Puffy + Jimmy Henchman implicated in Tupac Quad Studio Shooting....

Originally Posted by Putting In Work

Damn

Didn't know Puff had pull like that.
Diddy's father was that dude according to Frank Lucas so yeah Diddy probally got ties to the Mob and some way.
 
all very interesting stuff... my question is how do you dudes claim all this when even the non-corrupt FBI was involved and didn't draw the sameconclusions. you can't blame me for being so skeptical, its a DEEP topic with alot of lose ends.. PAC and BIGGIES murders will never get officially solved.but to those that did it.. what goes around comes around..
 
interesting..... nay..how do u know all this? no pun

yo, good looks on dat video, im watching now
 
Would you trust an agency that was providing survienlence on an indivual in who was a victim of a violent crime like murder, that has remained unsolved for 11and 12 years??

How many famous musicians can you name who's murder went unsolved??

2Pac was the biggest rap star at the time in which he was murdered, you telling me his murder still hasn't been solved . . . Have you EVER been on the LasVegas strip?? You can be arrested for J walking, there more plain clothed police then there are uniformed . . . Not one person came foward?? They found Sadaambut they can't find out who shot BIG?? BIG was killed after a huge party that poparazzi attended, security, and the fire marshall shut down the party . . .Anyone familiar with LA knows that there is a hospital about 3 minutes from where BIG was shot, its a known thing, but yet he was takin to a hospital almost 7minutes away, I believe the name is Cedar Sianide (spellcheck??)And its on tape . . . The entire murder is on a video recorded by 4 women from Houston,there's a DVD you can buy at your local Champs that shows the 1 minute clip, ironically the part in which the murder would have occurred appears to havebeen altered. That tape was in LAPD possesion since March 9th of 1997 . . . Yet none of those girls have been interviewed by police or a magazine, and if theyhave it has not been made public, but I remember hearing the rumor in the months following the murder, but I thought if it as JUST that, a "rumor" .. .

It was posted on NT . . . It was on XXL one time, but the video got taken off the web . . . Not sure if anyone in this thread remembers but Rocyaice, EZFlashand possibly B Smooth were in the thread and commented on it
 
Check out the books:

LAbarynth (amazon.com or your local bookstore)

Queens Reigns Supreme (it was released in the fall of 2006)

Both books I read only once in maybe 2 days, lent them out to others to share the perspective and in ninja fashion, they NEVER returned them
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And for those fascinated with true crimes, drug kingpins and dead policee officers should check out "Cop Shot"
 
I'm on a side kick . . . But if its a crowd of people and you hear women screamin Biggies name then yea . . . It not the clearest video but its good enuff
 
skips kicks wrote:
Cant embed right now.... But everyone in this thread should watch this if they havent...... Its called TUPAC:ASSASINATION and its basically a documentary that interviews all of the bodygaurds including big frank that were there last nite, they report on everything that lead up to the shooting and all the funny business suge was paying them to do... They also have a great digital model of the actual shooting and how pac/suges car were boxed in and were exactly pac was shot. Ive seen all the Pac documentaries, and this one is the best IMO, the knowledge they spit in this is unreal....


yea this was the dvd i was talking about for some reason i thought the name was revelations
but thats sad though
 
The mere fact Suge was actually sitting in the car next to Pac makes me think he had nothing to do with it. I could still believe it if he was in the generalvicinity, but he was sitting right next to him. Too much bad stuff could have happened in an instant to take that risk.
 
Did you see where the bullet holes were?? That's life saying you won't go hunting because someone may mistake you for a deer. If you shoot high, youwon't hit someones toes, if you shoot low, you won't hit someones head . . . If you know what your aiming at and can handle a fire arm, you'llprobabaly strike the target . . . It wasn't exactly a sniper job, but Pac was hit 4 times in the chest, the other 5 or six shots prolly popped the tires orwent into the passanger seat . .

