlier years in the music industry, and the work he’s done with the biggest artists of all time. It’s truly a who’s who, including Whitney Houston and Coolio, who was the mastermind behind “Gangsta’s Paradise.”
But, when asked about what the pinnacle of his career would be, his answer was simple – “Only God Can Judge Me” by Tupac Shakur.
Six months before Tupac’s murder, Rasheed handed his brother, who was friends with Tupac, a demo track to give to the artists.
Within a short time, Tupac called and said he wanted to lay out lyrics to two tracks which would later become “Only God Can Judge Me” and “Rather Be Ya.” They’re two songs that would later go on to become some of the best-selling hip-hop songs of all time.
“I had no idea those songs would be the classics they are today,” he said.
Rasheed said he and Tupac had discussed going into business together to create and release history-defining records.
He described how the two “got real tight. He wanted to start a business label. Wanted me to work with him. And, of course I was like, ‘Hell yeah’ … But, you know I lost more than a friend, but a business opportunity… he was going to be huge.”
Through the years, Tupac’s legacy and the mythos behind his death has fueled the fandom and discussion, but Rasheed said that’s not what made him or his music great.
“His legend was already what it was,” he said. “It wasn’t because he was killed that way. You can’t put into words why someone was legendary. He just … he just had that thing.”
As for the arrest of Davis, he said, “this guy has done documentaries before and they talked about, in their own words, what happened. So not a surprise.”
