A shocking new video title has gone viral, claiming to show “New Footage Of Tupac Trying To Kill Snoop Dogg.” But the footage itself reveals something far more complex and profound—a collection of confessions from the titans of hip-hop, all attempting to answer the most lingering question about Tupac Shakur: What made him so dangerous?

The consensus from legends like RZA, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, and Tupac’s own Outlaws is that his danger was real, but it was multi-faceted. He was a revolutionary, a paranoid friend, an emotional powerhouse, and a volatile force of nature. This is the story of the man they knew, the man they feared, and the man they still revere.

The Revolutionary: “More Dangerous Than Biggie”

The most profound analysis comes from RZA, the mastermind of the Wu-Tang Clan. In a 2021 interview, RZA broke down why he considered Tupac “more dangerous” than his New York rival, The Notorious B.I.G. But RZA wasn’t talking about street violence. He was talking about something the establishment fears far more: the power of the mind.

“Pac had the power to infuse your emotional thought… but then he had the power to arouse your the rebel in you,” RZA explained. He detailed how Tupac could make you weep with “Dear Mama” and then, in the next breath, make you want to burn the system down. RZA drew a direct and heavy comparison: “Pac was probably… more going into the Malcolm X of things. And society fears that.”

While Biggie, as RZA put it, “communicated love” and made you party, Tupac was “starting revolutions.” This was his true danger. He was a man who, with just his voice and charisma, could make millions of disenfranchised people feel, think, and—most terrifyingly to the status quo—rebel.

The Artist: “You Just Felt Every Aspect of His Pain”

Eminem, a man who built his career on technical prowess, offered his own definition of Tupac’s danger in a 2015 letter. For Eminem, Tupac’s power wasn’t just in his revolutionary message, but in his raw, unfiltered emotional transference.

“A lot of people say you feel Pac, and it’s absolutely true,” Eminem wrote. “His spirit spoke to me because it was like you knew everything that he was going through. You just felt every aspect of his pain, every emotion.”

While other rappers focused on punchlines, Tupac was “giving feeling to his words,” making his music “urgent,” as if every track was a matter of life or death. This ability to make millions feel his rage, his hope, and his confusion was a power that transcended music. It was a magnetic, “superstar” quality that could, when combined with his revolutionary message, inspire movements.

The Paranoid Friend: “A Tense Atmosphere”

For those who were in the trenches with Tupac during his final, chaotic year on Death Row Records, this “danger” had a different face. It was the face of paranoia, volatility, and an impulsive loyalty that often bordered on self-destruction.

Napoleon, a founding member of The Outlaws, painted a chilling picture of those last days. “It seemed like Pac knew something was going to happen to him,” Napoleon recalled. In his final week, Tupac was giving away jewelry and obsessively taking pictures, as if he were “creating memories for people to hold on to.”

This premonition of death was fueled by a real and constant threat. “You got to understand… he had actually people that wanted to murder him,” Napoleon said, referencing the 1994 New York shooting. This paranoia infected the entire Death Row environment, which Napoleon said “reminded me of the streets.”

This constant tension manifested as a dangerous impulsiveness. Napoleon recounted the infamous MGM Grand fight on the night of Tupac’s murder, not as an act of aggression, but as a misguided display of loyalty. When an associate pointed out Orlando Anderson, Tupac “immediately took off and started fighting him… to show you that I’m down.” It was this trait—his need to prove his loyalty at all costs—that ultimately proved “dangerous to himself.”

This paranoia extended to his friends, creating a tinderbox of misunderstandings. Both Xzibit and Ras Kass recounted stories of fearing for their lives, believing Tupac had misinterpreted their lyrics as a diss. Xzibit’s song “Paparazzi” was taken as a shot, and Ras Kass, who was on a track with Tupac’s rival Chino XL, was convinced Tupac was bringing a 50-man crew to his show to “get me.” It was only later they learned Tupac was actually a fan of their music.

The Brother: “He Was Furious”

The viral video’s title, alluding to Tupac “trying to kill Snoop Dogg,” is a gross exaggeration, but it stems from a real and tragic fracture in one of hip-hop’s most iconic friendships. Snoop Dogg himself has spoken about the profound tension between them just days before the murder.

The conflict arose from Snoop’s appearance on a New York radio show, where he stated he had no beef with Biggie and Puff Daddy. In Tupac’s “us vs. them” wartime mentality, this neutrality was seen as the ultimate betrayal.

“He was mad at me,” Snoop recalled in a 2023 interview. “I was like, ‘You tripping, we brothers, we family.’ But he was furious.” The pain in Snoop’s voice is palpable as he reflects on their final days: “I don’t think he liked me.”

Snoop also confessed his disapproval of “Hit ‘Em Up,” Tupac’s legendary diss track. “I didn’t like it,” Snoop stated. “It was buying problems.” He felt the track went beyond rap beef and was “provoking real gangsters”—the very people who would ultimately end Tupac’s life.

The “danger” Mobb Deep’s Prodigy described was just as real. Angered by “Hit ‘Em Up,” Prodigy admitted in a 2012 interview, “I wanted to kill that… jump him, cut him, shoot him… ‘cuz it was beef.”

This is the tragedy of Tupac Shakur. He was a man whose danger was his genius, and his genius was his danger. The revolutionary mind that RZA saw was the same mind that could not see a path to peace with his “brother” Snoop. The emotional honesty that Eminem revered was the same raw passion that fueled a fatal, impulsive fight in a casino lobby.

Tupac was not dangerous because he was a one-dimensional “thug.” He was dangerous because he was a complex, flawed, and brilliant human being who had the power to start a revolution, and he died before he could see it through.