Las Vegas Honors the R&B Group That Took Its Area Code Worldwide

LeMisha Fields and Kameelah “Meelah” Williams of R&B group 702 are celebrating the 30th anniversary of their debut album, “No Doubt,” with a hometown honor and weekend performances in Las Vegas. (Photo courtesy of Troutman Music Group)

Thirty years after taking their hometown's area code to the R&B charts, the women of 702 are coming home to a welcome only Las Vegas could give them. Thirty years after taking their hometown's area code to the R&B charts, the women of 702 are coming home to a welcome only Las Vegas could give them.

The group behind “Steelo,” “Get It Together” and “Where My Girls At?” will be honored Thursday at the iconic Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign, where Clark County officials plan to recognize three decades of music that helped bring the city's R&B talent to an international audience.

Commissioner William McCurdy II is scheduled to present a proclamation to Kameelah “Meelah” Williams and LeMisha Fields during the 5 p.m. ceremony. The county also plans to pay tribute to Irish Grinstead, Fields' younger sister and longtime bandmate, who died in September 2023 at age 43.

The landmark sign will be illuminated in the group's honor.

It's a fitting tribute to an act whose name has always been a declaration of where it came from.

702 released its debut album, “No Doubt,” on Oct. 8, 1996, through Motown and Biv 10 Records. The album went gold, pairing R&B harmonies with hip-hop production and contributions from a young Missy Elliott.

702 performs “Steelo,” featuring Missy Elliott, from the group's 1996 debut album, “No Doubt.” (702 Official/YouTube)

Elliott wrote and appeared on “Steelo,” which sampled the Police's “Voices Inside My Head.” The album also produced “Get It Together,” a Donell Jones-penned ballad that reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The singers were still teenagers when they recorded much of that music, balancing schoolwork in Las Vegas with studio sessions in Los Angeles.

In an interview published Tuesday by Las Vegas Weekly, Fields recalled leaving school, flying to California to record and returning home in time for classes. While one member was in the recording booth, the others did homework. Some sessions stretched into the early morning hours.

The demanding schedule produced music that would long outlast the teenage experiences behind it.

In 1999, 702 scored its biggest crossover hit with the Elliott-written “Where My Girls At?,” which climbed to No. 4 on the Hot 100. The song helped propel the group's self-titled second album to platinum status and became a fixture of an era when female R&B groups were among popular music's dominant voices.

For Williams and Fields, the songs have taken on different meanings with age.

702 performs “Get It Together,” a single from its debut album, “No Doubt.” (702 Official/YouTube)

Williams told Las Vegas Weekly that motherhood, relationships and heartbreak have given the material a depth she could not fully appreciate as a teenager. Songs that once described emotions she was just beginning to understand now reflect experiences she has lived.

But the anniversary also brings an absence that cannot be overlooked.

Irish's death left the surviving performers to navigate the stage without a voice that helped define 702's sound. Fields said continuing to perform is part of honoring her sister, not leaving her behind.

“She would want us to continue and live out the legacy of 702,” Fields told the publication.

The homecoming extends beyond Thursday's ceremony.

702 is scheduled to perform Friday at On the Record inside Park MGM, followed by a '90s-themed skate party Saturday at Skate Rock City. Motown also has released a limited-edition 30th-anniversary vinyl pressing of “No Doubt,” including three additional mixes.

The festivities offer a chance to celebrate a group whose music has followed its fans from their teenage years into adulthood, even as the women behind those songs have endured changes of their own.

Three decades after turning a telephone prefix into a musical identity, 702 is returning to the place where it all began.

ThIs time, Las Vegas is welcoming them home — and honoring the sister who won't be there to celebrate.

From NFL Critic to Halftime Kingmaker, Jay-Z May Finally Take the Super Bowl Stage

Jay-Z visits the New York state Capitol in Albany, N.Y., on May 19, 2025. The rapper reportedly is expected to headline the 2027 Super Bowl halftime show. (Photo: New York Senate Media Services/CC BY 2.0; cropped)

Jay-Z once told the NFL he didn't need its biggest stage. Seven years after going into business with the league, he reportedly is preparing to headline it himself.

The Brooklyn rapper and Roc Nation founder is expected to perform at the 2027 Super Bowl halftime show, according to Puck, a subscription-based publication specializing in insider reporting on entertainment, media and business. The outlet reported Tuesday that Jay-Z selected himself for the performance.

