[stirring instrumental music] - rap star tupac shakur died last night, after a brief life in a rough business. he was 25. - shakur has been at the center of a battle between east and west coast rappers. - for the second time in six months, a star in the often brutal world of gangster rap has been gunned down. - music industry sources on the west coast suspect that small's death may, in some way, be payback for the september killing of rap star tupac shakur. - when tupac and biggie were assassinated, that was a watershed moment, i think, in hip-hop culture. it was kind of a death of a revolution. - these two men were two of the most successful rap artists in the industry, phenomenally wealthy. why are we-- why are we seeing this happen? - well, both biggie smalls and tupac had talked of trying to break out of that violence, but many say they were trapped in the world they created. they were forced, in a word, as they say, to "keep it real." and that's a sad commentary. - i remember seeing news reports about how violent it was.