Take It Personal - Jeff Pearlman Interview (Only God Can Judge Me: The Many Lives of Tupac Shakur)
Coming off our Eminem tribute, we’re going back-to-back with another one. This time, we’re paying homage to one of the most polarizing artists of all time: 2Pac.
You might remember way back in episode 16, we dropped a 2Pac mini-mix for our West Coast Classics series. Well, here we are — 158 episodes later — finally giving you our official 2Pac Tribute.
We’re joined by New York Times best-selling author Jeff Pearlman, who stops by to talk all things 2Pac. Jeff’s new book, Only God Can Judge Me: The Many Lives of Tupac Shakur, is in stores now. This isn’t your typical biography — it’s honest, unfiltered, and deeply researched. It’s arguably the most complete and insightful 2Pac bio ever written.
Over the course of two-plus hours, we dive deep into the book as Jeff shares fascinating behind-the-scenes stories you won’t want to miss. And for those familiar with his earlier work — from Sports Illustrated and ESPN to books on Bo Jackson, Barry Bonds, the ’86 Mets, Brett Favre, Roger Clemens, and his Showtime book that inspired HBO’s Winning Time — we even touch on some of those classics too.
We’re also giving away a few signed copies of Jeff’s new book!
And of course, you know how TIP does tributes — two full mixes spanning Pac’s early years, from the Digital Underground days through Death Row and everything in between. We’re weaving through eras to keep the music fresh, with collabs, crazy clips, freestyles, and the timeless classics. There’s so much to cover that we’re even blessing you with a Part 2 coming this November.
2Pac would have turned 54 years old today. He died at just 25. Think about that — he’s been gone longer than he lived, and yet his influence remains as strong as ever. No matter how you feel about him, there’s no denying the impact he had on music and culture.
2Pac wasn’t a lyricist in the traditional sense, but nobody matched his emotion, passion, or message. You felt every word he wrote. For us, that connection outweighs any technical metric.
You might go to Tarantino for dialogue — but if you want to feel something, you turn to Spielberg. That was 2Pac. And that’s why we’re doing this tribute.
As always, this is Take It Personal Radio — the home of hip-hop history and timeless tributes, giving legends like 2Pac their due.
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