Chuck D Shares Stories Of Tupac Shakur & Treach Before The Fame

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.