If you enjoyed the fan letter that a young Dave Grohl sent to Minor Threat's Ian MacKaye, then have we got one for you: a note sent from a young Eminem to the mother of Tupac Shakur. Granted, the emcee wasn't a child anymore (as was the case with Grohl), but it reportedly comes from a very early point in Eminem's career.
The note is now on display at the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for The Arts. Eminem wrote the note to Ameni Shakur, the deceased rapper's mother, to express his appreciation for Tupac's body of work as well as the inspiration he provided.
"As I have said before, you have no idea how much your son and his music has inspired not only the 'hip hop' world, but, speaking for myself, has inspired my whole career. He was, and still is, the true definition of a 'Soldier'" Eminem wrote. "When I was feeling at my 'worst': (before fame, before Dre) I knew I could put that 'Tupac' tape in, and suddenly, things weren't so bad. He gave me the courage to stand up and say 'F*ck the world!' 'This is who I am! And if you don't like it, go f*ck yourself!' Thank you for giving us his spirit, and yours! God Bless you! love, Marshall."
The note also included a sketch of Tupac drawn by Eminem, which—while not prodigious—isn't half bad.
Eminem never got the chance to tell Ameni's son in-person how much he enjoyed his discography, but he had as close a connection as possible in the music world. Em's early work was, of course, produced by Dr. Dre, who had worked with Shakur as a member of Death Row Records and the West Coast hip-hop scene in general.
Eminem's debut record, the often overlooked Infinite, was released during November of 1996, just two months after Shakur was killed in Las Vegas. The former's career took off with the release of The Slim Shady LP, which was produced by Dre.
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