Five Questions with Gobi, Tupac’s Former Video Director

Damon Hodge


What was it like working with Tupac?


I've worked with Ice Cube, Snoop, Yoko Ono, Babyface, Queen Latifah, DMX and other artists, and no one compares to him. He was intensely loyal, and he was a workaholic. He'd shoot a video, write songs and film parts of a movie all in one day. We'd shoot a $200,000 video each week.



How did his death affect you?


I was in Vegas waiting to meet with him. When I heard he got shot, I didn't think he was going to make it because this was the second time he'd been shot. I was at the hospital with him from midnight to eight in the morning every day until he died. It was a big sense of loss. Everyone went into a stage of grief. We had lots of things going, including a three-movie deal. It took me five or six years to get over it.



Was his violent death a foregone conclusion?


I don't think he prophesied his death as much as he perpetuated it. If you surround yourself with negativity, then everything around you will be affected by it. I don't think he was a prophet in that sense, but I do think he was a genius. He was only 25, and he accomplished a lot.



With his influence, couldn't he have been a force for good?


The media never focused on his transformation. I've got footage of him talking about wanting to give to charities. A lot of people don't know that he did a runway [modeling] show before he died. He said that if the government built a community center in every ghetto that he'd perform there for free. He talked about how other communities have real communities: Italians have Little Italy, but blacks have ghettoes. He wanted to change that.



You've met his mother, Afeni Shakur. What is she like?


She is a powerful woman. I have a lot of respect for her and how she raised him. Everyone talks about her problems with drugs, but no one talks about how strong she was.

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