Suge Knight Says 2Pac Wanted to Sign Aaliyah: 'He Thought She Was the Biggest Star'

Suge Knight recalled taking Pac to a Gladys Knight concert where he first heard Aaliyah perform.

February 14, 2025

2Pac “lost his mind over Aaliyah”—at least, that’s what Suge Knight recalls.

In a recent interview with The Art of Dialogue, seen above, the Death Row Records co-founder spoke about the time Pac was introduced to the “One in a Million” singer.

“We had a thing: I would always listen to oldies, and Pac would listen to rap,” Knight said. “He didn’t like oldies, so I told him, ‘I gotta show you what oldies are about.’ So, I took 2Pac to go see Gladys Knight perform.”

At one point during the concert, Knight, who was married to Aaliyah’s uncle Barry Hankerson, brought out the young songstress to perform. And Pac was reportedly impressed, so much so that he jumped at the chance to meet her.

“Aaliyah starts singing and 2Pac said, ‘Don’t get up! Don’t get up!’” Knight recalled. “I said, ‘Why?’ He said, ‘Because Gladys Knight knows you, you’re gonna speak to Gladys Knight and then you’re gonna talk to that little girl singing. And the next thing you know, you’re gonna be doing an album with [Aaliyah].’ He said, ‘I’m gonna go talk to her… I want to do an album with Aaliyah.”

Knight said Pac “was so excited” after hearing the late singer perform and was only focused on signing her.

“He wasn’t thinking about signing nobody else,” Knight continued. “He thought she was the biggest star, got the best voice ever.

“Me and that dude spent hours and hours and days and days together. Me, personally, I never seen him get so excited about no female artist … He lost his mind over Aaliyah. He talked about her for days and days. I got tired of him talking about that little girl. He said, ‘I got these songs I want do with her. I’m gonna do this song with her...’ He was super, super, super excited.”

Knight, who is now serving time for a fatal hit-and-run, said he was confident a 2Pac and Aaliyah collaboration would’ve happened if Pac hadn’t been killed in 1996. After his death, Aaliyah reportedly said she "looked up" to the legendary rapper.

"I don't know how long it's going to take me to get over his death," she reportedly said. "But I do know his music will live forever."

Aaliyah died in a plane crash in the Bahamas in 2001.