In an appearance on the Dreg Ones podcast History of the Bay, Oakland rap icon Too Short confessed he deliberately tried to “avoid” 2Pac to prevent being a negative influence on him.
Around the 1:24:00 mark of the two-hour podcast shown above, Too Short shared memories of meeting 2Pac and recalled riding around with him and Dangerous Crew member Shorty B. “2Pac and Shorty B jumped in the truck with me, and I noticed that he had a pistol on him,” he said. “I was just thinking to myself, I carry guns a lot… I’m from Oakland and I just wouldn’t let a Oakland na or any other na know that I got my thing on me at the time. It’s just something you just don’t do.”
After spotting ‘Pac’s gun, Too Short decided he couldn’t “get really close” to him. “I knew what he was getting into and I was like, ‘If my guys catch wind of his ambition, they’re going to cling to him,'” he explained. “He could find his way anywhere he wants in the world, but I’m not bringing him to where I’m at… I could tell that he wanted the streets.”
He explained that ‘Pac’s demeanor meant he couldn’t bring him to certain Oakland areas. “I personally avoided ambitious 2Pac, because he probably would have ended up in some fucked up spaces around me,” he revealed. “You got to be in the right state of mind… He did it, bro, he went to L.A. he ended up in those circles. … He was like, ‘I want to be that gangster revolutionary,’ like everything. ‘I want to be the ladies man, I want to be the biggest rapper.’ He had that ambition. I was like, ‘get that shit away from me.’ I didn’t want to be a bad influence on 2Pac, and that was just my choice.”
Check out the complete interview with Too Short below.
