*LIL CEASE DENIES BIGGIE INVOLVEMENT
*BIGGIE FAMILIES STATEMENT
*FORMER VIBE WRITER KEVIN POWELL SPEAKS OUT..

=========================


This isn't an offical FNV Newsletter, but we thought we would share
some statements from folks as word of the LA Times story which
suggests that Notorious BIG paid to have 2Pac killed begans to
circulate.  My comment is short sweet...  Let's not get manipulated
and swayed without thinking all this through.

If folks remember it was just a few short months ago that Rollingstone
writer Randall Sullivan and former LAPD detective Russell Poole were
doing a book tour for the promotion of their new book 'Labyrinth'
where they were blaming the LAPD and corruption within the department
for a lot of the drama surrounding Pac and Biggie.  In fact Biggie's
mom was supposed to be suing LAPD for their negligence and the former
detective said he couldn't wait to get on trial to blow up the spot
about LAPD and their cover-up.  A few months before that, there were
newspaper stories blaming Suge Knight.  Hopefully everyone remembers
all of this.  Every few months there's a different story.  So now we
have a new one.

The sad fact is that many of us in Hip Hop allowed ourselves to be
manipulated by 'he-said/she said' press accounts about the East-West
Coast drama.  Many of us have been swayed by the drama between Jay-Z,
Nas, Ja Rule DMX etc..  Are we starting that all over again?  Are we
headed down the same road?  Are we playing or being played?

Davey D
mrdaveyd@aol.com

========================

*LIL CEASE DENIES BIGGIE's INVOLVEMENT

Junior Mafia member Lil Cease denies the claim that The Notorious
B.I.G.  was involved in the murder of Tupac Shakur.  The LA Times
reported B.I.G.  met with Crips in Las Vegas and arranged Shakur's
murder.  Lil Cease said B.I.G.  was home in Teaneck, NJ.  "Big was at
the crib," Cease told AllHipHop.com.  "Who can place him there?  Big
was not there.  All this is gonna do is raise that sh*t up again."

courtesy of AllHipHop.com

========================

*BIGGIE's FAMILIES STATEMENT

peace yall,

i'm told this is the unofficial wallace family statement, as i've
received it from jon caramanica at bet.com.  i'm not sure if it does
or does not reflect their final official statement.  if you want to
attribute, it would be best to get with the family directly for a
quote.

peace,

jeff chang


The family of Christopher Wallace has released the following
statement: "The article which appeared today in the Los Angeles Times
titled, "Who Killed Tupac Shakur," and related stories from other
media outlets are patently false and are the most extreme examples of
irresponsible journalism we?ve ever seen.  The LA Times article takes
facts on record and juxtaposes them with hazy, un-attributed remarks
which are not the result of any legitimate investigation, but rather
are simply an effort to generate further confusion and publicity.
Christopher (the Notorios B.I.G.) Wallace had nothing to do with the
death of Tupac Shakur.  He wasn't in Las Vegas at the time of the
crime, he did not arrange the murder, he didn't pay 50 thousand
dollars of bounty money to anyone and he did not hand a gun to Orlando
Anderson to be used in the hit on Tupac.  It is all lies.

We are outraged at the false and damaging statements made in the Los
Angeles Times by Chuck Phillips regarding Christopher (the Notorious
B.I.G.'s) Wallace alleged involvement in Tupac Shakur's death.  These
false accusations are nothing but irresponsible journalism.  The
estate is considering bringing a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Times
for untruthful statements and accusations which amount to character
assassination of someone who is himself the victim of an unsolved
murder.  For the record, Christopher (the Notorious B.I.  G.) Wallace
was at his home in New Jersey on the night of Tupac Shakur's murder,
with friends who will continue to testify for his whereabouts since he
is unable to defend himself.

We believe that the LAPD have been
neglectful in their investigation of Christopher's murder.  As a
result, we have filed a lawsuit against the LAPD for its failure to
investigate this murder. Christopher (the Notorious B.I.G.)
Wallace's friends and family will continue to stand by him and
support his memory in the face of this latest accusation against
his character and his life.  This false story is a disrespect to
not only our family but the family of Tupac Shakur.  Both men will
have no peace as long as stories such as these continue to be
written.  

================================

*FORMER VIBE WRITER KEVIN POWELL SPEAKS OUT..

Friday, September 6, 2002

Hiphop Speaks
The leadership we are waiting for is us.

