"I Lived In a Mansion With Tupac, With a Big Pool and Jacuzzi In the Back"
RIP Young Noble; here's my interview with him about his insane year with Tupac
The most critical period of Tupac’s life followed his release from prison in October, 1995, when he signed with Suge Knight and moved to L.A.
This is when he recorded his biggest albums, and when his beef with Biggie Smalls reached a fever pitch. Tupac made a diss track saying he slept with Biggie’s wife, postured as a gang member, and became world famous. It ended, of course, with his murder in September, 1996.
At his side during this tumultuous year was a group called the Outlawz, friends from his New York days, who both collaborated with him musically and served as his personal protection.
Tupac gave them nicknames based on dictators — Kadafi, Hussein Fatal, Kastro, Napoleon. And then, when they needed reinforcements, they recruited a friend from New Jersey named Young Noble, aka Rufus Cooper III, who died by suicide earlier this month.
Cooper is best known for his appearance on Tupac’s posthumous song “Hail Mary,” and was also an artist and clothing designer. We spoke at great length ten years ago for Original Gangstas, and he provided incredible insight into this period of Tupac’s life.
It’s almost unimaginable what Cooper experienced at age 18, having been sprung overnight from poverty into a Hollywood lifestyle, but one that also overlapped with a deadly rap beef. Cooper was a joy to speak with, and I’m very sorry to hear about his death. RIP.
When Tupac got out of prison, did you move out to L.A. from New Jersey?
When he got out, I was going out to L.A. on the weekends, because I was still in school. Once he got comfortable with me, he embraced me 200 percent. He basically made me drop out of school. “Come stay with us, we gone get some money.” He didn’t even know I rapped at the time. I was just one of the young homies, a soldier.
The Outlawz were staying at a corporate apartment in Burbank or something, right up the street from where they be filming a lot of movies. A lot of celebrities were over there. We was mingling with a lot of models and industry girls back then. It was an awesome location for young boys to be at the time. It was unbelievable, man. It was a dream come true.
Hussein Fatal said that, when he wanted to bring you into the group, Tupac asked him: “What if we kill somebody? Is he going to tell?” Did Tupac ask you that?