Think about what you just said . . . Suge is almost 300 pounds, that's a BIG target, he'd be just as easy to hit, and he would be to avoid . . . Howwas a 165lbs dude catch 4 and the 300 pounder next to him only gets "grazed" by an imaginary bullet that is supposidle still lodged in his head?? Imean if you believe that, you probabaly think no one has ever been murdered for financial gain . . . No one has used death to market a product . . . Is it acoincidence that both BIG, and 2Pac are 2 of maybe 5 hip hop album to reach the diomond mark . . . The Fugees broke up, Columbis never capitalized, MC Hammerwent broke, who knows who owns his masters . . . But when you die my friend, EVERY label has a life insurence policy on its artist . . . If you don't haveone you prolly don't have a record that will ever be heard by anyone outside of your circle of friends . . . Its like a marriage between artist and label,look at The Clipse, how long did it take for their second album to come out, how much *$@* had to be renegotiated . . . If a black artist dies, hisPresident/CEO is 9 times out of 10 gonna be a successful caucasion man in his 50s

As far as Jimmy Henchman, he basically confesses to setting up 2Pac in December 2005 issue of Vibe Magazine (pg 182-187 and continued on pg 220-222)

He actually admits that he promised Pac $7000-$8000 for a callab with "Little Shawn" bka Sean Penn, but he did shed light on something I was unawareof, and that was that the money promised to 2Pac was goin to be in the form of a check, wrote out by none other than Andre Harrell, the SAME Andre Harrell whooffered Diddy a internship and Uptown Records, the SAME Diddy Jimmy Henchman claims was hanging out with he and Harrell on November 30th of 1994 (the night ofthe Quad Studio shooting)

He also expresses concern with his onetime friend King Tut would begin to talk to the authorities about what happened that night, but Tut who was locked up inVirginia wrote Vibe and stated "Jimmy Henchmen knows that I won't destroy other peoples lives or trade in somebody else for my freedom". Takethat statement for what its worth, but to me that sounds like a person that may have some information and or blood on his hands . . . Tut also claims that thegovernment wants people to believe that he was soley responsible for the shooting . . .

Also I must add, Tyson and Jimmy Henchman are also good friends, and 2Pac, Puffy, Suge, and J Prince have all been in the same room, and there was supposed tobe a BIG/Pac record released on Death Row Records, this all according to Jimmy Henchmen, and Walter "King Tut" Johnson. And can be found in t eDecember 2005 issue of Vibe Magazine, Mary J is on the cover (its the cover she was pissed at Vibe about because its a horribble picture)

According to Henchman

- He and Biggie had a "lasting relationship"
- Pac introduced him to Madonna (if you've seen Tupac Resurrection he speaks about Madonna almost coming to visit him while he was locked up in ClintonCorrectional Facility in upstate New York)

- Henchman introduced 2Pac to Jaques "Hatian Jack" Agnant, this is circa 1993/94

- Hatian Jack was a co defendent in the 2Pac sexual assualt case, but they had different lawyers, Jack's being a attory affiliated with the PBA(Patrolmen's Benevolent Association), and he later pleaded guilty to misdamenor charges

- Hatian Jack made disrespectful comments about 2Pac's character to the New York Daily News

- 2Pac and Jimmy Henchmen got in a argument over the phone before Pac arrived at Quad Studios, Pac wanted $7000-8000 in cash and Henchman wanted to just usethe check he would be receiving from Andre Harrell

- The address to Quad Studios is 723 Seventh Avenue (in the heart of Times Square)

- Henchman and Harrell agreed to meet at the studio around 8 o clock PM

- Puffy and Biggie were also recording at that same studio that night, and while BIG was recordin with Junior Mafia, Puffy chilled with Andre Harrell, andJimmy Henchman, what they spoke about has yet to be uncovered.

- Pac was 2 hours late, and was suspecting a set up to begin with, Henchman claims this made him more angry because he was paying for the studio time for thetrack Pac and Little Shawn were supposed to be recording that night

- 2Pac entered the studio through a elevator, and was bloodied from the ambush that took place downstairs, in the lobby of Quad studios

- Pac accused Henchman as soon as he entered the studio, and claimed Jimmy Henchman was the ONLY person that knew Pac was coming to Quad Studios that night(2Pac didn't know Harrell was supposed to be writing the check, and not Henchman)

- 2Pac stated in the April 1996 Vibe issue that Biggie had 40 "ninjas" with him in the studio, and they all had jewlery on, and most of them had morejewlery than he did.

- Pac told Vibe that the dudes that shot him had on army fatigues . . . (If you from New York, you'd know what Brooklyn dudes was heavy on that trend inthe mid 90s)

- Jimmy Henchman left before the NYPD and or EMS showed up to rescue 2Pac.

- One of 2Pac's friends that was with him, "Shorty" who is from Oakland, California pulled a gun on Jimmy Henchman when he tried to leave QuadStudios

- Jimmy Henchman feared for his life, not because Shorty pulled a gun on him, but because he was scared by the situation, and its outcome.