Deadline separately reported that a music industry source confirmed Jay-Z would headline. Neither the NFL nor Roc Nation has officially announced a performer.

ORIGINAL REPORTING | PUCK

Jay-Z Picks Jay-Z for Super Bowl LXI

Dave Brooks reports that multiple sources say Jay-Z has selected himself for the 2027 halftime show.

Source: Puck | Oct. 20, 2026

If confirmed, the booking would complete a remarkable reversal for an artist who rejected the Super Bowl before becoming one of the most influential figures behind its halftime entertainment.

In 2018, Jay-Z addressed his decision on “APESHIT,” his collaboration with Beyoncé: “I said no to the Super Bowl. You need me, I don't need you.”

The refusal came during a period of growing controversy over the NFL's treatment of players protesting racial injustice, led by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Jay-Z later described objections to the league's proposed performance conditions as another reason he declined.

By August 2019, however, Jay-Z was sitting beside NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, announcing a partnership that would give Roc Nation a role in shaping the league's major entertainment events, including the Super Bowl.

FROM THE ARCHIVES | NFL

Jay-Z's Roc Nation enters partnership with NFL

The league's 2019 announcement describes Roc Nation's role in advising on major performances and supporting social justice initiatives.

Source: NFL | August 2019

The agreement also included work with Inspire Change, the NFL's social justice initiative.

The partnership drew immediate criticism from those who questioned why Jay-Z would work with the league while Kaepernick remained unsigned.

Jay-Z defended the arrangement as an opportunity to pursue change through the NFL's platform.

He also made clear that the negotiations had not begun with a desire to perform.

“First thing I said to Roger was, ‘If this is about me performing at the Super Bowl, then we can just end this conversation now,’” Jay-Z said at the 2019 announcement.

Instead, the agreement put Roc Nation in a position to help shape who would take the stage.

The company has since helped produce a succession of halftime shows featuring hip-hop and R&B stars, including Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna, Usher and Kendrick Lamar.

Those performances reflected a significant change for a genre that had spent decades fighting for mainstream recognition even as it became one of popular music's dominant forces.

Jay-Z remained behind the scenes.

According to Puck, that could change Feb. 14, when Super Bowl LXI takes place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

The publication reported that Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber also were considered for the performance. Representatives for the NFL and Roc Nation did not respond to its requests for comment.

The timing adds another layer to the story.

Jay-Z is scheduled to perform Friday and Saturday at SoFi Stadium as part of a yearlong celebration marking the 30th anniversary of his 1996 debut, “Reasonable Doubt,” and the 25th anniversary of “The Blueprint.”

The venue will host the Super Bowl less than four months later.

Puck's report also raises a question about the unusual relationship between the artist and the event he may headline.

Roc Nation's original agreement called for the company to advise the NFL on performer selection. Although Puck described Jay-Z as the principal decision-maker, the league's final approval process has not been publicly detailed.

For Jay-Z, 56, a halftime appearance would bring together several chapters of a career that has taken him from Brooklyn's rap scene to the highest levels of the entertainment business.

It would also return him to a stage he once said he could do without.

This time, he would arrive not just as a performer, but as someone who helped reshape the show.

Drake Sued Over ‘Janice Stfu’ by Fellow Beyoncé ‘Heated’ Songwriter

Drake is shown in a scene from the official music video for “Janice STFU.” The rapper faces a federal copyright lawsuit alleging he copied the song's chorus from another songwriter's recording. Drake denies the allegations. (Drake/YouTube)

A Grammy-winning songwriter who shares writing credits with Drake on Beyoncé's “Heated” has sued the rapper over one of his biggest hits, alleging that the chorus of “Janice STFU” was taken from a demo he submitted to producers in Drake's circle months before the song was released.
Aviel Calev Hirschfield, a Portland, Oregon, producer who records as GoodbyeCalev, filed the copyright infringement lawsuit Friday in federal court in Los Angeles against Drake, OVO Sound, UMG Recordings and Universal Music Publishing.

Drake's representatives emphatically deny the allegations.

The dispute centers on eight lines Hirschfield says he wrote and recorded in January for a song he hoped Drake would perform. According to the complaint, he sent the finished recording to several producers who had worked with the rapper, including the production duo FnZ, but received no response.

Then came May 15.

Hirschfield says he was listening to Drake's newly released album, “Iceman,” when he heard “Janice STFU” and immediately recognized the chorus.

