It’s always nice to hear a bit of hip hop history, and this story comes courtesy of Public Enemy icon Chuck D. He’s recently made headlines over his hoax-non-hoax with Flavor Flav, revealing to People’s Party with Talib Kweli that their recent Bernie Sanders controversy wasn’t real. Also during the talk with Talib Kweli’s podcast, Chuck revealed a few tales about the early days of Tupac Shakur and Naughty By Nature rapper Treach, and how they began as good friends on the road working for other artists as they awaited their big breaks.

“Tupac was like a little brother with us,” Chuck D said. “He was the dude carrying bags for Digital Underground, but also, Shock G would let him get a little rhyme time if they expanded the show out. Remember, Public Enemy, our responsibility was to bring other cats on the show. So, on that tour in 1990, it was us and Heavy D bringing everybody around.”

“Pac and Treach were both carrying bags for [Queen] Latifah and Digital Underground,” the rapper added, noting that he was first introduced to Treach by Latifah as “Treacherous.” Chuck said he would tell Pac and Treach not to “f*ck up” because “we ain’t coming to save your ass.” Later, Tupac got his big break when he finally got a verse on Digital Underground’s classic hit “Same Song.”

“It was a wonderful joy seeing them young men enjoying their coming out,” Chuck D continued. “These guys were going to be stars, and they were buddies, that’s why what happened to Pac, it seriously affected Treach. They were rookies and the next years they were stars. That was a joy.” The Public Enemy icon appreciated watching these two hip hop legends build their careers from nothing as they worked their way up the ranks. 

Sadly, we all know that Tupac Shakur would never reach his full potential as he was gunned down in 1996 at 25-years-old, but his imprint on the music industry as a whole refuses to be ignored. Check out Chuck D chatting about the early days of Tupac and Naughty By Nature rapper Treach below.

“Now, what y’all wanna do? Wanna be ballers? Shot-callers? Brawlers?” You don’t have to be a fan of hip hop to know where those lyrics are pulled from. “It’s All About the Benjamins” dropped way back when in 1997, but it’s still a relevant hip hop, party jam. The Deric “D-Dot” Angelettie-produced classic had multiple versions that featured Diddy, Notorious B.I.G., Jadakiss, Sheek Louch, and Lil Kim. Diddy’s bars are some of the most memorable from “It’s All About the Benjamins,” and Jadakiss talked about penning Puff Daddy’s lines during a recent visit with People’s Party with Talib Kweli.

According to Jadakiss, he was just minding his business, spittin’ a few bars when Diddy overheard him. “I already had that rhyme,” the rapper said of Diddy’s verse. “He heard it and was like, ‘Nah, that’s me. Let me get that rhyme right there. He took that and put that on ‘Benjamins.’ Me and [Sheek Louch] didn’t like the ‘Benjamins.’ He almost forced us to record the verses that we have on there. We didn’t really understand what that beat…it [didn’t] grasp us at the time. We wasn’t eager to just record it.”

Yet, Diddy had a vision and knew it would be a hit. “That’s what makes Diddy Diddy,” Jadakiss added. “That really was like, our first commercial and ‘hood hit that catapulted us besides the mixtape stuff that we was doing.” Diddy’s final “All About the Benjamins” verse wasn’t how it was initially penned, because Jadakiss also revealed that the rap mogul “did about four versions of it.”

Check out what else Jadakiss had to say below, including bits about Mase writing for Kanye and how he felt about being mentioned in Yeezy‘s 2005 hit “Touch the Sky.”

In an alternate universe, Tupac Shakur starred in Menace II Society. In our real world, however, the late rapper didn’t make an appearance. The classic film is a favorite to millions, and during a talk with People’s Party with Talib Kweli, MC Eiht shared that early on, Tupac was hand-picked for the role of Sharif. The part would later go to Vonte Sweet, so Eiht explained why Tupac was booted from the film.

“The Hughes brothers worked all of Pac’s earlier sh*t,” Eiht said. “‘Brenda Got a Baby,’ all that sh*t. So they knew him [and] knew he was difficult to work with, but I think New Line [Cinema] wanted him in the movie. Juice, Poetic Justice, you know, and y’all have a relationship with him… We want him. So, who knows what happened, but, okay. We’ll get him in the movie. I don’t think it was the plan to keep him in the movie. We all know Pac, very vocal. Very outspoken.”

According to MC Eiht, Tupac questioned why he was cast as Sharif when everyone else got to be gangbangers. The rapper wanted the movie producers to give his character more of a backstory so that the audience knew why he was the “voice of reason.” The film’s production team didn’t have time for that. Tupac in turn, allegedly, made the table readings difficult because he wouldn’t participate. Soon, Vonte took his place.

MC Eiht said that he thinks Tupac was given the role of Sharif because they knew he would fight it and they’d have a way to get rid of him. Check out the full clip of MC Eiht chatting about Tupac Shakur on People’s Party with Talib Kweli below.  

His name may be mentioned in the media regularly, but Matt Barnes insists that he does his best to try and “lay low.” The former NBA star is known for his controversial statement, court cases with his ex Gloria Govan, or his public breakup with his most recent girlfriend Anansa Sims. Still, Matt told Hollywood Unlocked that he really is the type of person who wants to live his life on his own terms away from the spotlight.

After speaking at length about his friend Kobe Bryant, giving Kobe his last interview, and what being at the basketball icon’s Celebration of Life ceremony was like, Matt discussed his personal life. He shared that because his breakup with Gloria was “so public and nasty,” he wanted his split from Anansa to be quieter and more civil.

He and Anansa apparently went to college together and ran into each other years later. Matt says they were “irresponsible” and had unprotected sex, but he’s blessed to have their son. “We broke up at the end of December, but it didn’t really hit until the end of January,” Matt said. “I really didn’t want to ruffle the feathers.”

While there have been previous reports of Matt and Gloria being at odds, he states that they’re in a much better place currently. He hopes that one day he and Anansa can “be friends” and get back “on a regular schedule” with their son. Check out Matt Barnes’ full interview with Hollywood Unlocked below.