- Its known throughout the east coast that Henchman was involved in some degree.

- Randy "Stretch" Walker, wrote a letter to Vibe magazine that stated he only heard ONE gunshot, the letter can be found in the 1995 August issue ofVibe

- 2Pac was treated at Bellvue on the lower east side of Manhattan, his doctor was Dr. Leaon Pachter, head of Bellvue Hospital trauma department.

- In hospital reports, Dr Pachter stated 2Pac had 5 gunshot wounds, and the seems to have been "mostly in the scrotum" he declined to elaborate anyfurther

- At the end of 1995, Puffy, Jimmy Henchman arranged a sit down with 2Pac, and Suge Knight, it was to be mediated by J Prince (Rap - A - Lot Records)

- Henchman offered 2Pac the oppurtunity to do a song with Diddy, and Diddy gave Suge Knight his blessings to release the track on Death Row instead of Bad Boy.

- According to Henchman, Pac stormed into the room yelling and pointing at Henchman screaming " Them !*+#*# shot me", the meeting went nowhere, andSuge sided with Pac, Diddy remained loyal to Henchman's idea

- Jimmy Henchman claims to have apporached Pac a few weeks later at the House Of Blues in LA, he claims to have stated this exact statement to 2Pac face,"Why you blaming Puffy and Biggie? Them !*+#*# aint got nothing to do with this . . . Nobody came to rob you, THEY CAME TO DISCIPLINE YOU.THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED " (for insight on what Pac was supposidly being disciplined for, you can refernce the book "Queens ReignsSupreme", it has to do with a traffic stop in Brooklyn or Queens where Pac had a few guns on him and a bulletproof vest, at the time Henchman was on someform of parole or probation, and Pac could've got him a few years in prison, Hation Jack is also implicated as being present)

- Henchman thinks 2Pac brought on his own murder for fighting Orlando Anderson that night

- Henchman was in federal prison in North Carolina when Makaveli was released
 
2Pac basically rebuttled everything in advance, that can be heard on "Against All Odd", the final track on Makaveli. He references all the namesmentioned in Vibe magazine, he also refernces the traffic stop and him being armed. He flat out accuses Hatian Jack of working with federal agents, he promisesto payback Jimmy Henchman, also threatens King Tut's life . . . He claims Puffy has something to do with it, but 2Pac has never really directly blamed BIGfor getting him shot, but he believed that BIG could've possibbly stopped the situation from even goin down, the fact that he didn't is why Pac dissedhim.

Pac's side of the story is all on "Against All Odds" . . . If you claim to be a hip hop fan you should be familiar with this situation already .. . I mean ignorence is no excuse, but if you respect 2Pac, BIG, Puffy, Jimmy Henchman or anyone else involved its up to you to pursue the truth and you knowit, but its all out there. Its no secret . . . No coicidence.

Please listen to "Against All Odds" atleast 5 times before ANYone else comments, try to grasp what Pac is saying . . . This is like a policeinterrogation or testifying against these dudes with out the affidavits, charges, witness protection, prosecutors, and deffense attornys . . . Its quite simpleto figuire out. This should be common knowledge in the day and age of the internet. And magazine interviews . . .
 
Originally Posted by BenFranklinAve

Originally Posted by illphillip

Leave it to BenFranklinAve to make a completely worthless contribution. Because you wouldn't be you if you didn't.

Son ya life is worthless... stay following me in every thread. Don't you have a wife and kids.. why you concern by my posts. Have some class b.
My life so supercedes yours it's ridiculous. How you sound talking about the next man's life based on the internet. Like a $!$***% clown.

You like to come in here, throw your worthless opinion around. You talk about it. I live it.

Look around you moron. It's my thread. How am I following you?

I have no wife (that'll change shortly since you seem so interested in my personal life). No kids. As usual, you are completely misinformed.

But you know what, this is pointless. You're like NT's version of Prodigy. That's your favorite rapper right. Makes perfect sense. All talk. Nosubstance.

Like your man P gets pounded out on the regular, I could continue to pummel you. But I'll leave it alone. Because you'll just keep playing yourselfeverytime you open your mouth. And that speaks for itself.

Good +%%+ Nay. You are blacking the +!*% out in here!
 