Contact us:
718-399-0695/hiphopspeaks2001@aol.com 

Press/Media Relations: Lauren Summers, Sapphire Communications,
973-743-7698/sapphirecom@cs.com


BRIEF STATEMENT on Tupac/Biggie Los Angeles Times article

At a time when the energy and life force we call hiphop, clearly the
biggest popular culture form on the planet, is at a serious crossroads
artistically, spiritually, and politically, I was deeply saddened to
read Chuck Phillips' recent Los Angeles Times article.  In said
article, it is suggested the Notorious B.I.G.  paid handsomely to have
Tupac Shakur killed.  I think most of us are familiar with the now
infamous storylines: Was there really an East Coast versus West Coast
beef?  Were Tupac and Biggie rivals, or was it Suge Knight and Sean
"Puffy" Combs?  Whatever the case may be, I doubt that more than a few
of us will ever really know the larger, uglier truths behind these two
horrible deaths.  In other words, what we think is the truth ain't
necessarily the truth.  However, as a professional journalist of 16
years, as a hiphop head of nearly 25 years, and as a political
activist of 18 years, I say that we should never allow folks who do
not have our best interests at heart to control our thinking.
Never....  What purpose is served by such an article coming out right
around the time of the anniversary of the murder of Tupac Shakur?  How
does such an article help to feed into all the other so-called beefs
that have taken place in hiphop the past few years, be it Nas vs.
Jay-Z, Jermaine Dupri vs.  Dr.  Dre, or, even, Snoop Dogg speaking out
against Suge Knight?  Who wins with these beefs when folks speak in
the most vicious and incendiary language about girlfriends, mothers,
families, killing each other, all of that madness and mayhem as if our
lives are nothing more than platinum jewelry to be worn for a music
video, then given right back to the source of our confusion?  Or,
better yet, when did our slave mentalities ever end?  Also: does this
article help to feed, clothe, house, and otherwise empower poor
people, the very poor people, who over 30 years ago created hiphop in
the first place?  Does such an article lend to any healing and growth
and empowerment in our communities, between this block and that block,
this city and that city, this region and that region, this coast and
that coast?  If we are just remotely intelligent we need to begin to
ask ourselves these very serious questions.  And why is this article
(and part TWO is coming shortly) being forwarded all over the country,
and why is this latest "revelation" about Tupac and Biggie more
important to some of us than the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the
prison-industrial complex, the on-going issue of institutionalized
racism, poor school systems, alcohol and drug addiction, Black
self-hatred, gender oppression, and more issues than I can cite in
this brief statement?

As someone who interviewed the late Tupac Shakur on several occasions
while working at VIBE, and as someone who also interviewed Suge
Knight, Puffy (P.  Diddy), and the Notorious B.I.G., and many others
caught up in this sad saga in hiphop history, I strongly suggest to
members of the hiphop community, especially younger Blacks and Latinos
who have the most to lose from this on-going confusion and fear and
jagged innuendo, to not believe the hype.  At the end of the day the
Los Angeles Times wins because these sort of stories sell tons of
newspapers, help to spread twisted rumors and fears across the
country, and, essentially, keep young people of color at each other's
throats simply because we do not know what else to say or do.  Some of
us, including me, unwittingly participated in this several years back
when Tupac and Biggie were alive.  We thought we doing our jobs as
journalists.  Yes, and no.  And some of us, including me, have fought
our own brothers and sisters due to fear and ignorance, and, yes,
self-hatred.  But at some point enough is enough.  Self-destruction in
now realer than ever.  And history is a boomerang: we don't watch out
and it comes back to hit us upside our heads again and again and
again.  In a sense, our historical and cultural and financial
ignorance is being exploited, and because so many of us are stuck in a
cycle of deep self-hatred, we fall into the trap of choosing sides,
and cheering the downfall (and deaths) of our sisters and brothers.
As the rap group Dead Prez has said on a number of occasions,this is
so much bigger than hiphop.  Let us wise up and understand that the
Los Angeles Times article is based on unidentified sources, flimsy
timelines and even flimsier evidence, and represents the worst form of
sensationalized journalism.  Given the world we live in today, we
should demand far more than this from people who claim to serve the
public interest.


Kevin Powell
Founder/Chairperson, Hiphop Speaks
============================



Send comments, questions and concerns to

mrdaveyd@aol.com
misterdaveyd@aol.com

The FNV Newsletter
written by Davey D

www.daveyd.com
www.rapstation.com

c 2002 All Rights Reserved