THE DUALITY OF NLE CHOPPATHE

AFTER BECOMING AN UNEXPECTED BEACON OF WELLNESS, THE MEMPHIS RAPPER IS BACK TO ACTING RECKLESS.

- Christina lee

“‘All Eyez on Me,’ OG from the East,” NLE Choppa raps toward the end of his sophomore album “Me vs. Me,” released January 14. The 19-year-old rap upstart from East Memphis, boasting over 10 million monthly Spotify listeners, has paid tribute to Tupac before. His lead single around this time last year was “Picture Me Grapin,” a play on “Picture Me Rollin’.” The song’s video recreated some of Pac’s most iconic music video scenes, fashion and run-ins with media, like when he spit on reporters covering his 1994 sexual assault trial. NLE even bears Pac’s influence across his chest, with a gothic cross tattoo in the same silhouette the West Coast rap icon had on his back.

Thank NLE’s father, who gamely imitates his son’s trendy dances whenever there’s a camera nearby. “I heard a lot of Tupac growing up, just off the strength of my dad playing his music,” NLE says, on a Zoom call minutes after our photoshoot. Yet, despite how he’s openly referenced Pac at his most defiant, NLE holds his dad’s favorite rapper in high regard for his moments of righteous fury, like when he turned the word “thug” into a teachable moment, forcing critics to reckon with how he contained multitudes.

“Even though his music, period, is outstanding, I feel like [Tupac] as a person treated me more than his music ever would,” NLE says. “What he did for his people, the way he was on a deeper level, he was more than just a gangsta rapper.”