Former Death Row Artist SKG: How Afeni Shakur Helped Her
Former Death Row Artist SKG Reveals How Afeni Shakur Helped Her Rebuild Her Life
Helecia “SKG” Choyce speaks with WorldWide Entertainment TV about facing homelessness with her daughter, recovering unpaid royalties with Afeni Shakur’s help, recording for Tupac and rebuilding her identity beyond Death Row Records.
Afeni Shakur’s influence extended far beyond protecting the music and legacy of her son, Tupac Shakur. According to former Death Row Records artist Helecia “SKG” Choyce, Afeni personally intervened during one of the most difficult periods of her life.
In an exclusive interview with WorldWide Entertainment TV, SKG revealed that she and her daughter were facing homelessness when a telephone conversation with Afeni changed their circumstances.
“I ended up being homeless with my daughter, and I had no money, no place to stay,” SKG recalled. “It was a really hard time in my life.”
SKG said she contacted Afeni and explained that she had nothing. During their conversation, Afeni asked whether the young artist had received her mechanical royalties.
SKG did not know what those royalties were—or that money connected to her music was waiting for her.
“I didn’t know anything about that because nobody taught me the music industry,” she explained. “I was young, so I didn’t know about contracts. I didn’t know about royalties, business or anything of that nature.”
According to SKG, Afeni informed her that she had a check from Interscope Records and then connected her with an attorney who helped her recover the money.
“With that money, I was able to move me and my daughter into a new place, buy me a car, get in school and then get my life back on track,” SKG said.
Entering Death Row Records at a Young Age
SKG entered the music industry as a teenager and became associated with Death Row Records during one of the most scrutinized periods in the label’s history.
While Death Row gave her an opportunity to record and become connected to one of hip-hop’s most recognizable brands, SKG told WWETV that the experience also came with personal and professional costs.
Her account offers a perspective that is often missing from documentaries about the label: what it was like for a young woman trying to understand the music business while surrounded by powerful personalities, complicated relationships and an environment that could be difficult to navigate.
Looking back, SKG believes that she entered the industry without sufficient knowledge of contracts, publishing, royalties and the business infrastructure behind an artist’s career. That lack of education later became central to the financial crisis from which Afeni helped her recover.
Recording for Tupac’s Until the End of Time
SKG appeared on “Let ’Em Have It,” a track released on Tupac Shakur’s 2001 posthumous album, Until the End of Time.
During the WWETV interview, she explained how her contribution came together and what it meant to record for a Tupac project after his death.
The opportunity carried additional emotional weight because Tupac was no longer alive to participate in the final recording process. SKG was contributing to material left behind by an artist whose influence continued to grow after his passing.
She also shared a memorable story about Afeni’s direct involvement in the music. According to SKG, her original verse was considerably more explicit, prompting Afeni to tell her to rewrite it.
That moment demonstrated another side of Afeni’s stewardship. She was not simply administering Tupac’s estate; she was actively considering how the music would represent her son and the legacy surrounding him.
SKG’s memories also challenge the tendency to separate Tupac’s music from his personality. In her view, the artist audiences heard on records was not a manufactured character completely removed from the person people encountered in real life.
Tupac Beyond Death Row and Las Vegas
Public attention surrounding Tupac frequently returns to Death Row Records, the 1996 Las Vegas shooting and the criminal case against Duane “Keefe D” Davis, who has pleaded not guilty.
SKG discussed the case during the interview and shared her personal reaction to seeing the investigation move toward a trial decades after Tupac’s death. Her comments reflect her opinions and interpretation of events, not firsthand knowledge of the Las Vegas shooting.
She also argued that Tupac’s legacy should not be reduced to the circumstances of his death.
That concern has become especially important as renewed trial coverage once again places the murder investigation at the centre of Tupac’s public story. His family history, political education, artistic range and connection to figures such as Afeni and Mutulu Shakur risk being overshadowed whenever the conversation focuses exclusively on Las Vegas.
WWETV recently explored that broader history with Tupac’s brother Mopreme Shakur, including the original meaning of Thug Life and the political foundation behind the Shakur family.
SKG’s testimony adds another layer to that history—not through speculation about the murder, but through a personal account of how Afeni supported a young woman who had become financially and emotionally vulnerable after entering the music industry.
Becoming More Than a Former Death Row Artist
SKG’s story did not end when her time at Death Row concluded.
She has expanded her work into writing, filmmaking, entrepreneurship and humanitarian initiatives. Her memoir, The Monster Within, examines painful experiences from her past and the internal struggles she had to confront while rebuilding her life.
The title reflects a process of looking inward rather than allowing the entertainment industry—or the people she encountered within it—to permanently define her.
For SKG, being introduced as a former Death Row artist can acknowledge an important part of her history, but it does not represent the full woman she has become.
Her journey now encompasses motherhood, survival, education, creative independence and the decision to tell her story on her own terms.
The most revealing part of her WWETV conversation may therefore be bigger than Death Row itself. It is the story of a young artist who did not know she was owed money, a mother trying to provide stability for her daughter and another mother—Afeni Shakur—who used her knowledge and resources to help.
Decades after Tupac’s death, stories like this reveal an aspect of Afeni’s legacy that headlines about music ownership and murder investigations cannot fully capture.
For SKG, Afeni Shakur was not simply the mother of a global icon. She was the person who recognized that a young woman was in trouble, located the money she had earned and helped her find a path forward.
Watch the complete WorldWide Entertainment TV interview with Helecia “SKG” Choyce.
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Editor’s note: This article is based on SKG’s personal recollections and opinions shared during her WorldWide Entertainment TV interview. Allegations or statements concerning third parties should not be interpreted as findings established by a court.
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