Either Vibe has a misguided interest in 2pac’s life or they’re trying to get people to pick up their magazine… or both. In either scenario, their latest features a candid interview with Allen Hughes, who had a heavily documented altercation with the late rapper in 1993.

In it, Hughes takes shots at a dead man. breaks years of silence and “frustration,” by telling his side of the story.

Excerpts below:

“The biggest misnomer is that me and Tupac got into any fight. It was me and 12 Crips that he got to jump me. He didn’t do shit,” Allen claims. “Tupac didn’t lay a hand on me. I had my hands on him. But there was not a physical fight between me and Tupac. It was a physical fight between me and 12 gangbangers. I believe they are called the Rolling 40s and they rolled me up pretty good.

“Tupac was an artist. Tupac was not a gangbanger. Tupac could not fight to save his motherfucking life. I know that for a fact. He was an immensely gifted person and he was far, far, from a thug.” He lets out a deep sigh. “I think that’s just years of frustration that just came out.”

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You just kinda wish they would release the whole damn thing without all the frickin’ desire to keep people in suspense.

If it’s a great interview, it’s because of what he said… not because of who was conducting it.

You can barely hear the questions being asked and again, it’s basically consistent with everything he said at that time.

Shame they had to fold before releasing this video. There’s no telling how viable they would have become had someone had the cajones to drop it when it mattered.

For the record, there’s more talk in this particular clip about how rappers and execs from the East Coast threw darts at him. Pac offers that he was willing to walk away from the drama and said as much in the VIBE cover he was featured in, but was ignited to attack with full force when another issue came out four months later. It was predominantly filled with interviews and opinions from many of the people he claimed had wronged him in the first place.

VIDEO INSIDE!

In this, the second part of VIBE.com’s so called “Lost interview” (guess they just stumbled upon it on the 13th year anniversary of his death right? fuck outta here), 2pac speaks on the shooting that made his and the Biggie’s beef, well, notorious.

He basically refers to Biggie as his little brother and asks any intelligent student of hip hop to study the game and the culture within.

He then challenges us (them) to determine why he reacted the way he did to the vicious shooting where he was damn near left him for dead.

Ironically, whenever I’ve explained my position as to why Pac was angry about being shot five times, Biggie fans insist he was paranoid or whatever. My retort has always been that one, he wasn’t and two, as a BOSS, Biggie had no answers. Neither did Puff or anybody else in the building. Bosses know.

Pac puts those thoughts in his own words, with the violent eloquence he’s known for and accentuates his point by insisting he’d pulled off similar feats for others, including Wu Tang Clan members.

This interview is pretty consistent with any other one he did during that era… Not so sure what makes it so special because someone lost it for thirteen years.

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U mad?

After taking in VIBE’s issue that proclaimed Eminem as the greatest rapper alive, Irv Gotti felt the need to go against the grain. In a brief interview with MTV, the Murder Inc (The Inc?) impresario made it his business to dismiss the rapper’s street credibility. He does note Em’s ability to deliver a good rhyme, but allows he would not have made it as a rapper on the streets of NY.

“No disrespect, you’re a great lyricist, but I come from a school — I know they ‘battled’ in 8 Mile — but I come from where they battled on the streets with guns out,” the head of Murder Inc. said. “They would have put you under pressure. All that ‘off the top,’ they would have put you under pressure. I been to battles with X, Jay and Ja, that was some real shit. Homie, you wouldn’t been able to survive…”

Irv cements his point by drawing a parallel to the respective routes he and Jay Z have taken to rap glory.

“I look at the singles he put out. They’re all good, but they only work for him,” Irv said. “I say take Eminem, and let him say ‘Hard Knock Life.’ Still hot. Now let’s have Jay-Z say the ‘We Made You’ song. They would laugh him out the fucking building. It would be over.”