Puff responds.....

http://allhiphop.com/stories/news/archive/2008/03/17/19479021.aspx

Hip-Hop star Sean "Diddy" Combs has responded to a controversial new article in the Los Angeles Times, which claims the mogul had advanced knowledgeof a planned assault on the late Tupac Shakur.

A new investigative piece printed today (March 17) in the Los Angeles Times claims that Combs and Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G" Wallace hadadvance knowledge of a plan laid by music executive Jimmy "Henchmen" Rosemond and an 18-year-old associate named James Sabatino to assault Shakur fora number of different reasons.

In an exclusive statement to AllHipHop.com, Sean "Diddy" Combs vehemently denied the allegations in the Los Angeles Times.

"This story is beyond ridiculous and completely false," Combs told AllHipHop.com. "Neither Biggie nor I had any knowledge of any attack before,during or after it happened. It is a complete lie to suggest that there was any involvement by Biggie or myself."

The story details an alleged plan of the events leading up to Shakur's shooting at the Quad, including a new figure, an Italian-American named JamesSabatino, who was 18-years-old at the time of the attack.

Sabatino, whose father is an alleged captain in the Colombo crime family, is accused of helping Rosemond orchestrate a plan to assault Shakur at the Quad in1994.

When Shakur confronted his own attackers with a raised gun, the plan went awry and Shakur and his manager Fred Moore were shot several times.

In the piece, one of the unnamed sources involved with the shooting actually offered to produce Shakur's $40,000 dollar medallion for an undisclosedamount.

Sabatino is currently serving an 11 ½-year prison sentence for wire fraud and racketeering, for charging up $200,000 using fake credit cards, allegedly forhelicopters, limos and hotel suites for Bad Boy's entourage during 1997's "No Way Out" tour featuring Combs.

In October of 2007, Sabatino filed a $19 million dollar lawsuit against Combs and Bad Boy from prison, claiming Combs agreed to pay him $200,000 for footagetaken of B.I.G. in 1994.

Despite the fact that a contract was never signed, Sabatino claims that in 1997, he was given a down payment of $25,000 but Combs has not paid him since,reportedly because the LAPD had previously named Sabatino as a person of interest in the slaying of the Notorious B.I.G.

A number of sources have told AllHipHop.com that the story investigating Shakur's shooting at the Quad is the start of a bigger series Phillips and the LosAngeles Times are planning in relation to the deaths of both Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G.

Combs chastised the Los Angeles Times' piece and completely denied any involvement in the Quad shooting.

"I am shocked that the Los Angeles Times would be so irresponsible as to publish such a baseless and completely untrue story," Combs stated.
 
I'm gonna attempt to break down Pac's song "Against All Odds", line for line and what events he's referencing, I just gotta smoke a lilmore . . . I feel like a detective, but 2Pac has some of the most honest lines EVER spit on that track . . . He honestly was lookin for a friend in Suge Knightand found a enemy. He got burned from both sides, he and BIG passed and no one has been arrested, Diddy and Suge have refused to work with police, and therehas yet to be another "casualty" in this so called "East vs West" . . . Jimmy Iovine knew 2Pac personally, he knew that Pac believed in hisheart of hearts that Henchman set him up, so what does Jimmy Iovine do after Pac's death?? He still does business with him, and as recently as last weekrenegotiated a deal that'll have another Lox project on Interscope, he signs The Game, and lord knows who and or what else . . . But he's just asslimey as Diddy, Henchman

Let me list to you KNOWN artists that are managed or have been managed and or linked to Jimmy Henchman.

- Mario Winas (Bad Boy)

- Sharissa (??)

- Guerilla Black (Unsigned??) a Compton native, who's brother is a well known Crip not sure what set tho, probabaly Rollin 60s or South Side Crips, thesame set as was Orlando Anderson . . . His brother is signed to SoSoDef, and goes by the name Hot Dollar

- The Game (Interscope)

- Sheek Louch (D Block / Interscope) whom he eluded to managing for free

- He hooked Bryce Wilson up with Amel Larrieux, and recorded under the name Groove Theory (Epic)

- Brokered the deal that got Salt N Pepa the beat for "Shoop"

- Possibly Black Rob (Bad Boy)

- Pleasure P (formerly of Pretty Ricky)
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There may be a few more,

Jimmy Henchman's managment company is co owned by Bryce Wilson formely of Groove Theory (that has absoluetely nothing to with this to a certain extent)

2Pac has a lot of so called "blind" diss tracks where he disses artist for no aparent reason other than attention, but if you study relationships andsome of Pac's disses you'll find that he had almost valid case against anyone he EVER dissed

