Ray J

R&B singer Ray J was recently interviewed by music service Rhapsody.com about his experiences growing up - some involving meeting Hip Hop legends. Below is a detailed discussion. "We walked in one day and Faith was sitting on Pac’s lap while Pac was writing a verse. It was like, “What the f*ck is going on?” That was one of the craziest sights, dog. Faith was in Pac’s lap. I was like, “What the f**k? I know I’m not? Is that? It can’t?” Three weeks later, “Hit ‘Em Up” came out. There’s a couple of people that came up out of that camp. Bow Wow was in Snoop’s camp. Keyshia Cole was always through Death Row in her younger days. I used to see Keyshia all the time in there with Pac. I’m not hating on nobody. I got love for Faith. That was unbelievable, during the time of the East Coast-West Coast beef." Ray J continued, and spoke of his favorite memory of Tupac: "I always just hung out with Pac and smoked and chilled. He always used to give young niggas advice to just work hard and never give up on your dreams." "He was just a funny dude," said Ray J of Pac. "He always cracked jokes on whoever had bad breath or nappy hair. I used to spend more time with Snoop and Suge. [Snoop] used to come pick me up and I’d tell my dad I’m going down the street to do my homework. I would just come back later and pass out." The singer also recalled the last thing the west coast legend ever said to him: "I seen Pac the day before they left. Suge bought Snoop, Pac, and Dr. Dre Rolls Royces. I think they all caravanned. The last thing Pac said was, “Aright, little homey, we out.” A day later I found out he got shot." Ray J was even lucky enough to see another Hip Hop legend, The Notorious B.I.G., right before he died. "I was with Big two days before he died. I smoked two or three blunts with Big. We watched a Lil Kim video. He talked to me about some real shit. He was gonna get on the remix for “Everything That You Want” off my album and then two days later he was dead. He invited me to his hotel. Cease picked me up." "Big was hella-cool. He was talking about how big Lil Kim was gonna be. And that was right when that video came out for “Crush On You.” He showed me the first version of that. I walked in [his room at at the Four Seasons] and the nigga had some shorts on and a tank top getting his hair cut. He was just a real nigga.He did some shit on [Brandy’s TV show] Moesha. So [his crew] came up like, “Biggie wanna get you high.” We sat back and smoked. I got his number. The nigga hit me the next day to come to the hotel. So me and my homey went up there and chilled. I was about 16. The day he died I seen him with Puff. I tried to say what’s up to Puff, but Puff didn’t see me. Then I seen Big and he was like, 'What’s up, my nigga.' I hugged Big and the nigga smelled like soap. That’s all I remember. He just smelled fresh like, 'Damn, he a big nigga but he smell like soap.'"Visit Rhapsody.com for more on this interview