Virginya Slim On Recording "Me and My Girlfriend" With 2Pac For the Makaveli Album!

Okay. Uh, Virginia Slim, I I appreciate

you taking the time out to uh come on

bomb first. Um, before we get into the

questions, I just wanted to to check in

see how your sister Gail is doing with

her health and stuff. I know um I used

to speak with her during the row era

stuff and um and yeah, I would love to

to hear how she's doing.

>> Oh, well, thank you for asking. Most

people don't even know the situation um

to even know to ask and I thank you for

asking about her. Um she's doing very

well. Um she is a fanatic about working

out. So, thank God she has um invested

her time and energy precancer and now

postcancer working out. I think that's

really what saved her life that she was

strong and healthy. So, she's doing very

well. you know, it's a it's an everyday

fight and she'll be fighting this

disease for the rest of her life. Um,

but with the support of all of us and

like I said, her working out and being

the cancer warrior that she is, she's

doing very well.

Thank you.

>> Nice.

>> Yeah, definitely glad to hear that.

Okay, so last week, I believe it was,

you went viral for telling the story

about uh the Tupac track Me and My

Girlfriend that's on the Maveli album.

if you don't mind for our listeners, can

you go into detail about how that song

came about?

>> Yeah, absolutely. And honestly, it was a

fluke. Um, so he

Let me start from the beginning. My

son's father is Eric B of Eric B and

Rockham. And he and Tupac were very good

friends. And one night we were all

meeting at a nightclub somewhere on

Sunset. And it was a night where he

really did not want to be bothered with

fans. like he just did not want to be

there at all. Um, and of course he

always had the outlaws with him whenever

he was out and about. So he had those

guys with him and when Eric and I pulled

up to the club, he was standing outside

in the front. Um, he hadn't gone in yet.

So, we were all kind of pulling up

around the same time and he decided to

leave his car keys with the outlaws and

because we hadn't parked our val we

hadn't valet our car yet to jump in the

car with Eric and I and he was like, I

don't want to be here. Let's go do

something else. So, he jumps in the car

with us and we left that nightclub. So,

we went back to our house. At the time,

Eric and I had just I had just moved in

with Eric B. Um, so it really wasn't

anything that Pac wanted to do. He just

wanted to discuss some of the things and

some of the plans that he had on his

mind with Eric. So we went back to our

house and we were sitting in the living

room and he was telling us all these

ideas about what he had coming up. Um,

everything from Gridlock to what was the

other movie he was working on at the

time? Uh, gang related and um, Making

Peace with Nas. he had just got back

from New York from whatever award show

that he was there and how he wanted to

pull everybody together uh to work on

a couple of different projects. He was

tired of the beef basically. Um and then

he was asking me if I remember the song

man. It's a Prince song. Hold on, let me

think. What was the name of Oh, if I was

your girlfriend. So, he used to be a big

fan of Prince and he um started talking

about he wanted to do a song um that

kind of was metaphoric like like how

Prince wrote um If I Was Your

Girlfriend. Um and I was like, "Oh yeah,

I love that song so much, too." And he

was like, "Yeah, but what I'm going to

do is I'm going to write a song about my

gun, but it's really but people are

going to think it's about my girlfriend

because I'm going to be writing about my

gun like it's my girlfriend." So the

night continues on and he tells us all

these oh he was going to change his name

to um Maveli

and he was telling us giving us all this

information about uh who Maveli was and

what he was known for and we just kind

of stayed up all night. Me him Eric B. I

feel like there was somebody else there

but I can't really remember who it was

right now. I'm sure it'll come to me

later. Um but oh my little sister was

there actually who you just asked about.

my sister Gail was there. She was there.

Um, so

the next day we're at the studio and

honestly I think that day he had

recorded

what was that song? Um,

dang. Give me a second. John,

he did a song. He did a song that was a

beef song that next day after he was

with Eric and I. And so that very next

day, he left Eric B and I and I don't

know if one of the outlaws picked him up

or if he caught a cab or whatever, but

he went straight to the studio and he

did that song. And it was kind of

strange cuz he was talking about ending

the beef the night before, but he was

still kind of in the beef. So he did

that song that day. Um, fast forward, I

came to work. I think I had to be to

work like 2:00 cuz I used to work 12

hour shifts. 2:00 p.m. to like 2:00 a.m.

And he came running to the studio and he

was like, "I did two songs today." And I

was like, "Oh, you did." He goes back to

the studio and he finishes the song. At

the time, I didn't know he was he had

did and I didn't know that he did me and

my girlfriend. So, he comes to the

studio office and he tells me and one of

the girls that's working in there, her

name was Isis. Uh she was the studio

manager and I was her assistant manager.

Um she he tells us that he needs someone

to be the girl to the the verses that he

laid down for what was known then as my

girlfriend. It wasn't called me and my

girlfriend. It was called my girlfriend.

And at that time we used to hire a lot

of work for hire whether it was somebody

to sing vocals, play live bass, guitar,

drums, whatever it was. So Isis and I

now looking back on it, I truly believe

that he was hinting to me to do the

vocals, but because I was at work, I

wasn't thinking artist. I was a

recording artist at the same time. I was

thinking, "Oh, let me get somebody on

the phone and hire somebody for him to

to to do the record to complete it." And

that's what I did. Um, but it didn't

work out. And we had paid about three

different girls to do it. And we know

Suge would be very upset if we kept

paying people and the and the project

wasn't getting done. So we ended up um

we ended up talking to one of the

engineers and he was like you know like

I was I was asking him how was how is

the the album coming and it wasn't named

Maveli the 7-day theory. I just kept

saying how's the Pac album going and he

was like good except we don't have the

vocals that we need for my girlfriend.

