Tupac, Biggie and Murder Rap: Greg Kading at Saddleback

Professor Karyn Bower, Greg Kading and Jamal Brown at the Saddleback College radio station. Alylah Owens | Lariat

Former LAPD homicide investigator and author of “Murder Rap: The Untold Story of the Biggie Smalls & Tupac Shakur Murder Investigations,” Greg Kading, was interviewed for OC in Focus at Saddleback College on Oct. 23. The discussion focused on his investigations into the murders of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G.

OC in Focus is a podcast that is produced at Saddleback College by associate journalism professor Karyn Bower and co-hosted by students. The podcast explores local issues regarding Orange County and the Saddleback College community. In this episode, Bower co-hosted alongside project specialist Jamal Brown to interview Kading about his work on these high-profile cases.

Greg Kading, an Orange County local, began his law enforcement career with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department before transferring to the LAPD, where he worked as a detective until his retirement in 2010.

The family of the Notorious B.I.G., born Christopher Wallace, sought to sue the LAPD in a corruption case alleging its involvement in Wallace’s 1997 murder. To avoid legal culpability, the department formed a task force to investigate the murders of Wallace and Tupac Shakur, enlisting Kading as part of the team.

Kading’s work on these high-profile cases led to the publication of his 2011 book, “Murder Rap: The Untold Story of the Biggie Smalls & Tupac Shakur Murder Investigations.” In 2015, the book was adapted into the documentary “Murder Rap: Inside the Biggie and Tupac Murders” which was featured on Netflix. A dramatized television adaptation, “Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G.” aired on USA Network in 2018, with Kading credited as a co-executive producer.

While the murders of Shakur and Wallace remain officially unsolved, Kading’s findings are widely regarded as the most credible explanation of what occurred. His work offers the closest thing to an answer to the question that has lingered for over two decades: What happened to Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G.?

Shakur, also known as 2Pac, was a popular West Coast rapper signed to Death Row Records. Wallace, better known as The Notorious B.I.G., was a prominent East Coast rapper signed to Bad Boy Records. Their deaths were linked to the infamous East Coast-West Coast rap feud, which reportedly involved Los Angeles gangs and culminated in the loss of both stars.

While Greg Kading’s career and investigations have drawn widespread attention, his appearance on OC in Focus was a particularly unique opportunity for project specialist Jamal Brown. Brown, who co-hosted the episode alongside professor Karyn Bower, shared the story of how he was able to acquire such a high profile interview.

“One of my neighbors asked me to help her in her yard. And when I was helping her, she said, ‘Do you know Greg Kading?’” said Jamal Brown. “And she gave me his number. Then I reached out, and then he just agreed to do it.”

Though the investigation has been public information for years, there have been recent developments regarding the legal disputes of Duane “Keffe D” Davis and Sean “P. Diddy” Combs. This interview was used to address, “P. Diddy, that case, other things [Kading] might know, like any new developments,” said Brown.

One of the first topics covered in the interview was the current racketeering and sex trafficking charges against P. Diddy. “So I’m following it and helping to the extent that I can with the Shakur family in their pursuit of justice,” said Greg Kading. “They haven’t filed suit as far as I know but they are working in that direction.”

“The larger racketeering investigation that’s underway, I don’t see [Combs] getting out of that unscathed,” said Kading when asked whether Combs could face conviction.

The murders of Shakur and Wallace are still unsolved and the likelihood of them getting justice dwindles with time.

“Passage of time has really played a role in this whole thing because so many of the witnesses are deceased, co-conspirators are deceased,” said Kading. “So you know you’re kind of running out of options in order to pursue any type of legal action.”

Duane “Keffe D” Davis’ confession on what happened the night of Tupac’s murder is the most insight we got into what happened. He currently awaits trial for the murder of Tupac Shakur.

“With Keffe D he essentially talked himself into jail by going out and publicly boasting about his role in Tupac’s murder.”

Kading brought up how Yafeu “Yaki Kadafi” Fula, a witness at the scene of Tupac Shakur’s murder, was questioned about the identity of the driver. “The investigator’s like, okay, ‘What can you tell us about this guy… can you describe him to us?’” said Kading. Yaki Kadafi responded: “Yeah, he looked like a bitch.”

“It’s this street culture kind of colliding with law enforcement,” Kading said about the incident. “But law enforcement’s like, ‘Well that isn’t really going to help us.’”

Social media has fueled a lot of conspiracies about what happened, despite the LAPD’s investigative findings. “The internet and the conspiracy theorists are just speculating and throwing things out there, and it just creates all kinds of confusion for us,” said Kading.

When asked about the first documentary adaptation of his book, Kading explained the production process. “I was involved in almost every aspect of it outside of the technical aspects,” said Kading. “Me and Mike, the producer of that project, worked hand in hand and we were like joined at the hip.”

The story was also picked up for a televised adaptation, “I was approached by a writer, an established writer, who wanted to tell the story in a scripted way as opposed to a documentary. And he had already had a relationship with people in the industry so he pitched the story to them,” said Kading.

In the future Greg Kading plans on starting his own true crime podcast. The podcast will be unique because it will be based on crimes that are “socially relevant.”

When asked about the future podcast and whether it would be covering more hip-hop related cases Greg Kading denied that suggestion. He did not want to seem like a “culture vulture,” which can be a concern when covering hip-hop related topics as a non-Black person.

“Big fan of Orange County. And thanks for having me here at Saddleback College,” said Greg Kading in his closing statement.

To watch part one and part two of the interview you can visit Jazz 88.5 FM website and to listen to the podcast you can find them on both Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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