Jimmy Henchman helped the Fugees out on Blunted on Reality, 2Pac later dissed the Fugees for what seemed like no aparent reason, not its clear why. He gaveprops to Mobb Deep, and said they were dope young NY MCs, but they later appeared in a hip hop publication in a picture with BIG, Pac used this as a ploy todiss them also. He claims to have LOVED Illmatic, but when Nas claimed to have been shot on what I believe was "The Message" he found thatdisrespectful. De La Soul's Stakes Is High song just seemed to apply to apply to what Pac was doin in 96, so he dissed them on a adlib on "Against AllOdds". He also dissed Da Brat on underground tracks, if anyone remembers, Jermaine Dupri once had a good rapport with Suge Knight, until the night hisbest friend was killed outside of one if JDs Atlanta parties, allegedly by P Diddy's cousin "Wolfe", Jermaine Supri continued to collaborate withBad Boy artist, BIG appeared in Da Brats "Give It To You", and Da Brat and JD both appeared in BIG's "One More Chance" video. As far asDiddy's cousin "Wolfe", he is the same individual that was gunned down in Atlanta after an altercation with Big Meech of BMF over a women (thisstory can he found in a 2006 issue of Vibe, TI is on the cover, I think someone stole mine, but if anyone has it you should deffinetly paraphrase some stufffor us, I don't remember as much as I'd like to, so I won't attempt to explain somethin that may not be 100% true)

Xzibits track "Poparazzi" was a subliminal diss to 2Pac, he flat out accused him of being a actor, one of the Outlawz send a subliminal back atXzibit on "Bomb First" (Makaveli's opening track)
 
Originally Posted by illphillip

Article is up.....

http://www.latimes.com/la-naw-quad17mar17,0,6902885,full.story

For the lazy folks

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The November 1994 assault on Tupac Shakur remains a source of fascination and frustration to law officials and fans. No one was ever charged in the attack.

Blood Feud
[h1]An attack on Tupac Shakur launched a hip-hop war[/h1]
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The November 1994 assault on Tupac Shakur remains a source of fascination and frustration to law officials and fans. No one was ever charged in the attack.

In 1994, Tupac Shakur was ambushed, beaten and shot at the Quad Recording Studios in New York. He insisted that friends of Sean 'Diddy' Combs were behind it. New information supports him.

By Chuck Philips, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
6:00 AM PDT, March 17, 2008

NEW YORK -- Cameras flashed as paramedics carried the victim into the glare of Times Square on a stretcher. Blood seeped through bandages from five gunshot wounds.

Tupac Shakur had been beaten, shot and left for dead at the Quad Recording Studios on New York's 7th Avenue. As he was borne to a waiting ambulance through a swarm of paparazzi on Nov. 30, 1994, the rap star thrust his middle finger into the air.
It was a portentous moment in hip-hop -- the start of a bicoastal war that would culminate years later in the killings of Shakur and rap's other leading star, Christopher Wallace, better known as the Notorious B.I.G.

The ambush at the Quad remains a source of fascination and frustration to music fans and law enforcement officials alike. No one has ever been charged in the attack.

Now, newly discovered information, including interviews with people who were at the studio that night, lends credence to Shakur's insistence that associates of rap impresario Sean "Diddy" Combs were behind the assault. Their alleged motives: to punish Shakur for disrespecting them and rejecting their business overtures and, not incidentally, to curry favor with Combs.

The information focuses on two New York hip-hop figures -- talent manager James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond and promoter James Sabatino, who is now in prison for unrelated crimes.

FBI records obtained recently by The Times say that a confidential informant told authorities in 2002 that Rosemond and Sabatino "set up the rapper Tupac Shakur to get shot at Quad Studios." The informant said Sabatino had told him that Shakur "had to be dealt with."

The records -- summaries of FBI interviews with the informant conducted in July and December 2002 -- provide details of how Shakur was lured to the studio and ambushed. Others with knowledge of the incident corroborated the informant's account in interviews with The Times and gave additional details.

According to this information, Rosemond and Sabatino, infuriated by what they saw as Shakur's insolent behavior, enticed him to the Quad by offering him $7,000 to provide a vocal track for a rap recording.

Three assailants -- reputedly friends of Rosemond -- were lying in wait. They were on orders to beat Shakur but not kill him and to make the incident look like a robbery, the sources said. They were told they could keep whatever jewelry or other valuables they could steal from Shakur and his entourage.

