Original Version Of Tupac's 'Dear Mama' Surfaces

Since her death Monday night, fans have been honoring the memory of Afeni Shakur by listening to one of her son Tupac’s most beloved songs, “Dear Mama.” 

Now a different version of the song has surfaced and is said to be the original version of the heartfelt tribute to Afeni.

Afeni Shakur, Former Black Panther And Mother Of Tupac, Dead At 69

Tupac’s early collaborator DJ Assassin shared the original along with a note via Ambrosia For Heads explaining, 

“The original version of ‘Dear Mama’ was far different than the version that was released, as far as the hook was constructed,” he wrote. “Originally, the hook was a sample of a song from the legendary rapper and friend of both of ours named Yo-Yo, from Ice Cube’s [Da] Lench Mob. The sample was ‘Wouldn’t be a damn thang without a woman,’ which was taken from the original song from Ice Cube’s ‘This Is A Man’s World,’ with the scratching done, of course, by yours truly DJ King Assassin. The day after we had finished up on everything we were in Echo Sound in L.A. when Tupac comes in the studio very upset and proceeds to explain to us that we had to take out Yo-Yo’s part because a person by the name of Pat Charbonet would not give us the clearance to use that part in the song, so we had no choice but to take it out and that’s why even the Richard Pryor excerpt, which you will hear, is completely off the released version of the song.”

DJ Assassin also revealed to TMZ that he had been in contact with Afeni Shakur about the song and was shocked to hear about her passing. He’s also currently working on a film about Tupac’s life. 

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