The story of a sincere friendship and love for rap, the music business and street crime. These are the themes of the book ‘Criminal rap. Tupac, Biggie and the other martyrs of gangsta rap ‘by FT Sandman, in bookstores from today for the types of Il Castello brand Chinaski Edizioni. Who killed Tupac Shakur and Notorius Big? What role did the police, the gangs and the discography play? These are some of the questions that the author tries to answer, almost thirty years after the facts, meticulously reconstructing the dynamics and the protagonists of the events. Sandman joined the points by consulting sources, comparing testimonies and cross-referencing information from dozens of books, interviews, films, articles and documentaries. But it went further: the book includes the only exclusive Italian interview with Greg Kading, the LAPD detective who coordinated the latest investigation concluded in 2009.
A story that always revolves around two double and opposite protagonists. Two African American rappers: Tupac Shakur and Notorius Big; their respective single mothers Afeni Shakur and Voletta Wallace. Two unscrupulous record companies and their labels, Suge Knight with Death Row and Puff Daddy with Bad Boy. Two sides of the American coast, East and West, with rival gangs Crips and Bloods. In the background, street life, racism, guns, drug dealing and the cult of wealth. The passion that the two protagonists of the story shared for many years, the friendship of two twenty-year-olds in love with rap rhymes before life took over.
Over 300 pages describing the respective biographies from the ghetto to success, the social, cultural and private background where the events took place. Dozens of showbiz characters who in various ways have had to do with these events: from Mike Tyson to Snoop Dogg, from Aerosmith to Madonna, but also a historical overview of the hundreds of deaths, ambushes and shootings that have crossed the world of rap American. If the first famous murder was that of Scott La Rock in 1987, the volume also analyzes the most recent deaths such as that of XXXTentacion in 2018. Between a musical biography, an essay and a crime story, the book leads the reader through a crescendo of suspicions, vendettas and provocations, which then lead to the inevitable conclusion delivered to the story. Honor and settling of scores mix with hip-hop music, poverty, degradation but also African American cultural pride. The preface is by Metal Carter and the afterword by Alberto Castelli.