A member of Shakur's posse cooperated with the rapper's enemies, relaying their offer of a $7,000 payment and keeping them informed of his whereabouts on the night of the assault, according to the informant and the other sources.

Rosemond, who has served prison time for drug dealing and weapons offenses, has been described by Vibe magazine as "one of the most respected and feared players in hip-hop." His Czar Entertainment represents rappers Shyne, Too Short, Gucci Mane and the Game.

Rosemond has long denied any role in the Quad incident. He declined to be interviewed for this article, but his lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, dismissed the new information as "ancient double-hearsay allegations."

Lichtman noted that Rosemond had never been charged or questioned in connection with the attack -- a sign, Lichtman said, that federal authorities have "discounted" what the informant told them. Rosemond "was not involved in the assault and will not be prosecuted for it," Lichtman said.

Sabatino declined to comment.

Combs, whose business empire includes Bad Boy Records and clothing and fragrance lines, also declined to comment.

The FBI documents do not name the informant. The Times learned his identity and verified that he was at the Quad on the night of the assault. When contacted, the man said the FBI records accurately convey what happened, and what he told investigators. He and the other sources interviewed for this article discussed the events of Nov. 30, 1994, on condition that their names not be published.

Their accounts are consistent with Shakur's own. In interviews and on recordings, the rapper blamed Rosemond, Combs and their associates for the attack and promised to get even.







"Grab your Glocks when you see Tupac," he said in the 1996 song "Hit 'Em Up."

"Call the cops when you see Tupac

"Who shot me? But you punks didn't finish

"Now you're 'bout to feel the wrath of a menace!"

Roots of an ambush

The Quad ambush had its roots in events a year earlier, when Shakur returned to New York from California to film the movie "Above the Rim." The Brooklyn native, then 22, had two hit albums under his belt and was starting to taste success as an actor.

While in New York, he befriended Rosemond, the son of Haitian immigrants, who had run with street gangs and worked in the crack trade before gravitating to the hip-hop scene. He had a prominent scar on his forehead and cultivated an air of danger.

According to accounts given by the two men and others over the years, Rosemond, then 29, took Shakur under his wing, showing him around the city and introducing him to friends, including an ex-convict named Jacques "Haitian Jack" Agnant. Shakur and Agnant hit it off and were soon partying at clubs across Manhattan.

There was a serious side to the revelry. Rosemond was trying to establish himself as a talent manager -- he had formed a company called Henchman Productions -- and he and Agnant hoped to represent Shakur. They encouraged the rapper to sign a recording contract with Combs' fledgling Bad Boy label, which had recently received more than $2 million in capital from BMG's Arista division.

Shakur also became acquainted with Sabatino, a 19-year-old Italian American who co-promoted rap conventions with Rosemond. Sabatino had Brooklyn roots of a different kind that gave him cachet in the hip-hop world: His father was a captain in the Colombo crime family, according to federal authorities.

Like Rosemond and Agnant, Sabatino wanted to ride Combs' rising star, and he too leaned on Shakur to leave Interscope Records and sign with Bad Boy.

Shakur rejected these overtures. Members of Combs' circle saw this as an act of disrespect.

Shakur's behavior in New York grew increasingly provocative. He insulted music executives and gangsters alike. He brandished weapons in public. Even friends thought he was out of control.

In November 1993, Shakur, Agnant and two other men were arrested on charges of gang-raping a 19-year-old fan at the Parker Meridien Hotel in midtown Manhattan. Shakur posted bail and returned to Los Angeles.

A year later, he was back in New York to stand trial on the charges. By then, his former pals were laying plans to exact revenge, according to the FBI informant and the other sources.

Carefully laid plans

On Nov. 29, 1994, two dozen Bad Boy executives and associates gathered on the 10th floor of the Quad to record songs for a debut album by Junior M.A.F.I.A., a group formed by the Notorious B.I.G., Bad Boy's leading artist.

On hand were Combs, B.I.G., Rosemond, Agnant and Sabatino. Also present, among others, were rapper James "Lil' Cease" Lloyd and music executive Andre Harrell.

Rosemond had booked an adjacent studio to produce a recording by rapper Little Shawn, whose career he managed. This was the session at which Shakur was to be paid $7,000 for a guest vocal.

In fact, Rosemond never intended to record the session, according to the FBI informant and the other sources.

