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Suge Knight has claimed that Tupac Shakur’s mother arranged for the rapper’s ashes to be smoked by his close associates.
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The Death Row Records co-founder said the cremation was expedited shortly after Tupac’s death in 1996.
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Members of the Outlawz have previously made similar claims about smoking the rapper’s ashes.
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However, accounts of what happened to Tupac’s remains have been disputed by members of his family.
August 20, (THEWILL) — Suge Knight, co-founder of Death Row Records, has claimed that Afeni Shakur arranged for her son Tupac Shakur’s ashes to be smoked by members of his close circle following the rapper’s death in 1996.
According to a report by TMZ, Knight said Afeni, who died in 2016 aged 69, wanted her son cremated immediately after his death. He claimed he paid $1.2m to have the cremation expedited before Afeni invited Knight, family members and close friends to a Las Vegas hotel room, where the ashes were allegedly rolled into blunts.
Knight said he did not take part because he was on probation at the time.
The account adds to longstanding claims about what happened to Shakur’s remains after his death. Young Noble, a member of the rapper’s group Outlawz, said in a 2024 interview with The Art of Dialogue that members of the group smoked Shakur’s ashes, linking the act to lyrics from their collaboration “Black Jesuz”.
“It’s something the Native Americans did. That’s where it came from,” E.D.I. Mean said, adding that Shakur had learned about the practice from Native American friends.
He also recalled Shakur asking the group: “Wouldn’t it be some shit if one of us died just so we’re always a part of each other?”
However, accounts of what happened to Shakur’s remains have not been consistent. Some members of his family have disputed the claim that his ashes were smoked.
A portion of his remains was reportedly scattered in the Pacific Ocean off Malibu, while a gravesite associated with Shakur remains in Lumberton, North Carolina, where his mother was born.
Knight’s latest comments come amid renewed attention surrounding the circumstances of Shakur’s death. The rapper was shot on 7 September 1996 while travelling as a passenger in Knight’s BMW on the Las Vegas Strip. He died from his injuries six days later, aged 25.
Knight has previously spoken publicly about events surrounding Shakur’s death, but his latest comments concern the handling of the rapper’s remains rather than the ongoing legal proceedings over his killing.
The differing accounts from Knight, Outlawz members and Shakur’s family mean the precise circumstances surrounding the disposition of all of the rapper’s remains remain contested.
Segun Adeyemi serves as the Associate Editor of THEWILL Newspaper, leveraging more than ten years of editorial expertise and a proven track record in mainstream journalism.
