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Young Noble revealed on The Art of Dialogue podcast that it was Tupac Shakur's mother, Afeni Shakur, who made the final call to end the rapper's life. The Outlawz member and Tupac's friend appeared on the podcast on Saturday, December 14, 2024, as a guest.
It was during his conversation with the host that the topic of Tupac's shooting and death was brought up. As he recounted the incident, Noble said that the rapper could have survived his gunshot wounds but Afeni Shakur chose to take him off life support.
"That sh*t is devastating. She let her son go. Pac ain’t die. Afeni said, 'Let my son fly.' That’s it. Bruh, can you imagine that? A guy as amazing as him. The world in his f**king palms. His mama like, 'F**k that. Let him go. Let him fly. Y’all don’t even f**kin' deserve him'."
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Young Noble added in his interview that Shakur's decision to end her son's life was rooted in her unwillingness to let Tupac endure any more pain.
"He probably could have lived. His mama said, 'Nah, f**k all that.' I think he lost his finger. I think he was gonna lose a lung, trying to do all these surgeries. You know how strong your mama gotta be to say, 'Damn, he probably could make it. I don’t want my son to endure no more pain in this world. Y’all tear him down'."
Born as Alice Williams, in January 1947, Afeni Shakur was a political activist from North Carolina. She moved to New York with her sister and mother at the age of 11 and joined the Black Panther Party ten years later when their Harlem office was opened.
Afeni Shakur changed her name after marrying Lumumba Shakur
Alice Williams, now known as Afeni Shakur moved to South Bronx in New York, before she completed her schooling with high grades, qualifying for honors. In 1962, Williams was admitted into the Bronx High School of Performing Arts, dropping out after the first term because she couldn't afford the art supplies.
Following college, Williams briefly worked at a postal job, becoming one of the first woman mail carriers in New York. In 1968, she joined the Black Panther Party, where she met Lumumba Shakur. The couple got married later that year, after which Alice changed her name to Afeni Shakur.
She was soon appointed as a section leader of the party's Harlem chapter and mentored the new joiners, including Jamal Joseph.
A year later, Afeni was arrested with 20 other party members on charges of conspiracy to bomb police stations and other public places across New York. Her trial lasted for eight months, during which she got pregnant and gave birth to Tupac Shakur.
Following her acquittal, Afeni didn't return to Black Panther. Soon after Tupac's birth - who was named Lesane Parish Crooks at the time - Afeni's marriage with Lumumba fell apart, as he realized Tupac wasn't his biological son.
Four years later, in 1975, Afeni Shakur married Mutulu Shakur. The couple got divorced seven years later, leading Afeni to move to Baltimore, Maryland, with her family in 1984.
In Baltimore, Afeni Shakur struggled with a drug problem, which led to Tupac leaving her home. The mother-son duo went through a strained phase in their relationship as Afeni worked on battling her addiction.
Tupac reconciled with his mother in the early 1990s, when she became clean, and also paid her a tribute in his 1995 song, Dear Mama.
Afeni Shakur was by her son's side when he died
When Tupac Shakur died in Las Vegas on September 13, 1996, the rapper's mother was by his side and got him cremated the very next day. A year later, Afeni founded the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation - an organization to provide art programs for young people in Georgia.
Afeni Shakur passed away in May 2016, after suffering a cardiac arrest in her home; she was 69 at the time.
During his appearance on The Art of Dialogue podçast, Young Noble also reflected on the conspiracy theories about Tupac still being alive. He confirmed that the rapper "really died" and was "really in the hospital." He added that he saw Tupac "with tubes in his body," which was full of fluid.
"He was real big. He wasn’t skinny with the six-pack. Body was full. He really f**king died on us," Noble said.
Noble's interview on Saturday was his first one in more than seven years.
