(AllHipHop Features) Lloyd “TaTa” Lake and Reggie Wright are on a mission to expose what they see as a 17 year injustice – the murders of Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace and Tupac Shakur. Unlike previous books and movies that focused on the respective killings of the two Hip Hop legends, Lake and Wright hope to create a film that takes a look at an unexamined possible connection to Pac and Big’s deaths.
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[ALSO READ: New Documentary To Examine The “Cover-Up” Behind The 2Pac & Notorious B.I.G. Murders]
Justice for Tupac and Biggie will be a tell-all documentary that also explores the idea of government informants infiltrating the Hip Hop community and the role those possible FBI sources played in the deaths of Shakur and Wallace.
In particular, Lake proposes that Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight is a longtime informant, and his relationship with the government affected the still officially unsolved murder cases.
In part 1 of an exclusive interview, AllHipHop.com spoke with Lloyd Lake and Reggie Wright to discuss their film that is still in pre-production and how they became part of Suge’s inner circle at one point.
On how they first met Suge Knight
Lloyd Lake: The first time I ever met [Suge] was in ’94 backstage at the Snoop and Dre concert in San Diego. I think it was Buntry at the time… I’m not sure who made the introduction back then, but later on, probably about 2001 when Suge was incarcerated – this is how I met Reggie – CJ Mac did a song dissing Dre called “I Ain’t Fuccin Wit’ Cha.”
The song was a cold diss on Dre. I asked CJ, “What are you doing with that?” He said, “Nothing.” I said, “Do you want me to take it to Death Row and sell it for you?” He said, “If you can.” That’s when I took it up there. I let Reggie hear it, and he took it to Suge. They cut a check within a week or something. That’s how the relationship started with me, Reg and Suge. I was cool with a lot of different guys running around at Death Row, mainly Buntry. That’s how I met Suge.
Reggie Wright: I had a relationship with [Suge] going all the way back to elementary school, junior high, and high school. I played high school football with him. I went into law enforcement, and he went on to have his little career starting off with Al Heymon. Then back in ’95 or ’94, I got information – because we all grew up in the same area – that some guys that were currently working for him were planning to rob him and hold him for extortion for kidnapping, because he was doing real good financially at the time. He investigated it, found it could be true, and then said, “Hey Reg, the only way this is not going to happen is you need to be right here with me to watch my back.”
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On Wright being head of security for Death Row and rumors that Blood gang members were part of Suge’s security team
RW: Suge hired me to be the head of security, and I – who was an active police officer at the time – hired some of my co-workers, friends, and retired/active cops when I formed my security company Wright Way Protective Services. That’s how that started, but we did have guys that we grew up with that worked alongside of us as well. They mainly were for the entourage, hanging out with Suge and not so much for the security part. He had learned from that mistake, which would almost cost him dearly, when Snoop got caught up in his situation. That’s when he learned that maybe I need to go and get professional guys to work for me as well.
On why they are producing the documentary now
LL: I decided that now I have facts and knowledge about a couple of things, and the case developed with people cooperating. I looked at the facts of the case and things that were happening to me, and I said there’s only one conclusion on why nothing ever happened with anything is because [Suge] is a government informant.
I’ve been through the federal system before, and I know how thorough they are. When they decide they’re coming after you, they’re coming after you. I just feel like with everything around the board – there’ve been plenty of crimes. Like a couple of weeks ago, he hit the guy [and the video was posted] on TMZ and threatened his life. I know friends doing life behind stealing a candy bar with two strikes. It’s just certain things that just don’t happen.
I let a few different attorneys look at the situation, and they all said it’s no doubt that this guy is an informant. So now it’s time to speak out. I was around a couple of things he was trying to instigate, so I started feeling like the government uses this guy to create these rap wars. I can’t let it keep happening, knowing what I know. I wouldn’t be right to let it happen.
RW: My reasoning is for a couple of reasons. I have no desire to really talk. I know there have been different DVDs out there by guys that used to work for my security company that were so far away from the basis of the truth. Eventually, the truth has come out I believe.
My reasoning is number one, loyalty to Lloyd Lake. He asked me to help him with his project. The second reason is over the seventeen years a lot of things and different accusations have been said. My kids were younger at the time, so they weren’t really on the Internet or reading, but now that they’re on the Internet, every time these misquotes or misinformation come out. I just wanted to get it cleared up. I know that Suge and some other people are out there trying to do documentaries and movie deals. I want to get my side of the story out before they get their side of the story out.
And then my third reason, and probably the most important reason, is because Suge has been out there slandering my name recently. He also tried to have me incarcerated and had people file police reports against me for making terrorist threats. These things happened back in 2002-2003, but I just learned of them because of how the federal government does when they try to get you to speak on different situations that they know you know about. So they try to show you things that he was doing to me back in those days that I wasn’t aware of.
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On who else will be featured in the documentary
LL: That’s why we’re going to Kickstarter. We need the donations to finish the project, so we can keep creative control. Right now it’s just been lots of attorneys. You can’t get around lawyers that know the justice system inside and out. Their parts in the documentary are strong as far as just telling the law and how things are impossible without cooperation. It’s me, Reggie, and attorneys as of now, but we’re going to go get some rappers and different people for the documentary before we finish like some of the names Pac mentioned in “To Live In Die L.A.” who were around during that time. We also got Suge’s former best friend Buntry’s brother Tim Alton.
RW: And some street people that were around at the time. Suge doesn’t hang with… none of the people that are around him now are people that were associated with him at the time during his heyday. Any of the people named on “To Live And Die In L.A.” aren’t around him currently. Everybody that’s with him now are new booties.
For more information about the Justice for Tupac and Biggie documentary visit kickstarter.com.
Follow Lloyd Lake on Twitter @Lloyd_TataLake
Part 2 of AllHipHop.com’s interview with Lloyd Lake and Reggie Wright will be published tomorrow.
Watch the teaser for Justice for Tupac and Biggie below.