The lyrics, melody and cadence were identical to his recording, he alleges.

The lawsuit places an unusually detailed account of the song's creation at the center of the dispute, including a drive to Seattle, a Lykke Li recording and digital files that Hirschfield says establish when his vocals were recorded.

Hirschfield alleges that hearing Li's 2011 song “I Follow Rivers” inspired him to develop a new chorus with Drake in mind. Working over an instrumental supplied by FnZ members Michael Mulé and Isaac De Boni, he completed the recording around Jan. 25.

“Janice STFU” also interpolates “I Follow Rivers,” but the complaint concerns Hirschfield's claimed original lyrics and vocal melody, not ownership of Li's song.

Drake's official music video for "Janice STFU," released May 15, 2026. A songwriter alleges that the song's chorus was copied from his earlier recording. Drake denies the claim. (Drake/YouTube)

After the release, Hirschfield's representatives supplied Drake's team with the recording and individual audio tracks, known as stems, containing metadata that he contends establishes when the work was created.

Rather than acknowledge his contribution, Hirschfield alleges, Drake's representatives questioned the authenticity of that metadata and sent a cease-and-desist letter demanding that he stop publicly claiming authorship.

Drake's camp tells a very different story.

“These allegations are categorically, unequivocally, and completely denied,” a representative told TMZ.

The representative said Drake wrote the song himself and had no knowledge of Hirschfield, calling the lawsuit an attempt to exploit the rapper's success.

That denial raises an important distinction in Hirschfield's account: Although he and Drake are both credited as writers on “Heated,” from Beyoncé's 2022 album “Renaissance,” the lawsuit does not claim Hirschfield personally delivered the disputed recording to Drake.

Instead, Hirschfield alleges that Drake had access to it through producers who received the demo.

Their connection through “Heated” is documented. Hirschfield told Portland's Willamette Week in 2023 that his manager had circulated one of his tracks before Beyoncé selected it for her album.

Another detail could become important as the case progresses.

Drake previewed an early version of what became “Janice STFU” during a September 2025 livestream, months before Hirschfield says he finished his chorus. That earlier version, titled “That's Just How I Feel,” did not appear to contain the eight disputed lines, according to a transcription published at the time.

Whether Hirschfield's recording reached Drake's collaborators, and when the disputed chorus took its final form, remain central unanswered questions.

The stakes are substantial. “Janice STFU” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent two weeks atop the chart. The lawsuit says the recording has surpassed 300 million Spotify streams.

Hirschfield is seeking damages and profits attributable to the alleged infringement, along with attorney fees. He has not specified a dollar amount.

His recording was registered with the U.S. Copyright Office effective July 21, more than two months after Drake released the song. That timing could restrict the availability of certain statutory damages and attorney fees under federal copyright law, although it does not by itself resolve the infringement claim.

The lawsuit does not seek an order removing the song from streaming platforms.

Chance Wins Legal Battle Over Merchandise Profits as Drakeo’s Estate Settles Death Case

Chance the Rapper performs at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado on May 2, 2017. A Chicago judge ruled Tuesday that his former manager breached his fiduciary duties in connection with the rapper's merchandise business. (Photo by Julio Enriquez, CC BY 2.0; cropped for display)

A Chicago judge has ordered Chance the Rapper's former manager to surrender undisclosed merchandise commissions, while the estate of slain Los Angeles rapper Drakeo the Ruler has reached a settlement with festival organizers and security companies sued over his 2021 death.

A Chicago judge has ordered Chance the Rapper's former manager to surrender undisclosed merchandise commissions, while the estate of slain Los Angeles rapper Drakeo the Ruler has reached a settlement with festival organizers and security companies sued over his 2021 death.

The unrelated cases mark significant developments in two long-running hip-hop legal battles. Neither has produced a publicly established final payout: The amount Chance's former manager must forfeit remains under review, and the terms of Drakeo's estate settlement have not been disclosed.

Chance wins ruling over merchandise profits

Chance the Rapper has won another round in his nearly six-year legal fight with Patrick "Pat the Manager" Corcoran, the former friend who helped guide his rise from Chicago's independent rap scene to Grammy-winning success.

Cook County Circuit Judge James E. Hanlon Jr. ruled Tuesday that Corcoran breached his fiduciary duties by collecting undisclosed commissions from merchandise vendors while also receiving management fees tied to the same business.

