2pac California Love

Tupac Confession “A Flat-Out Lie”

A lawyer has dismissed a claim from convicted murderer Dexter Isaac that he shot Tupac Shakur in 1994, two years before he was killed.

The California Love star was robbed and shot five times in November 1994. The case was never solved, but this week Isaac wrote a letter from prison confessing to the crime . It in, he claimed Tupac’s former associate, music exec Jimmy ‘Henchman’ Rosemond , paid him $2,500 to make the hit.

Isaac, who is serving a life sentence for murder, wrote: "I want to apologise to [Tupac’s] family and for the mistake I did for that sucker [Rosemond]. I am trying to clean it up to give [Tupac and Notorious B.I.G .'s] mothers some closure.

"In 1994, James Rosemond hired me to rob Tupac Shakur at the Quad Studio. He gave me $2,500, plus all the jewellery I took, except for one ring which he wanted for himself. It was the biggest of the two diamond rings that we took… I still have as proof that chain we took that night in the robbery."

But Isaac’s lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman has dismissed the confession. "It's a flat-out lie," he told the New York Daily News. "Dexter Isaac is not claiming this 17 years later to clear his conscience. He's doing it because he's told anybody who will listen he doesn't want to die in prison. He has kids and wants to work off his sentence. He can't be trusted."

The confession marred celebrations for what would have been Tupac’s 40th birthday on 16 June. Erykah Badu and Rick Ross were among stars who performed at a memorial concert in Atlanta.

Alex Turner: Tupac's California Love is my karaoke tune of choice ...

When Alex Turner first entered our consciousness six years ago, he was the scruffy, loveable Sheffield urchin singing clever songs about Asbo teens and fumbling nightclub romances. Nowadays, he’s one of Britain’s biggest rock stars, with a glamorous celebrity girlfriend (TV presenter Alexa Chung ) and homes in fashionable Shoreditch and even more fashionable Brooklyn. Has it changed him?

‘It is quite heavy,’ says Turner.  ‘I think that’s because of the way we wrote it. On the last album, which we recorded with Josh Homme , we deliberately went into the studio with unfinished songs, an open mind and a desire to experiment. This time we made sure all the songs were fully written and well rehearsed before we got in the studio. We virtually played this album live in the studio and finished it all in just over two weeks. So that meant we could really concentrate on beefing up the guitar sounds.’

You sometimes have to remind yourself that Alex Turner is still only 25. In a short professional life, he’s released four chart-topping albums with the Arctic Monkeys, formed another hit-making band (The Last Shadow Puppets, with his friend Miles Kane from The Rascals), written short stories (one of which he read on Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders’s compilation album) and collaborated with Dizzee Rascal (on the track Temptation). Earlier this year, he wrote the soundtrack for Richard Ayoade’s acclaimed  film Submarine.

‘I never had any grand plan to write a soundtrack,’ he says. ‘It was more of a favour for Richard, a good friend who’s directed several of our videos. The initial idea was to do some cover versions on an acoustic guitar, like in a Wes Anderson movie. But instead we decided  to do completely original material, like Paul Simon’s songs for The Graduate. It was all very stripped down, just recorded on one microphone, with an acoustic guitar or a piano and the kind of boxy drums that the Kinks use on the  Lola Versus Powerman album.’

Does your accent ever stray when you do karaoke? ‘I’m afraid it does,’ says Turner. ‘My karaoke tune of choice is Tupac’s California Love. Me and me drummer, Matt, we also do a good Eminem and Dr Dre, Guilty Conscience, and a mean version of R Kelly’s Bump N’ Grind. But I’m almost ashamed to admit that I do rap in an American accent when I’m doing karaoke. Maybe I should try and do Tupac in a Yorkshire accent. That’ll be interesting.

Tupac Shakur Songs, I Ain't Mad at Cha, California Love, Hit 'em Up, Dear Mama, Brenda's Got a Baby, How Do U Want It, Ghetto Gospel

Tupac Shakur, the life and times of an American icon

LAbyrinth, a detective investigates the murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., the implication of Death Row Records' Suge Knight, and the origins of the Los Angeles Police scandal

1990s Hip Hop Songs, Tupac Shakur Songs, I Ain't Mad at Cha, California Love, Hit 'em Up, Dear Mama, Brenda's Got a Baby, How Do U Want It

In the Shadow of Freedom, A Heroic Journey to Liberation, Manhood, and America