Tupac Amaru Shakur would’ve turned 50-year-old today.
Jada Pinkett Smith Posts Never-Before-Seen Poem From Tupac Shakur
Wednesday (June 16) marks 50 years today since the lcon was born. To celebrate the occasion, Jada Pinkett Smith took to Instagram ahead of his birthday on Tuesday to share never-before-seen poem that was handwritten by the late rapper.
Jada shared in an Instagram video, showing off the handwritten poem by her longtime friend, who died in 1996.
"As we prepare to celebrate his legacy … let’s remember him for that which we loved most … his way with words. Here are a few you may have never heard before✨ Happy “you goin’n to be 50 at midnight” Birthday Pac! 😆 I got next😜P.s I was planning to post tomorrow which is why the video says today is Pac’s bday. But I decided to start earlyyyyy✨."
"Pac wrote me many letters and many poems. And I don't think this has ever been published honestly," the Red Table Talkhost said of the poem titled "Lost Soulz." She said he later dropped a song by the same name, but believes he wrote this piece while incarcerated at Rikers Island in New York.
"I don't think he would have minded that I shared this with you guys," Jada said before reciting the poem aloud.
Close friends with 2Pac after meeting in high school at the Baltimore School for the Arts, Jada Pinkett Smith was deeply effected by his death after being killed in a drive-by shooting on September 13, 1996. During an episode of her Red Table Talk show in 2018, she opened up about 2Pac no longer being around.
“I’ve had a lot of loss,” she said. “So many of my close friends gone. They didn’t make it to 30. They didn’t make it past 25. A lot of people talk about my relationship with Pac and figure that out. That was a huge loss I my life.”
She added, “Because he was one of those people I expected to be here. My upset is more anger because I feel like he left me. And I know that’s not true and it’s a very selfish way to think about it… I really did believe he’d be here for the long run. And when I think about it I still get really mad.”