Mike Tyson fought Bruce Sheldon 14 years ago today. Tupac was shot on that same night and later died 7 days later. Today is the 14 year anniversary of those events. ESPN aired an amazing documentary tonight by film maker Reggie ‘Rock’ Bythewood. I had the pleasure of interviewing Reggie Rock and talking about this historic night that changed the life of many American. The night 2 of the 90’s most influential figures changed pop culture forever.
XILLA: What was the most eye opening thing you found out while filming this documentary?
REGGIE ROCK: ‘Well you know I think some of it was not just all the facts, but looking at things that I never looked at it before. You know, just the fact that this was the last recording session that ‘Pac ever did. When he went into the studio to record a song for mike to walk in the ring, like I never thought of it before or put it together like that before. Also, this was the last time that mike walked out of the ring as champion. You know, 6 weeks later he fought Evander Holyfield and just did not seem to be the same guy. Just kind of examining it and kind of just hearing what mike’s thoughts are about this night, what mike thought about his friendship with ‘Pac. All those sort of character things that they had to say, just really put a different spin on things for me.’
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XILLA: After ‘Pac passed away, there was a lot of speculation that he was still alive after he died. Did you touch on that in the documentary and what are your thoughts on the “’Pac is still alive” theory?
REGGIE ROCK: ‘Nah, I mean you know listen, before we even started, we went to the Shakur center, and I sat with Afeni Shakur. And the other thing that’s interesting, this was 14 years ago, but when you talk to people about it, it’s present in their eyes as if it just happened yesterday. This is not a documentary that really tries to sensationalize the events tha happened that night. It’s just really, we really capture the culture, the climate, but we also are just trying to be a little bit deeper and just looking to peel back some of the layers of ‘Pac and some of the layers of Mike. But my theory is that he passed away, I mean, I sat with his aunt, I met with Afeni, his brother Mo’ Preme is in the film. And another person in the film is a guy named Jamal Joseph, who in many ways a little brother to Afeni the Black Panther party, and you know, if you’re asking if maybe these guys are faking it, absolutely not.’
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This documentary is about 2 icons, 2 legends who shape the late 80s and 90s, and this generation, what were you looking for when mapping together your vision of this film.
REGGIE ROCK ‘The thing is, so many people look at mike, and so many people look at ‘Pac, like they were these superhuman beings. We even used graphic novel animation at times in the film, just to play along with the idea that these are some iconic superhuman people, and as the film progresses, we peel it back away because the reality is, they were human, they were mortal, with flaws, weaknesses, and strengths. So that was pretty much the approach to it. But the thing about it that’s
