Quad Studios: Tupac Shakur's 1994 shooting location

This is the entrance to Quad Studios.

It is located at 723 7th Avenue in Manhattan, New York.

On November 30th, 1994, three armed men beat, shot, and robbed rapper Tupac Shakur in the recording studio's downstairs lobby.

Although he survived the attack, he sustained bullet wounds to his thigh, scrotum, and hand. One of the bullets also grazed his head.

Shooting

The incident occurred shortly after midnight, when Shakur entered the lobby to take part in a recording session.

Earlier that day, a music manager named James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond called Shakur and asked him to rap a verse for his client, Little Shawn. Henchman was an armed robber and drug dealer who was attempting to carve out a career in the music industry.

Shakur demanded $7,000 for featuring on the song. Although Henchman initially declined by hanging up the phone, he later called the rapper back and agreed to the price.

When Shakur and two of his friends entered the Quad Studios lobby, they were set upon by three armed men wearing camo fatigues.

The gunmen pointed revolvers at the group and ordered them to get down on the floor. Shakur, however, refused to comply and began stalling for time.

This led to a physical confrontation, during which Shakur was shot multiple times and kicked while he lay on the ground. After beating the rapper into submission, the men snatched his expensive jewelry and fled the lobby.

Aftermath

Following the shooting, Shakur immediately began to suspect that Henchman and several music artists in the building had conspired to set him up.

While the attack unfolded, rap star Biggie Smalls, Bad Boy Records owner Puff Daddy, Junior M.A.F.I.A., and other East Coast hip-hop artists were upstairs in the recording studio.

Shakur claimed that the men refused to look him in the eye after he was carried up to the studio and placed on a couch.

Shortly afterwards, the paramedics arrived and strapped Shakur to a gurney. However, the elevator was so small that they had to prop him upright while they were descending back down into the lobby.

When he asked whether he was going to die or not, one of the paramedics replied, "I think you're going to be OK."

The rapper famously stuck up his middle finger while they were wheeling him out of the building.

Although many people presumed that the finger was aimed at the photographers, a member of Junior M.A.F.I.A. later claimed that it was actually pointed at himself and Biggie Smalls. At the time, they didn't think much of it, as they believed that Shakur was confused and emotional.

Shakur was transferred to Bellevue Hospital, where he underwent surgery for a damaged blood vessel.

However, he was reportedly worried that his attackers might visit the hospital to finish the job. Consequently, he checked himself out the following day against his doctor's wishes.

East Coast–West Coast war

The 1994 Quad Studios shooting was one of the sparks that ignited the infamous East Coast–West Coast hip-hop rivalry.

In February 1995, Shakur was sent to prison after being convicted of sexual abuse. For the next eight months, he sat in his cell and stewed over the attack, replaying it over and over in his head and analyzing everyone's behavior.

By the time he was released, he had thoroughly convinced himself that he had been set up by Jimmy Henchman, Biggie Smalls, Puff Daddy, his friend Stretch, and other New York rappers.

After joining forces with Death Row CEO Suge Knight in Los Angeles, he proceeded to launch multiple verbal attacks against his former friends on the East Coast.

This included the vicious diss track Hit 'Em Up, which he aimed at Biggie, Puff Daddy, and Mobb Deep.

The feud came to an end after Shakur and Biggie were both murdered in separate drive-by shootings.

In September 1996, Shakur was gunned down in Las Vegas following a Mike Tyson fight.

Then, roughly six months later, Biggie was shot dead as he was leaving an after-party in Los Angeles.

Jimmy Henchman and Dexter Isaac

For nearly two decades, Henchman denied having any involvement in the Quad Studios shooting. However, all of that changed after he was charged with drug trafficking in June 2010.

The following summer, a man named Dexter Isaac publicly confessed to being one of the men who had robbed Shakur. In his statement, he claimed that Henchman hired him in exchange for $2,500 and some of the rapper's jewelry. He also said that he still had the rapper's gold chain as proof.

In May 2012, it emerged that Henchman had previously admitted his involvement during a "proffer session" with prosecutors.

Proffer sessions provide suspects with the opportunity to reduce their sentences by confessing to other, unconnected crimes. By admitting his involvement in Shakur's robbery, Henchman was able to shave some time off his sentence.

In 2008, the LA Times published a story that implicated Henchman in the Quad Studios shooting.

When Henchman's lawyer later dismissed the article as a fabrication, the prosecutor responded with the following:

"If he is going to argue that this was a fabricated article, it is the government's position that we can put in the defendant's own admission about that particular shooting. In saying it is not true—when in fact it is true—the government should be able to rebut that argument that he is making. That the defendant actually admitted to this 1994 shooting."

Henchman is currently serving life sentences for drug trafficking and murder.