JHENE AIKO UNVEILS HER TUPAC SHAKUR BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE

wwetvsports21
Jun 16, 2015
2 min read

(WWETV) June 16th marks the birthday of the legendary Tupac Shakur and over the years he has recieved plenty of tributes, but this year he got one like none other with Jhene Aiko reshooting his iconic pictures.

As an eight year old Jhene Aiko watched the Tupac Shakur documentary "Resurrection" and fell in love with the slain rapper ever since. She released the pictures and tribute through MTV. Below is an excerpt of her interview:

MTV: You recreated three iconic Tupac photos, that we’ve debuted here today. When did you get the inspiration to do re-do these?

Jhené Aiko: I would say like a few years ago. It’s been a few years, but every birthday of his I always want to do something. I feel like I have to give his legacy some type of present. It started off, one time I did a video shoot where they spread his ashes. And it was a coincidence that I was there that day, we were all like, “Wait a minute, this is Tupac’s birthday and we’re here on the same beach.” So after that, it’s been several years since then and every year I want to do something. I wrote a letter one year, I put it on my tumblr. It’s a special day because to me he was such a special person, so this year it was just an idea that me and my team had and I’m passionate about Tupac so it was something and I was like, “Yeah.” It was just random, it just happened on the spot; it was a really good idea for his birthday.

MTV: The pictures came out really dope. Talk about taking these photos. I could only imagine when you do anything ’Pac related there’s pressure, because he has so many fans that love him. Was there pressure?

Aiko: I didn’t necessarily want the pictures to be exactly spot-on because I can’t channel Tupac. He’s so great to me that I don’t even compare myself to him, like I’m trying to be Tupac. That’s not what it is. It’s just that my love for him, I really wanted to do the pictures justice. There were moments, specifically on the All Eyez on Me picture, where I’m sitting on the chair and it was a really uncomfortable position for me because I’m so small. And I’m like, “This picture is not going to look the same as his because I’m not the same body type.” I was nervous about looking too masculine, but then I was like, “You know what? This is ’Pac, let me channel my confidence” because he had all that confidence. I wasn’t worried about what people were going to think, because it’s just a personal thing for me. I’m not doing it for people to be like, “Oh, wow.” For me, it’s just about expressing my gratitude towards him and his legacy.