Nachdem 2Pac letztes Jahr als Neuzugang für die Rock and Roll Hall of Fame bestätigt worden war, fand dieses Wochenende in New York die feierliche Einführung statt. Er ist nach den Gruppen Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Run-D.M.C., Public Enemy, den Beastie Boys und N.W.A der erste einzelne Rapper, dem diese Ehre zuteil wird. Snoop Dogg hielt eine fast neun Minuten lange Rede über seinen verstorbenen Freund (Video und Text weiter unten).

2Pac sei ein Teil sowohl der Hiphop-Geschichte als auch der amerikanischen Geschichte und unter anderem wegen seiner Menschlichkeit der größte Rapper aller Zeiten. Snoop fand auch einige Worte zum Gedenken an Afeni Shakur, die 2016 verstorbene Mutter seines Freundes, und erzählte Anekdoten aus seinen Zeiten mit Pac.

Später zollten Snoop, YG, Alicia Keys, Treach von Naughty by Nature und T.I. der Rap-Legende Tribut und performten einige seiner größten Hits:

2017 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame - Complete Tupac tribute by Alicia Keys, Snoop Dog & YG

Barclays Center, 4-7-17, Brooklyn, NY

2017 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame - Complete Tupac tribute by Treach, Snoop Dog & T.I.

Barclays Center, 4-7-17, Brooklyn, NY

Regram from @alleyezmovie 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted wit @yg RIP Pac

77.4k Likes, 1,107 Comments - @snoopdogg on Instagram: "Regram from @alleyezmovie 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted wit @yg RIP Pac "

Kip Smithers on Twitter

T.I. performing "Keep Ya Head Up" for the Tupac induction #RockHall2017 https://t.co/uneh3QwceS

UniversalAttractions on Twitter

Treach of Naughty By Nature performs "Hail Mary" for Tupac's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. #RockHall2017 https://t.co/9xYYL8HnSH

That's just the way it is, things will never be the same @aliciakeys honoring @2pac at Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Ceremony #RRHOF2017 (I have the same birthday as Tupac)

57 Likes, 7 Comments - Leah Bromley (@leah_bromley) on Instagram: "That's just the way it is, things will never be the same @aliciakeys honoring @2pac at Rock &..."

Instagram post by @snoopdogg * Apr 8, 2017 at 12:58am UTC

69.9k Likes, 440 Comments - @snoopdogg on Instagram

Instagram post by @snoopdogg * Apr 9, 2017 at 6:41am UTC

164.3k Likes, 918 Comments - @snoopdogg on Instagram

Guess you just had to be there.... Y'all young,forever commentating,over-opinionated muuuufuckaz got shit to say ALWAYS!!! When the Biggie shit went left because a muuuufucka from YALL Generation forgot the words y'all had a fuckin FIT!!! Now some Real ni66az wit Real love in they hearts get up & dedicate themselves to honor the legacy of a True American HipHop Rock&Roll Legend,that would make Him & His Family Proud.... It's some negative shit to be said about that as well... Well just let me say Thank You to @snoopdogg @yg #Tretch #Edi @aliciakeys for honoring my favorite artist of all time & @hbo for allowing US the opportunity to do so. It was an amazing night to remember. A real G was inducted into the Rock&Roll Hall Of Fame,& Everybody who was alive during this Era was satisfied. And THATS ALL THAT MATTERS!!!! This is OUR ERA...We determine whats what wit THIS SHIT HERE!!! So FUCK WHOEVER DONT LIKE IT!!!! We reject your deposit!!! Now Peace to da real OGs death to a Sucka,We OUT!!! - drops mic #RIPTupac #WelcomeToTheRockandRollHallofFame

146.1k Likes, 6,197 Comments - TIP (@troubleman31) on Instagram: "Guess you just had to be there.... Y'all young,forever commentating,over-opinionated muuuufuckaz..."

Last night was unreal, @snoopdogg kalled in and told me It was only right I help them induct TUPAC into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. It was a honor 4sure & I still Kant believe it. Not to many real ones left...... But R.I.P & KONGRATS 2 the GOAT....... What you left out here is all in our veins my nigga! @snoopdogg you next OG

12.2k Likes, 240 Comments - YG (@yg) on Instagram: "Last night was unreal, @snoopdogg kalled in and told me It was only right I help them induct TUPAC..."

