True Crime Watch: Tupac & Biggie Murders Explored in New TV Pilot

USA Network has picked up the pilot for a new scripted true crime series based on the infamous unsolved murders of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Unsolved” will be based on the experiences of LAPD Detective Greg Kading, who led the law enforcement task force responsible for investigating both high profile murders.

Kading, who documented his experiences in the book “Murder Rap: The Untold Story of Biggie Smalls & Tupac Shakur Murder Investigations,” is consulting on the project and will also serve as its co-executive producer.

Tupac was shot four times while riding in a car driven by record producer (and all around sketchy dude) Suge Knight, after attending a Mike Tyson boxing match in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996. He died six days later, on September 13, 1996, from internal bleeding in a Las Vegas hospital.

Six months later, Biggie met the same fate. While stopped at a red light in his Suburban SUV on March 9, 1997, the driver of a dark colored Chevrolet Impala pulled alongside him, rolled down his window, and unloaded four shots into the East Coast rapper.

Both murders were never solved, and for decades fans and conspiracy theorists have agonized over what really happened to the the feuding hip hop stars.

“Unsolved” will be written and executively produced by Kyle Long of USA’s hit legal show “Suits.” Anthony Hemingway, who worked on several episodes of FX’s true crime breakout “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” will direct the pilot.

In Kading’s self-published “Murder Rap” he theorized that Suge Knight and Sean “Diddy” Combs were responsible for the murders and that the LAPD suppressed evidence.

This isn’t the first time both rappers have had their lives portrayed in biopics. The 2009 drama “Notorious” chronicled the life and death of Biggie (a.k.a. Christopher Wallace), and was met with mediocre reviews.  Tupac’s biopic “All Eyez on Me” is set to appear in movie theaters in 2017, with “Notorious” star Jamal Woolard reprising his role as The Notorious B.I.G.

Given the popularity of the show’s lead characters, this series will likely garner just as much buzz as “The People vs. O.J. Simpson”–if not more.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.