Murder Rap: Inside the Biggie and Tupac Murders (2015) Reviews

• Brilliant Documentary That Solves the Tupac and Biggie Murder Cases

  DIE HARD-42016-02-04

  In this amazing documentary one of the key witnesses says: "What I do have to tell you is gonna blow your f***ing minds!". And that is exactly what this documentary is going to do - it will blow your f***ing mind! It is based on taped confessions of key players involved in the murders of late rap icons Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls, that have never previously been shown on film according to the filmmakers. In these confessions we learn exactly who were involved in both hits, who the respective shooters were, and - most importantly - who ordered the respective murders. The extremely compelling and convincing evidence points to two very prominent persons... The lead detective, Greg Kading, whose criminal investigation this film is based on, is also interviewed extensively. His deep knowledge about these cases and his highly plausible and rational explanations, together with the explosive taped confessions, form the basis of the films narrative. This is without a doubt a must-see documentary. It will probably appeal to most people, even those who are not interested in rap music and who are not familiar with its subjects, simply because the story that unfolds is so incredibly compelling. Basically I think it would appeal to anyone who likes a good murder mystery. But of course, for fans of the two slain artists, the documentary will naturally provide yet another dimension. Due to unfortunate and vexing circumstances that are revealed in the film, these murders are still unprosecuted. However, after you have watched this masterpiece, you will know that they have finally been solved.

• The definitive documentary on the cases.

  Kyle_Graham892016-02-03

  Almost twenty years ago, fans lost two of the greatest hip-hop acts of all time to violence - drive by shootings in cold blood, just six months apart. If you're a fan of these artists, hip-hop, or the investigation of these murders, then this documentary is absolutely essential for you to see. It's the most controversial story in the history of this genre. I have been following these investigations for over a decade, and am a long time fan. I've been through almost all of the nonsense that has come out over the years, but this is the real deal; the smoking gun. Most documentaries on unsolved crimes are created by people who are looking at cases from the outside in. They might have a source or two at best to bolster a theory, but they usually leave viewers with just conjecture and the mere word of questionable sources. This is without the kind of examination and scrutiny that a court room setting might provide, leaving question to their credibility. "Murder Rap: Inside the Biggie and Tupac Murders" is different. This is the only documentary I've seen in which a retired detective from the investigation has actually come forward and shared the police investigation files publicly on an open cold case. Greg Kading, who authored the original book of the same name (Murder Rap: The Untold Story of the Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur Murder Investigations), came out and revealed all of the important facts regarding the investigation into the murders. It had been determined that Biggie and Tupac were murdered as a result of the infamous feud between Tupac/Suge Knight of Death Row records, and Biggie/Puffy Combs of Bad Boy records. The two opposing camps had affiliated themselves with rival gangs in Los Angeles: The MOB Piru Bloods of Compton and their rivals, the South Side Compton Crips. This began tit-for-tat retaliations, which ultimately resulted in the murders of the two hip-hop stars. We now have a documentary that brings the contents of that book and the investigation to the screen - and it does not disappoint. While the book is a telling of the whole story of the investigation from Greg Kading's perspective, Murder Rap: Inside the Biggie and Tupac Murders is swift to the point. It wastes no time in presenting the original taped interviews of all of the witnesses involved in the cases. Michael Dorsey, the director, has brought us a documentary that is more clinical in its approach to this intricate story than the other documentaries that have come before it. That said, it still has a couple of emotional moments, the more detached approach is most appropriate for a investigation plagued with conspiracy theories. It briefly goes over how the feud between these two camps began, and the events that unfolded on the nights of the murders. It then quickly moves on to debunking one of the most popular conspiracy theories that fans are familiar with: that dirty LAPD cops were involved in a conspiracy to murder Biggie Smalls at the behest of Suge Knight. The majority of the documentary deals with what the police investigation yielded through their efforts. This is through the taped interviews of witnesses, and written statements from the original case files. The viewer quickly becomes enlightened to what information and leads the police had at their fingertips for all these years. In both of these cases, the important witnesses would not come forward to talk or cooperate with police. What the documentary reveals publicly for the first time is a controversial and astounding account of the murder of Tupac through a taped confession of one of the suspects - extracted by gang investigation techniques. This lends the confession courtroom level credibility, essentially solving the twenty year old murder case of Tupac.  With Suge Knight as their prime suspect in the conspiracy to have Biggie murdered in retaliation for Tupac, the documentary moves onto Biggie's investigation. Viewers will see how the detectives were also able to extract another confession by using the same approach to the Biggie investigation as they did on the Tupac one. If you're determined to get more truth surrounding these murders than could be had elsewhere, then this documentary is key no matter what your belief may be. It brings so much evidence and new material to the public that it is invaluable to anybody who's interested. I suspect for almost everyone that these cases will no longer be unsolved, and they will find this documentary to be the most satisfying conclusion to the cases yet. The story is corroborated by a lot of independent witness statements, so for me, it is the most credible account of what happened to these two stars and likely the closest to the truth we will ever know. 8/10