Hanlon ordered Corcoran to surrender those commissions, forfeit the 15% management compensation associated with the affected merchandise transactions and transfer the ChanceRaps.com domain to the rapper by Oct. 28.

Chance's representatives estimate the forfeited management fees could total as much as $1.5 million, in addition to the vendor payments. The figure is not a final court award.

The parties have until Nov. 30 to agree on an amount. If they cannot, the judge will decide.

The ruling follows a March jury verdict that rejected Corcoran's demand for $3.8 million in unpaid commissions and royalties. The jury also found in Chance's favor on portions of his countersuit, awarding him $35.

The two worked together from 2012 until their relationship collapsed in 2020, building one of hip-hop's most prominent independent success stories without a traditional written management agreement.

Their dispute eventually turned on what Corcoran was owed after his dismissal and whether he had put his own business interests ahead of the artist's.

The latest ruling was not an across-the-board victory for Chance.

Hanlon rejected his attempts to recover compensation connected to several outside ventures, including the Ramova Theatre and UnitedMasters. The judge also declined to award punitive damages or strip Corcoran of all the compensation he earned during the relationship.

Corcoran's attorneys welcomed those limits, arguing that the court recognized the value of his work and rejected the rapper's broader financial demands.

Chance, whose legal name is Chancelor Bennett, said he was grateful to be nearing the end of the dispute and hoped to eventually share his account of what happened.

Drakeo's estate settles festival death lawsuit

In Los Angeles, a separate legal fight over the killing of Drakeo the Ruler has reached a conditional settlement nearly five years after the rapper was fatally stabbed backstage at a music festival.

A notice filed Oct. 9 in Los Angeles Superior Court confirms that Drakeo's estate, administered by his mother, Darrylene Corniel, reached an agreement with Live Nation and several other companies involved in the Once Upon a Time in L.A. festival.

The settlement resolves the estate's claims, subject to specified conditions being completed within 45 days. No financial terms have been disclosed.

Drakeo, born Darrell Wayne Caldwell Jr., was 28 when he was attacked backstage on Dec. 18, 2021, shortly before he was scheduled to perform.

His estate accused the festival promoters and security contractors of failing to maintain a secure backstage area and allowing a group of attackers to reach the rapper and his entourage.

The defendants disputed the negligence allegations. The settlement does not constitute a court finding that they were responsible for his death.

The agreement also does not end all the civil litigation arising from the attack.

Claims involving Drakeo's younger brother, rapper Ralfy the Plug, and others who were backstage remain scheduled for trial Nov. 30.

The criminal investigation remains unresolved. No one has been charged with Drakeo's killing.

The estate's agreement settles a major part of the civil case, but it does not establish who killed the rapper or whether the remaining plaintiffs will prevail against the festival organizers.

Drakeo the Ruler's "Talk to Me," featuring Drake, appeared on his 2021 album The Truth Hurts. (Drakeo the Ruler/YouTube)

Man Convicted in Tupac Shakur’s Murder Gets 40 Years to Life, Three Decades After Killing

Duane “Keffe D” Davis is shown in a Sept. 29, 2023, police booking photograph. Davis was sentenced Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, to 40 years to life in prison for orchestrating the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department)

Duane “Keffe D” Davis spent years publicly describing his role in the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur. On Tuesday, the former gang leader was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison for orchestrating the murder, bringing a measure of justice to the rapper's family more than three decades after the fatal shooting.

Clark County District Judge Carli Kierny imposed the sentence in Las Vegas, six weeks after a jury convicted Davis of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon.

Davis, 63, was the only person ever charged in the killing, one of hip-hop's most enduring unsolved crimes until his arrest in September 2023.

Duane “Keffe D” Davis appears in court in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, for sentencing in the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur. Davis was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison. (Video: Courtroom Insider/YouTube)

Shakur's family addressed the court before sentencing, recalling a brother whose life had been cut short at 25.

His younger sister, Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur, described their mother's belief that Tupac could change the world.

“He believed her,” she told the court. “He went out in the world to do that. And I believe he would have done it.”

Their brother Maurice “Mopreme” Shakur spoke about everything Tupac never experienced, including the opportunity to have children and watch his nieces and nephews grow up.

For the family, the punishment followed 30 years of living with the consequences of a killing that became part of hip-hop history even as their personal loss remained unresolved.

Kierny rejected Davis' argument that he had left his violent past behind.

“You don't get to take a man from his family,” the judge told him. “The world never forgot about him.”

