Demetrius Shipp, Jr.

Being on television is a little constraining. You spend six to eight months filming, and you get stuck in that gear. I feel like doing movies is a lot more my style. ”

There's so much black content on multiple platforms, and it's all getting great ratings. If you think about the Oscars snubbing 'Straight Outta Compton,' in a way, that kicked all of this off. ”

I vowed to never be on camera down-talking another black man. ”

This is really honest: I have to remind myself not to look another black man as a threat. ”

Everybody has the Tupac that they admire. Certain people love the hip-hop person, the rapper. Strictly just the rapper. A lot of people, the newfound Tupac fans... they're into Death Row-era Tupac. But that was only nine months! ”

Music is my passion. I've always been musically driven and musically inclined. I play the keyboard a little bit. I love listening to music and discovering music. That's my love, but I'm not a rapper at all. ”

I want to be a part of bringing people together and sharing that love. ”

Tupac was a person who was all about love. I feel like that's me, too; that's who I've always been. ”

My father's relationship with Pac was something I was proud of. ”

I want to impact some lives down the road, one by one, and I want people to look at my story and my life as an inspiration. ”