Compton's in the House!! #rockandrollhalloffame

143.1k Likes, 19.3k Comments - Dr. Dre (@drdre) on Instagram: "Compton's in the House!! #rockandrollhalloffame"

Snoop Doggs Rede

2017 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Snoop Dogg Inducts Tupac Shakur - Complete Speech

Barclays Center, 4-7-17, Brooklyn, NY

I can't believe it's been 21 years since we actually got to hear Tupac, not the one clip on YouTube, not the hologram, Tupac Amaru Shakur the human being. Twenty-one years ago, Tupac Shakur was taken from all of us. He was only twenty-five years old, too. Dare me to say that he was gone too soon. When I sat down to gather my thoughts about my late and great, my homie and my brother there's one thought that kept coming back: Tupac was actually really good. While many remember him now as some kind of thugged out superhero, Tupac really was only good and he represented through his music like no one before. It's the fact that he never shied away from it. He wore it like a badge of honor. With an unapologetic voice, Pac embraced those contradictions that proved we ain't just a character out of someone else's story book. To be human is to be many things at once. Strong and bold. Hard headed and intellectual. Courageous and afraid. Loving and vengeful. Revolutionary and – oh, yeah I'm getting fucked up.

So, while we may be here to celebrate one of music's most prolific and outspoken artists as he's rightfully enshrined as one of the greatest musicians to ever do it, I'm here to make sure that Pac is remembered the way he would have wanted to be: a strong black man who stood up. Not somebody who acted like a rapper, but as a human. That's what made Tupac an amazing actor on the big screen in movies like, 'Above the Rim' and 'Juice.' That's what made him so engaged with everything he ever did. Both before and after his death. That's what made Tupac the greatest rapper of all time.

But to me, Tupac was first and foremost a homeboy. We shared a whole lot in common. The way our journey started together. We were both born in the same [neighborhood in] '71. He released his first single track from his scorcher first album '2pacalypse Now' in late 1991. Not even a year later I would make my debut alongside Dr. Dre on the song, 'G Thang.' I finally got a chance to meet Pac in 1993 at a wrap party in L.A. And on that night, Pac passed me my first blunt. That's right, Tupac is the one that got Snoop Dogg smoking weed. I was a zig-zag man before that shit. We became very good friends quickly thereafter.

Then, in 1995, I told Suge Knight, I said, 'Suge get Pac out of prison and have him come join our team at Death Row Records.' He never had a team before. It was always just him. Now, with us it was like he joined the Lakers. Dre was the coach and me and Pac were the stars on the court making history every which side. We were young, rich, and rock stars but we were also young men black men with targets on our back. We were catching cases simultaneously. That's why when we got together we really were two of America's most wanted. He had just gotten out of jail. I had just beat my case. I get a white Rolls Royce with that creamy white interior and Pac, he went out and bought a black one with the same thing.

He put me up on a lot of brand shit like Gucci and Versace and shit I can't even pronounce. I got that penthouse suite on Wilshire, then two weeks later Pac got the one right across the hall from me. Neighbors, you dig? We had no peers besides one another. Just two black boys struggling to become men. I never shared this story before but it really speaks to our journey. I had just beat my case and Suge had taken us to South America to get away from all the drama and me and Pac was parasailing. You heard right. Snoop Dogg and Tupac parasailing together. You got to remember I had just beat my case and Pac had just got out of prison. Does anybody know what parasailing is? Because we damn sure didn't. Me and Pac were sitting on the edge of the boat with all this gear and shit on and all of sudden the boat pulls away and we start floating and slammed up into the water like boom. I don't know what was in there. Sharks, or octopus or whatever, I'm like, man.

It was crazy because not only did we think we're on top of the world at that time we actually were on top of the world. Floating around in style then all of sudden Pac started telling me about some movie idea he had about me being the main star. He was saying some shit. I wasn't paying attention because I was like, 'we're too high.' I mean the shit he was saying to me at that moment was different, though. He saw me as an actor. He saw more potential in me than I saw in myself and it’s funny because after he passed away I started getting a lot of movie roles and all this stuff. Pac was looking out for us even after he was gone.

That's the thing with Pac. When he loves, he loves hard. Whether that was him loving black people, him loving his homies, him loving his record label, and of course him loving his beautiful and incredibly strong mother the late Afeni Shakur. Memories of Ms. Shakur are embedded in my mind. Right after I heard Tupac got shot I immediately flew to Vegas. I was so weak I damn near fell over and his mom came over to me and she grabbed me and she held up and she said, 'Baby, you to to be strong.' I went and sat next to him and I whispered to him telling him I love him and to hold on and he was going to be OK and even in that moment his mom was thinking more about me than herself and showed me how to love strongly. I mean it was amazing that his momma was so strong and loved so hard.

I realized that Pac was taught how to love at a very early age and through his music he shared the love with all of us and that's ultimately why we're here tonight. Pac's apart of history for a reason because he made history. He’s hip hop history. He’s American history and just like in school the more research you do on history the more information that you have. So do your research. I'm not talking about Pac the rapper, I'm not talking about Tupac the actor, I’m talking about Tupac the human being. So with that said, we’d all like to officially welcome Tupac Shakur to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

You will always be the best. You will live on forever. Legends always do. They can't take this away from you, homie. I love you, Tupac. Welcome to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.