Davis will receive credit for time served since his arrest. His attorney, Michael Sanft, said he plans to appeal the conviction.

When offered an opportunity to speak, Davis did not apologize. Instead, he asked about recovering personal belongings seized by police, including photographs.

TUPAC SHAKUR MURDER CASE

30 years to a sentence

Sept. 7, 1996
Tupac Shakur is shot in Las Vegas. He dies six days later.

Sept. 29, 2023
Duane Davis is arrested and charged in the killing.

Aug. 31, 2026
A jury convicts Davis of first-degree murder.

Oct. 13, 2026
Davis is sentenced to 40 years to life.

Sources: Clark County court records and AP and Reuters reporting.

The prosecution had built much of its case around Davis' own accounts of the shooting, including interviews, statements to investigators and his 2019 memoir, “Compton Street Legend.”

Prosecutors argued that Davis organized a retaliatory attack after Shakur and members of his entourage assaulted Davis' nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, at the MGM Grand following a Mike Tyson boxing match on Sept. 7, 1996.

Hours later, Shakur was riding in a BMW driven by Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight when a white Cadillac pulled alongside the car near the Las Vegas Strip.

Someone inside the Cadillac opened fire.

Shakur was struck multiple times. Knight survived with a minor injury, but Shakur died six days later, on Sept. 13.

Davis acknowledged being inside the Cadillac and described passing a gun toward the back seat, where the shots were fired. Prosecutors said he supplied the weapon and directed the retaliation, making him criminally responsible for the murder even though he was not accused of pulling the trigger.

His attorneys maintained that his public accounts had been exaggerated or fabricated for publicity and financial gain. They also challenged the absence of physical evidence connecting Davis to the shooting.

The jury rejected that defense after a trial that revisited gang rivalries, the East Coast-West Coast rap feud and a murder investigation that remained dormant for years.

The identity of the person who fired the fatal shots has never been conclusively established in court. Anderson, whom Davis identified as the gunman, died in 1998. The other alleged occupants of the Cadillac are also dead.

For millions of listeners, Shakur remains the artist behind “Dear Mama,” “Keep Ya Head Up,” “California Love” and “Changes,” records that helped establish his voice as one of the most influential in rap.

For his family, he was a son and brother whose future disappeared on a Las Vegas street.

Davis' sentence establishes the punishment for his role in that killing. His planned appeal means the legal proceedings may continue.

But Tuesday's hearing marked a consequence his own public accounts of the murder helped bring about: After nearly three decades without a prosecution, the only man convicted in Tupac Shakur's death now faces at least 40 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole.

Court Sides With Top Dawg Entertainment in Fight Over Accusers’ Identities

The Ronald Reagan State Building in Los Angeles houses California's 2nd District Court of Appeal, which ruled Thursday in favor of Top Dawg Entertainment on a doxing claim. (Coolcaesar/Wikimedia Commons)

Top Dawg Entertainment won a significant legal victory Thursday when a California appeals court ruled that the record label could publicly identify two women who had sued its executives for alleged sexual misconduct, despite their decision to file the case anonymously.

The ruling removes a doxing claim against the influential hip-hop and R&B label but leaves the women's underlying allegations of sexual assault, harassment and unpaid work unresolved.

In a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel of California's 2nd District Court of Appeal found that TDE's decision to name the women in a February 2025 press release was protected under state law. The women had filed their lawsuit as Jane Doe and Jane Roe but had never asked a judge for permission to keep their identities confidential.

That omission proved decisive.

PRIMARY SOURCE | CALIFORNIA COURT OF APPEAL

Luna v. Top Dawg Entertainment

Second Appellate District, Division Two
Decided Oct. 8, 2026 | Case B347645

The appeals court directed the trial court to strike the doxing claim. The underlying sexual misconduct allegations were not decided.

Read the full 12-page court ruling (PDF)

Source: Judicial Branch of California.

The court said TDE's response to the lawsuit was protected by California's anti-SLAPP law, which guards certain speech and petitioning activities against litigation. It also found that the disclosure of the women's names qualified for protection under the state's fair report privilege, which covers accurate reporting about judicial proceedings.

"TDE violated no court order or rule when it disclosed Plaintiffs' names," Justice Anne Richardson wrote for the panel.

The decision reverses a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge who had refused to dismiss the doxing claim in June 2025.

TDE, the label that helped launch Kendrick Lamar's career and established SZA as a major R&B star, has been fighting the lawsuit since December 2024.