• Great! 7/10

  leonblackwood2016-04-28

  Review: Over the years, I have seen many documentaries about the murder of Tupac and Biggie, which have all been conspiracy theories and made up stories from witnesses but this movie was very believable and quite shocking. The lead investigator, Greg Kading, put together a brilliant case against the real murderers of the two rap stars and the evidence was enough to put the major culprits, Puffy and Suge Knight, behind bars for a very long time but when the case got dropped and the evidence got shelved, it seems like Tupac and Biggie family will never get justice for there murders. The step by step viewing of the assassinations were very believable and the interviews with the various gang members were quite shocking. I just can't believe that the evidence didn't come out on a worldwide scale, because people are still making up there own stories about what happened on both nights of the murders. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this in depth documentary, which doesn't look cheap like a lot that I have seen before. I honestly can't see why the law wouldn't take this evidence seriously because I am definitely convinced that Greg Kading has found the people who were involved and murdered Tupac & Biggie. Great! Round-Up: This brilliant documentary was directed by Michael Dorsey, 37, who also brought you the Six Degrees of Helter Skelter, which is about the Manson family, Lost Airmen of Buchenwald, The Oyler House: Richard Neutra's Desert Retreat and Dearly Departed 1 & 2. The way that he describes how each murder took place, was great and the fact that he shows the real locations, made it even more believable. The real interview tapes that are used throughout the movie, also was a great touch, so I can definitely say that the cases have been solved, in my eyes. I recommend this movie to people who are into their documentaries about the murders of Tupac and Biggie. 7/10

• Who Shot Ya?

  Seth_Rogue_One2016-07-04

  Not bad but spends most of the first half debunking old theories that primarily detective Russel Poole came up with and discussed in the book LAbyrinth as well as the Nick Broomfield documentary 'Biggie & Tupac'. Which had pretty much everyone thinking that Suge Knight was the man who set Tupac up to be killed. This of course offers a new theory, which is hardly a new one tbh, if you're a fan like me you've probably read about Tupac and Biggie's death you've heard most of what said in the documentary before. I'm not gonna 'spoil' anything but I can say that the key-witness to the new theory and supposed accomplice is a inmate who was looking for a favor when he decided to step forward to tell the truth, so although what he says does come across as plausible it's impossible to say that what we're told in this documentary is any more or less true than for instance the 'Biggie & Tupac' one... Even though if one of the two theories were to be true I'd bet more on this one than Nick Broomfield's heavily manipulated (albeit much more entertaining) documentary. I also felt like it didn't dig deep enough regarding how Puffy's and Suge's beef began to begin with. And the direction was a bit stilted, facts upon facts with no real human connection. A lot to do with the fact that there was no one who was close to Tupac or Biggie in the movie with 75 % of the time being detective Greg Kading doing the talking. So yeah remember to take it all with a little grain of salt, because in the end there is no real proof given just testimonies by people who might have something to gain with what their claims and nothing that would hold up in a court of law or anything and would just be deemed circumstancial.