TUPAC AND HIS PEN PAL FROM BARNSLEY

TUPAC AND HIS PEN PAL FROM BARNSLEY

A former writer from the Barnsley Chronicle, Nina Bhadreshwar, has revealed that she had an interesting friendship with the late rapper, Tupac. It came about after she embarked on a trip to New York at 22 to interview Treach, being advised to check out his music. 
Nina BhadreshwarPhoto credit: Francesca Jones/The Guardian
She tells The Guardian "the first time I heard his album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z…, I got goosebumps. He knew pain the way I did. I got in touch with his publicist for an interview and she said to send copies of my magazine".
A few months later when Nina was back in Barnsley the phone rang and it was Tupac himself, who requested for her to keep sending her magazine to him, and they started to correspond by letter. Often discussing social issues and police brutality they resonated with each other and everything they'd been through, on separate sides of the world.
Nina even sent him weekly packages both when he was in and out of jail. These packages included thing like transcripts from her interviews with people such as Outkast and the Oasis CD '(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?'
Nina says "I saw a different side. I’m very bookish and introverted, and so was he. He’d read all the books I’d read. I’d send excerpts from Frederick Douglass, the Bible or Machiavelli’s The Prince. His letters were largely about hustling and writing"
Tupac Makaveli
We're lead to believe the reason he named his late album "The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory" or shortened to "Makaveli" was thanks to Nina's letters that resonated with him.
Tupac Makaveil The 7 Day Theory T-shirt
We recently discovered a rare Tupac Makaveli T-shirt in one of our bales, which is what sparked a discussion about this amazing story! Who'd of thought that one of the world's most famous rappers would have such a connection to our hometown of Barnsley?