He had enlisted a trio of his friends from Brooklyn to ambush Shakur in the lobby of the Quad, the sources said.

Agnant and Sabatino helped plan the attack, working out the timing, arranging for the three assailants to be driven to the studio and mapping out their escape route, according to the informant and the other sources. Sabatino informed Combs and Wallace in advance that a trap had been laid for Shakur, the sources said.

Shakur's friend Randy "Stretch" Walker was in on the plan, the sources said. In the hours before the attack, Shakur and Rosemond argued several times over the phone about how much Shakur would be paid. After the dispute was settled, Walker notified Agnant when Shakur was en route, the sources said.

Around 11:30 p.m., Sabatino effectively locked down the 10th floor, quietly intercepting anyone who tried to leave, the FBI informant and the other sources said.

Fifteen minutes later, the lobby security guard was called away from his post, and the three assailants, dressed in army fatigues, moved into position. One sat in the guard's chair. The two others waited outside.

Just after midnight, Shakur walked in with Walker and his manager, Fred Moore. He buzzed the studio upstairs to let them know he was on his way. The assailant posing as a security guard flipped nonchalantly through a newspaper.

As the rapper and his crew walked toward the elevator, the two other assailants rushed in from outside and demanded that Shakur and the others turn over their jewelry. When Shakur refused, all three attackers began to pistol-whip him.

The rapper surprised them by drawing his own weapon. Gunfire erupted, and Shakur accidentally shot himself in the groin. The assailants shot Shakur four times. He sustained injuries to the head, hand and thigh -- serious but not life-threatening.

The men beat and kicked the rapper as he lay bleeding on the ground. Then, ripping a $40,000 gold medallion and chain from his neck, they escaped into the night.

Moore, who was also wounded, gave chase and collapsed in the street.

The FBI informant said the shots were audible in the 10th-floor studio. "Sabatino, Rosemond and Combs did not seem concerned about this," the informant told the FBI, though others in the studio "were very upset."

Shakur managed to limp into the elevator and push the button for the 10th floor. Walker rode up with him.

When the elevator doors opened, the rapper surveyed the assembled Bad Boy crowd.

In a 2005 interview with Vibe magazine, in which he denied any role in the attack, Rosemond described how the injured Shakur accused him of being in on the ambush.

Rosemond quoted the rapper as asking: "Why you let them know I'm coming here? You was the only [one] who knew, man. Why?"

In a bizarre twist, Shakur, bleeding badly, sat on a couch and rolled a joint, witnesses said. Then he phoned his girlfriend, who contacted his mother, former Black Panther Afeni Shakur. Harrell called 911. Paramedics showed up minutes later. Police began interviewing witnesses.

The FBI informant said Agnant told him that "anyone who thought the shooting was a robbery was crazy." He said Agnant "seemed mad that Shakur was still alive and kept calling" the hospital "to check on Shakur's status."

Efforts to reach Agnant for comment were unsuccessful.

Surgeons at Bellevue Hospital Center operated on Shakur for three hours. Later the same day, the rapper signed himself out of the hospital against doctors' advice.

The very next day -- Dec. 1, 1994 -- a heavily bandaged Shakur rolled into court in a wheelchair to hear the jury's verdict in the Parker Meridien case. He was convicted of first-degree sexual abuse and later sentenced to 4½ years in prison. (Agnant had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges and avoided prison.)

The three men identified by the sources as Shakur's assailants are all serving time in federal penitentiaries for unrelated crimes. The Times is withholding their names because they have not been charged.

In correspondence with The Times, one of the men said that Rosemond orchestrated the ambush. Another was cryptic. He wrote that the statute of limitations for the assault had expired, and he offered to produce, for an unspecified fee, the medallion stolen from Shakur.

The third inmate denied involvement in the attack.

'Bad Boy's behind this'

The Quad ambush triggered a vicious, well-chronicled feud between East Coast and West Coast rappers and their record labels, New York-based Bad Boy and Death Row Records of Los Angeles.

At awards shows, in music videos and in song lyrics, the feuding camps laid down challenges that the stars' posses acted out with gunfire.

In April 1995, four months after the Quad attack, Vibe magazine published a prison interview with Shakur in which he said Combs and his associates were responsible.

Not long after, Bad Boy released a new song by the Notorious B.I.G., "Who Shot Ya?," which describes an ambush in which the victim is shot by three assailants. It closes with a taunt:

"You rewind this

"Bad Boy's behind this."