One plaintiff alleges that Brandon Tiffith sexually battered her and that fellow executive Anthony Tiffith Jr. sexually harassed her while she provided services to the company between 2019 and 2024. She also alleges she was not paid for her work.

The second woman alleges that David Harrell, identified in court documents as a TDE employee, sexually assaulted and harassed her while she lived in a company-owned home in 2020 and 2021.

The allegations have not been proven in court.

The dispute over the women's identities began after their attorneys publicized the lawsuit on Jan. 31, 2025, using the pseudonyms from their complaint.

TDE responded the following day with a statement that identified both women by name, rejected their allegations as fabricated and described the lawsuit as a shakedown. The company also claimed the women, through their attorneys, had demanded $48 million and disputed that either had been an employee.

Four days later, the women amended their complaint to accuse the label of doxing them.

The trial judge initially sided with the women, reasoning that TDE did not need to reveal their identities to defend itself publicly.

The appeals court disagreed.

What the court decided — and what it didn't

DECIDED

The disclosure of the women's names was legally protected in these circumstances. The doxing claim must be stricken.

NOT DECIDED

Whether the allegations of sexual assault, harassment and unpaid work are true. Those claims remain unresolved.

Source: California Court of Appeal, B347645, Oct. 8, 2026.

The judges emphasized that the women could have sought court authorization to proceed anonymously and might have had substantial grounds for such a request. But without that protection, the court found, their use of pseudonyms did not prevent TDE from accurately identifying who had filed the lawsuit.

The ruling does not establish that defendants are always free to identify anonymous plaintiffs. It turns on the absence of a court order, a pending request for anonymity or another applicable legal protection in this case.

Nor did the panel determine whether the original allegations were true.

Instead, it directed the trial court to grant TDE's motion to strike the doxing claim and awarded the defendants their costs on appeal.

The broader lawsuit remains unresolved, with the women still pursuing allegations stemming from their experiences with the label and people associated with it.

Tupac’s 1995 Prison Interview Gets New Release as Original Tapes Head Toward Auction

Patrick Heaphy, left, Tupac Shakur and Jason Keller are shown at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, N.Y., during a 1995 interview shoot. (Courtesy LCM247)

Patrick Heaphy went to a maximum-security prison in upstate New York in 1995 to film Tupac Shakur for a concert against youth violence. More than three decades later, he is still trying to make that concert happen.

The filmmaker announced Thursday that an extended presentation of his interview with Shakur will premiere Oct. 12 on YouTube, exactly 31 years after the rapper's release from prison. He also plans to auction the original camera and recording tapes, with part of the proceeds intended to help revive the concert that first brought him to Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York.

The concert never materialized, but the interview became part of the extensive documentary record Shakur left behind before his death in 1996.

Heaphy said the original assignment took an unexpected turn almost as soon as he arrived.

TUPAC SHAKUR | ARCHIVE / 2026

One interview. Two different releases.

1995The original recording

Filmed at Clinton Correctional Facility. Footage later appeared in commercially distributed documentaries.

2026The extended premiere

Heaphy announces a new presentation, plans to auction his equipment and proposes an anti-violence concert.

Whether the new edition includes previously unseen footage remains unclear.

View the earlier documentary's library record

"Most people don't know that I went to Dannemora to film Tupac for a proposed jailhouse concert aimed at stopping youth violence," Heaphy said in Thursday's announcement.

Shakur, he recalled, greeted the crew with news that he expected to be released.

In an earlier interview with Rorschach Art Publication, Heaphy described traveling to the prison with interviewer Frank Cooley and production assistant Jason Keller. What followed was an unusually candid encounter with a rapper whose music was dominating the charts even as his legal troubles dominated headlines.

Shakur was serving a sentence stemming from a New York sexual abuse conviction. His third solo album, "Me Against the World," had debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in March 1995, making him the first artist to achieve that distinction while incarcerated.

The album included "Dear Mama," his tribute to his mother, Afeni Shakur, and offered a more reflective side of an artist frequently portrayed through his confrontations with police, rivals and the music industry.

Heaphy's footage captured Shakur discussing his circumstances, ambitions and experiences behind bars during a period when his career and personal life were about to change dramatically.

Shakur was released on $1.4 million bond pending appeal on Oct. 12, 1995, and joined Death Row Records. Four months later, he released "All Eyez on Me," the blockbuster double album that included "California Love" and "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted."

