Jada Pinkett Smith Reads Unpublished Poem In Honor Of Tupac Shakur’s 50th Birthday

Jada Pinkett Smith posted a video of herself reading Tupac Shakur’s unpublished poem on what would have been his 50th birthday.

The two grew up together as childhood friends, even attending the same high school. Their platonic friendship has long been a topic of discussion, with her husband, Will Smith, admitting that he was jealous of the friends’ relationship.

Of Shakur’s death, Smith once said, “That was a huge loss in my life. He was one of those people I expected to be here. My upset is more anger because I feel like he left me, and I know that’s not true and it’s a very selfish way to think about it. … I really did believe he’d be here for the long run. And when I think about it, I still get really mad.”

Shakur was gunned down at 25-years-old and died from his injuries a few days later. He had released his first studio album, 2Pacalypse Now, just five years before.

The poem Smith read on Instagram, “Lost Soulz,” is the concept behind the song of the same name on his album, Gang Related – The Soundtrack.

She captioned the video:

“Tupac Amaru Shakur would have been 50 midnight tonight!

As we prepare to celebrate his legacy … let’s remember him for that which we loved most … his way with words. Here are a few you may have never heard before✨ Happy “you goin’n to be 50 at midnight” Birthday Pac! 😆 I got next😜

P.s I was planning to post tomorrow which is why the video says today is Pac’s bday. But I decided to start earlyyyyy✨

@2pac”

The full poem is available below.

“Lost Soulz”

Some say nothing gold can last forever

And 2 believe this I need no proof

I have witnessed all that was pure in me

Be changed by the evil men can do

The innocence possessed by children

Once lived inside my soul

But surviving years with criminal peers

Has turned my warm heart to cold

I used 2 dream and fantasize

But now I’m scared 2 sleep

Petrified, not to live or die

But to awaken and still be me

It is true that nothing gold can last

We will all one day see death

When the purest hearts are torn apart

Lost souls are all that’s left

Down on my knees I beg of God

To save me from this fate

Let me live to see what was gold in me

Before it is all too late