Music legend Patti LaBelle has seen countless artists rise to stardom in the music industry after her. In the 1990s, she was a fan of iconic rapper Tupac Shakur, so much so that she learned to walk Crip from him.
Patti LaBelle | Paul Morigi/Getty Images para Capital Concerts Inc.
Patti LaBelle is a music icon
Patti LaBelle first burst onto the scene as part of the group Labelle in the early 1970s. Her biggest hit was “Lady Marmalade,” which reached No. Billboard Table of 100 hot. The song, of course, was watched and presented to a new generation in 2001 by P!nk, Mýa, Lil’ Kim and Christina Aguilera.
LaBelle’s successful self-titled debut album contained her hit song “You Are My Friend”, which became one of the singer’s signature songs. In the 1980s, she continued to achieve more success with the release of the singles “If Only You Knew”, “Love, Need, and Want You”, “New Attitude”, and “Stir It Up”.
His duet with Michael McDonald, “On My Own,” from his 1986 No. 1 album winner in youbecame LaBelle’s second No. 1 single after reaching the top of the Billboard Hot 100 list with “Lady Marmalade”.
Later, she won her first Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for her 1991 album. ablazewhich contained hit songs like “Someone Loves You, Baby (You Know Who It Is)”, “Feels Like Another”, and “When You’ve Been Blessed (Feels Like Heaven)”.
by LaBelle ablaze The album is also noteworthy for another reason. It contains his only collaboration with a rapper: “Feels Like Another One”, which featured a rap by legendary rapper Big Daddy Kane. Many rappers, including The Notorious BIG, admired Big Daddy Kane and recognized his impact on the early days of hip-hop.
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Patti LaBelle learned to Crip Walk after listening to Tupac Shakur’s ‘California Love’
LaBelle reflected on her first immersion in the world of hip-hop in a 2022 interview on baby champions. The “New Attitude” singer said “I guess it was Tupac” when asked how he got into rap as a genre after his collaboration with Big Daddy Kane. She specifically loved Pac and Dr. Dre’s 1994 hit single “California Love” so much that it led her to learn to Crip Walk.
“I started moving to ‘California Love,’” LaBelle said. “That’s when I started to learn [how to] Crip Walk,” he added.
For a time, Tupac was affiliated with the Rolling 20s Crip gang in Los Angeles, the same group that represented Snoop Dogg.
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The Crip Walk appeared at the Super Bowl halftime show
Although Tupac died in 1996, his legacy has continued to live on in the years since. In 2022, his friend and producer Dr. Dre performed at the Super Bowl halftime show alongside fellow Los Angeles native Snoop Dogg and hip-hop icons Mary J. Blige, Eminem and Kendrick Lamar.
At one point during the show, Dre and Snoop launched into a rendition of “California Love,” while Snoop Dogg, casually (or not) dressed in blue, Crip walked across the stage.
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