Tupac's Mom Speaks Out

In the seven years since Tupac Shakur died, several unauthorized biographies and films have been released about the slain rapper. But his mother, Afeni Shakur, executive produced the current documentary Tupac: Resurrection, which she feels is a more accurate portrayal than we've seen before.

Tupac: Resurrection uses actual sound bites from Tupac's interviews. "People who did not know him on a one-on-one basis will discover Tupac," Shakur says. "The people that knew him will sit there and think that Tupac is talking individually to them. The good thing is that you sit there and you see every aspect of Tupac's personality."

Naturally, she's a little annoyed that others jumped the gun with their own versions of Tupac's life story. For her, it was important to take the time to do it right. "It is painful that people maybe don't have enough faith that I will do the right thing by my son," she says. "I'm just a little hurt by that. I said in '96 that I was committed to putting my son's music and his work out in an organized, rational way.

"This is seven years later, and I feel comfortable that is what we have done," she continues. "We tried very hard to be honest and to have integrity about this project, because that is the way we give honor to Tupac."

Years after the fatal shooting of her 25-year-old son, this mother's grief is still palpable. She still feels that his words are very powerful and deserve to be heard. "He had a huge personality and was an extremely passionate person," she insists. "He had a lot to say and a lot of opinions. We wanted to make it possible for him to be able to speak, and not feel as though death had robbed him of his opportunity to be before the world. For [his family], it was like, 'Tupac would have wanted this, so we've got to do this.'"