In June of that year, Death Row founder Marion "Suge" Knight began visiting Shakur in prison and wooing him to join his music label. Later that month, Knight mocked Combs onstage during a rap awards show in Manhattan.

In apparent retaliation, gunmen shot up a trailer outside a video shoot in New York in which Death Row rappers had been filmed stomping through a miniature model of Manhattan like Godzilla.

In August 1995, Knight's bodyguard was shot and killed at a club in Atlanta. Knight accused a Combs associate in the killing; no one was ever charged. Soon after, Shakur, still behind bars for his sexual-abuse conviction, signed a contract with Death Row. Knight posted a $1.4-million bond for the rapper, freeing him from prison while he appealed the verdict.

In November 1995 -- a year to the day after the Quad ambush -- Shakur's onetime companion, "Stretch" Walker, was shot dead in Queens, N.Y.

Early the following year, Death Row released Shakur's "All Eyez On Me," in which he ridiculed East Coast rappers. In a later release, "Hit 'Em Up," Shakur belittled Combs, bragged that he had sex with the Notorious B.I.G.'s wife and vowed retribution for the Quad assault.

On Sept. 7, 1996, Shakur was fatally wounded in a drive-by shooting on the Las Vegas Strip. Six months later, the Notorious B.I.G. was shot dead in Los Angeles, also in a drive-by. No one has been charged in either slaying.

Moving on

In the years after the mayhem at the Quad, Rosemond tried to dispel persistent rumors that he arranged the attack. He protested his innocence in Vibe magazine and appealed to Shakur, in vain, to cease his public accusations.

In 1996, Rosemond was convicted of drug and weapons offenses and sentenced to five years in prison. Released three years later, he reinvented himself as a talent manager. His turbulent past gave him street cred and helped attract a clientele of rappers to his Czar Entertainment. Two years ago, he was convicted of assaulting a radio disc jockey in Washington, D.C. He remains on probation for the offense.

Sabatino became a fixture in Combs' circle. He went on the road with B.I.G. and joined Combs on his 1997 "No Way Out" tour, helping him stage lavish private parties and land corporate sponsorships.

During the tour, Sabatino used fake credit cards to run up tens of thousands of dollars in charges for hotel suites, limousines and helicopters for the Bad Boy entourage. He was arrested in London and extradited to the U.S. He is serving an 11½-year prison term for wire fraud and racketeering.

In the years after the Quad, Combs transcended hip-hop to become an international celebrity and brand name. He has recorded Grammy-winning rap albums and acted in off-Broadway plays. He hosts a weekly MTV show, owns a restaurant in Atlanta and presides over the Sean John clothing line and the Unforgivable fragrance brand. Forbes magazine last year estimated his income at $23 million.

The New York police investigation into the Quad attack quickly hit a dead end. But federal prosecutors conducting a broad investigation of the rap business have continued to explore the incident and its role in the subsequent string of shootings and killings. Various music-industry figures have been called before a federal grand jury and questioned about what happened that night.

'Set me up'

Two months after Shakur was killed, Death Row Records released his album "The Don Killuminati." It entered the pop charts at No. 1 and sold 800,000 copies in its first week.

The CD cover depicts the rap star nailed to a cross like a martyred prophet. In the song "Against All Odds," Shakur, like a ghost from the grave, calls out those he held responsible for starting the violence:

"I take this war . . . deeply

"Done seen too many real players fall

"To let these [cowards] beat me

"Puffy, let's be honest, you a punk. . . .

"You can tell the people you roll with whatever you want

"But you and I know

"What's goin' on."

Shakur then mentions "a snitch named Haitian Jack" and promises "a payback" to "Jimmy Henchman in due time."

"Set me up, wet me up. . . . stuck me up," he sings.

"But you tricks never shut me up."
 
Shame Big Stretch did him like that. I actually remember LIVE SQUAD. They had one of the most violent records I've ever heard, "Murderah".

EDIT.....Youtube is crazy......

Live Squad "Murderahh"

Live Squad "Heartless". Probably their best known record....
 
Queens Reigns Supreme
LAbyrinth

I have read both of these books and they are really interesting books.
They are both backed by interviews, police investigations, and court records.

Another good book is Notorious C.O.P by Derrick Parker NYPDs first "rap cop" and a member of the "Rap Intel Squad" of NYPDs GangIntelligence Division.
 
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