He was fatally wounded in a Las Vegas shooting in September 1996 and died six days later at 25.

Behind the story

Read the original announcement and the filmmaker's account of the 1995 prison shoot.

Read LCM247's October 8 announcementRead Patrick Heaphy's earlier interview

Links to original sources

Although the upcoming presentation is being promoted as an extended version of the 1995 conversation, the footage itself is not a newly discovered recording.

Material from the prison session appeared in earlier documentaries, including "Tupac vs." and "Tupac Uncensored and Uncut: The Lost Prison Tapes," the latter released in 2009 and co-directed by Heaphy and Ken Peters.

The producers have not specified how much, if any, previously unreleased footage will appear in the new edition.

The planned auction presents a separate chapter in the recording's history.

Heaphy and his production company, LCM247, say they intend to offer the original Sony camera used during the prison shoot, along with source tapes from the production. Heaphy says he has personally authenticated the camera and holds the registered U.S. copyright to the interview footage.

An auction house, sale date and estimated value have not been announced.

The filmmaker also hopes to use a portion of the proceeds and a proposed crowdfunding campaign to finance a concert featuring contemporary artists and addressing youth violence.

For now, that event remains a proposal. No performers, venue or date have been identified.

The effort would revisit an idea conceived at a particularly turbulent point in Shakur's life, when the rapper was balancing commercial success with imprisonment and speaking publicly about the conditions affecting young Black Americans.

Whether the new release offers substantially more of that conversation remains to be seen.

What Heaphy wants to accomplish with it, however, has come full circle.

"If the film, the camera and the tapes can now help us finally make that concert happen," he said, "that feels like the right next chapter."

"The Tupac Prison Interview" is scheduled to premiere Monday, Oct. 12, at 9 p.m. Eastern on LCM247's YouTube channel.

Ebony Power 100 names Jay-Z, Megan Thee Stallion and T.I. Music Innovators

Megan Thee Stallion performs at the Superbloom Festival in Munich in September 2022. Ebony named her among its 2026 Power 100 Music Innovators. (Valerie Albert/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Jay-Z, Megan Thee Stallion and T.I. are among the music names on Ebony’s 2026 Power 100, while some of the other best-known musicians on the list landed in categories that have little to do with chart position.

Ebony unveiled this year’s list Monday, naming the three Music Innovators alongside Gamma co-founder and CEO Larry Jackson and HarbourView Equity Partners founder and CEO Sherrese Clarke.

The rest of the music crowd is scattered across the list.

Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz were named Artists in Residence. Common and Vic Mensa are Community Crusaders. Questlove is an Entertainment Powerhouse.

For readers who first knew those names from radio, CDs and music television, the categories come with some interesting job changes.

2026 POWER 100

The Stories We Shape

Ebony unveiled its 2026 Power 100 list Oct. 5, honoring figures across music, entertainment, business, sports, media, technology and community leadership. (EBONY Media Group/PR Newswire)

Ebony identifies Jay-Z as an entrepreneur and founder of Roc Nation. T.I. gets both rapper and entrepreneur. Questlove is listed as a musician, filmmaker and author. Common is identified as a rapper, actor and activist.

Megan Thee Stallion gets the simplest description of the group: Grammy-winning rapper.

The list is broader than music. Debbie Allen and novelist Colson Whitehead join Keys and Swizz Beatz among the Artists in Residence. Keke Palmer and filmmaker Gina Prince-Bythewood are Entertainment Powerhouses alongside Questlove.

Naomi Osaka and WNBA Players Association President Nneka Ogwumike are among the Leaders in Sports. So are five New York Knicks players: Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges.

San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama appears in Generation Next, while streamer iShowSpeed is among the Influential Creators.

See the complete 2026 Ebony Power 100

Ebony's full list includes honorees across music, entertainment, business, sports, media, technology and community leadership.

View the official Power 100 list at Ebony

Ebony’s 2026 theme is “The Stories We Shape,” with the publication putting an emphasis on who gets to tell and control stories about Black life and culture.

“The Power 100 has always documented the people moving our culture forward,” Ebony CEO Eden Bridgeman said in announcing the list.

The 2026 Power 100 spans 10 categories.

The honorees will be celebrated Nov. 9 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. The event is being produced with Jesse Collins Entertainment, whose credits include the BET Awards, Emmy Awards and multiple Super Bowl halftime shows.