Tupac Shakur in 1993.
Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesA selection of rare and unpublished photos of Tupac Shakur at the release party for his debut album are being released as non-fungible tokens.
The 18 NFTs are being offered up by hip-hop journalist and photographer Lawrence “Loupy D” Dotson, and they’re being sold on the NFT platform, OpenSea. Seventeen of the 18 NFTs are original photos of Shakur, while the 18th is a “Super NFT” collage comprising the other 17 photos. The NFTs will each come with a framed print of the photo signed by Dotson, and part of the proceeds will be used to plant trees in Tupac’s hometown.
Dotson took the photographs in 1992 at the release party for Tupac’s debut, 2Pacalypse Now, in Los Angeles. Dotson had met Tupac not long before that: He was an up-and-coming photographer and journalist and was walking around L.A. selling copies of a magazine, No Sellout, and he managed to get one issue into Tupac’s hands after spotting the rapper drinking alone at a bar. Tupac then invited Dotson to the 2Pacalypse Now release party.
“I bought a disposable, black and white 35mm camera from the Thriftys on the corner of La Brea and Rodeo,” Dotson remembered. “Later that night I got to Glam Slam, Prince’s old club on Boylston Street downtown. I couldn’t wait to see this brotha perform. I loved the energy he put out on stage as a backup dancer for Digital Underground; the same with his performance in the video when he dropped the verse on ‘Same Song.’ I knew that he was going to give it up that night for his debut release party. Surprisingly, there weren’t many people at the show: mostly industry execs and a few heads from the underground community.”
Dotson developed, but never published, the photos he took that night, but during his years as a substitute teacher, he would often show them to students as a reward for good behavior. But Dotson admits he was never sure what to do with the photos, although he now says, along with selling the NFTs, he wants to “create a traveling exhibit of the collection” to show them around the world.
“[W]hen you look at these photos you can see it in his eyes: the determination, the passion, the swagger, the shine,” Dotson said. “These photos show a side of the man not many people got to see. This ‘Pac wasn’t covered in jewels and Versace; this ‘Pac was humble and hungry. He knew what he going for on stage that night, and that was to become the legend that he is.”
NEWS
Rise Against have released a new single, ‘Nod’, their first new music since 2022.
The new track kicks off the punk band’s “inspired next chapter” and was produced by Catherine Marks. “I swear to God this can’t wait,” vocalist and lyricist Tim McIlrath sings at the top of the song’s chorus. “Not one more minute, one more day.”
“Nod is about the solace we find in community,” said McIlrath in a press release. “It’s about the comfort in knowing that we are not alone. This comfort can temper our anger and our frustration, at least temporarily.”
‘Nod’ follows the band’s 2021 album ‘Nowhere Generation’. It was followed by an EP titled ‘Nowhere Sessions’ which included live versions of songs from the album.
Tracks such as ‘Talking To Ourselves’, ‘Broken Dreams, Inc.’ and the LP’s titular single were re-imagined as live recordings, as well as a cut of their 2008 song ‘Savior’ and covers of Misfits‘ ‘Hybrid Moments’ and Creedence Clearwater Revival‘s ‘Fortunate Son’.
Check out ‘Nod’ below:
the release of ‘Nod’ arrives just before Rise Against head out on a UK and European tour alongside L.S. Dunes and Sondaschule.
They’ll kick off the shows on January 28 in Dublin, before heading to Belfast on 29. Then, in February, they’ll head to Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Zurich and more, before wrapping up the tour in Vienna on February 22.
The tour also includes stops at London’s O2 Brixton Academy, Manchester’s O2 Victoria Warehouse and Birmingham’s O2 Academy on February 6, 8 and 9 respectively. You can find a full list of dates further down. You can find tickets to the UK and Ireland dates here.
JANUARY
28 – 3Olympia – Dublin, Ireland
29 – Telegraph – Belfast, Northern Ireland
FEBRUARY
2 – L’Olympia – Paris, France
4 – O13 – Tillburg, Netherlands
5 – Forrest National – Brussels, Belgium
6 – O2 Brixton Academy – London, UK
8 – O2 Victoria Warehouse – Manchester, UK
9 – O2 Academy – Birmingham, UK
12 – Velodrom – Berlin, Germany
14 – Mitsubishi Electric Hall – Düsseldorf, Germany
15 – Sporthalle – Hamburg, Germany
17 – Zenith – Munich, Germany
18 – myticket Jahrhunderthalle – Frankfurt, Germany
21 – Volkshaus, Zurich, Switzerland
22 –Stadthalle – Vienna, Austria
