Young Noble Reflects On Tupac, Outlawz House of Blues Performance

Celebrating the 26-year anniversary of one of hip hop’s most iconic performances of all time, Young Noble details Tupac and Outlawz hitting the stage at the House of Blues.

For Young Noble, it would be his very first live performance and what a way to debut live on stage along side Tupac Shakur. “It was an epic night. ‘Pac energy that night performing in L.A. was just incredible,” Noble recalled speaking exclusively to Outlaw 4 Life. “It was my first time actually performing on stage, so that was crazy.”

Held at the House Of Blues on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles on July 4th 1996, Tupac and the Outlawz blessed fans with classic hits and unreleased music. Tupac’s ‘Ambitionz Az A Ridah’ kicked off the epic night. Hits such as ‘How Do U Want It’ and ‘Hit ‘Em Up’ rocked the crowd, but it was also Tupac’s energy on yet to be released music such as ‘Troublesome 96.’

“He’s energy on Troublesome was crazy,” Noble said referring to his favorite Tupac performance of the night. “He was going crazy. He did Never Call U Bi**h Again,’ that’s on of my favorite joints as well.”

Another unreleased song performed was ‘Tattoo Tears,’ which gave Young Noble the opportunity to rock the mic. “Of course I was happy we did Tattoo Tears. That was definitely going to be a single and a video. ‘Pac loved Tattoo Tears,” Noble revealed.

The song would finally be released three years after Tupac’s passing on ‘Still I Rise,’ the official Tupac and Outlawz album. “Still I Rise was the album we [Outlawz] put together from all these songs. So, that wasn’t an album that we planned on doing. At the time we was doing records here and there. ‘Pac was like we gon’ tuck it to the side and use it later,” Noble explained. “We get a call from Afeni. I guess her and Interscope talked like we got all these Tupac and Outlawz records, makes sense to make an album.”

The almost perfect night, did have a set back before the show even began. When entering the building, security found a firearm on Hussein Fatal which banned him from entering and cost him a chance to perform. “Fatal got caught with the burner,” Noble recalls. “Three of us had pieces on us. ‘Pac had told us to leave that sh*t in the limo. Fatal decided to bring his any damn way thinking he can get it in. Security caught him at the door and made him sit in the limo.”

Regardless of the Hussein Fatal situation and the Outlawz not having much experience on a stage, at the end Tupac and the Outlawz gave a performance that will live forever. “It ain’t like we practice. It was like that sh*t just came up and we got a show. It was just time to go rock. I mean we knew the records, but it definitely wasn’t no practice,” Noble said. “It was just get on stage and grab a microphone and go for what you know. Practice while we on stage. Now when I actually see the footage, I see how we all over the place. We probably actually needed some practice just so we could all be on point.”

Thankful the performance was captured on video and later released on DVD. “I’m glad they got that footage of that night. For me its bittersweet. My first last time performing with ‘Pac and Kadafi,” Noble said. “So, every time I watch it, that sh*t kinda choke me up a little bit.”

Also captured was the very first Outlawz shirt ever created. “I drew out the sketch. I was gonna design the Outlaw clothing. I was really good with drawing, designing and heavily into fashion. ‘Pac picked up on that from me and was like, ‘Yeah you need to oversee and design this Outlawz clothing line.’ That was the first shirt I came up with,” Noble said who would complete the design at the Euthanasia office on a computer with the help of Tupac’s sister. “Sekyiwa helped me take it from what I had on a piece paper to actually making it to art. Sekyiwa helped me bring it to life.”