And I was like what do you mean you

don't have the vocals for my girlfriend?

And he was like, "Yeah, like we got to

get somebody else to do it. Like we're

having a really hard time getting

somebody to do that." So I I'm thinking

to myself like, "Let me go let me go

talk to Pop." Cuz he was at the studio

the day that the engineer was telling me

that story that he didn't have anybody

to to do it. Like it wasn't turning out

right. It was coming out really

horrible. Um, so I go back into the

studio and as I'm making my way back to

studio A, there's this long hallway from

our office leading back to where Pac to

get back to where Pac is, but he's

coming towards me. And I'm like, you

guys didn't get nobody to do that song

to you don't have a girl. And he's like,

"Please, can you just do it for me?

Like, I know you can pull it off. Like,

don't even hire nobody else. Don't even

waste no money. Like, I know you got

this in you." And he's animated. You

know, Pac used to be real animated. So

he's like, "I know you got this in you.

Like just do it for me, Queen." I go by

Virginia Slim, but everybody called me

Queen or Queenie at the time. He's like,

"You could do it, Queenie. I know you

got it in you." So fast forward. Um,

I tell him, "Okay." So I tell him, "All

right, I'll do it, but I got to do it

after my shift cuz I'm clocked in. Like

I can't just stop working what I'm doing

cuz there's other projects being done.

There's Nate Dog's out first album being

done. the dog father was in production.

Um, so I'm like, I gotta do it after my

shift, which isn't probably going to be

till about 12 o'clock at night, like

midnight really, that I really get off.

Um, so I call the engineers and I make

my way. It wasn't at Can-Am Studio that

I did these vocals. We were actually

using another studio at the same time

and it was called Track and it was in

North Hollywood. It was called Track

Studios and they were over there doing a

bunch of mixing and mastering. Tommy D

and Lance. can't remember Lance's last

name. So, I pull up to the studio and oh

gosh, I didn't even have a car. So, I I

I get dropped off at the studio and my

son's father, Eric Be, is like, "What

are you doing? Why did you have them

drop you off there? Why didn't you come

home?" And I said, "Well, Pac asked me

to do something and it's got to be done

cuz they're ready to start mixing on on

this one song." And he's like, "All

right, well, let me know if you need a

ride from there and I'll come get you

from there." So I go in the studio and

this is when everybody is big chiefing.

It's not marijuana at the time is not

legal but everybody is big chiefing. So

when I walk in Tommy D and Lance are on

a break and they're big chiefing. So

when I come in they're like everybody's

kind of just like rushing and trying to

get to work and I'm like oh no I

literally just work like a eight hour

shift so I want to decompress a little

bit. So, I tell the engineers that y'all

got to pay me in a joint for coming over

here and helping y'all out. And they

like, "Pay you in a joint? Girl, you can

have all the joints you want." And I was

like, "Yeah, man. I'm off. I'm not even

supposed to be doing this. It's been a

long day." You know what I mean? So,

Tommy D gives Lance some some tree and

he rolls it up for me and they pull the

song up, but it takes a minute though

because they had to change the reels.

And this is when we're using 456 AMAX

reels. So, this t it takes a long time

to change those reels, get it all queued

up where it needs to be. So, I'm just

kind of chilling in the studio waiting

for this all to happen. Um, and then

Tommy Dia is like, "We're ready for

you." And I'm like, "Cool." Now, the

joint that they gave me, I hadn't smoked

it yet cuz I was smoking their joints.

[laughter] I was kind of slick like

that. Save my I thought I'd save my weed

and take it home. Um, so they're like,

"Yeah, go in the booth, put the

headphones on." And at the time, nobody

knew I was a recording artist. Uh, so

they really didn't know that I knew what

I was doing once I got in the booth and

they're like, "We're just going to play

it for you." And when they played it for

me, there were no um vocals at the

intro. Uh, and then they fast forward

the reels and then they let me hear the

blank air time um that Pac needed the

most vocals on. So

they run riding from the top and I'm

like, "Let me get a count." I'm also a

dancer, a trained choreographer and a

dancer at the time. And I'm like, "Let

me get a good count so I know when to

stop, when to start." So, they played

the intro of it and I did the count. I

light the joint. I put it out, drink a

little bit of water, and I just ran it

off the top of my head. You

[ __ ] right. I'm the [ __ ]

that's keeping it live and keeping it

hot when you punk ass [ __ ] don't.

[ __ ] WEST SIDE, WHAT? BRING IT ON.

Look for me. Lost in the world. And it

went. Oo, I got goosebumps talking about

it right now. And it went perfectly. So

Lance and Tommy D is like they're doing

a little jig and they're screaming and

hollering. They let it like I can hear

them through the headphones and they're

like, "Oh my god, it was perfect." Now

me being a perfectionist, I want to hear

it. And then when they played it back

now, I'm getting goosebumps and I feel

good about it. But when they played it

back, I was like, "Nah, let me do it

again. Like, let me get another take. I

can do it better than than that time."

And they were like, "Hell no." They were

like, "Absolutely not. We don't even

need another take of that." And I'm

like, "Well, okay. I'm kind of in my

feelings cuz I'm an artist." And like

Erica Badu say, I'm sensitive about my

so I don't even want to do anything else

at this point cuz I feel like I don't

really have creative control. So I'm

like, "All right, then I'm done." And

they like, "Nah, you got to do the

second part." And now I'm hearing Pac in

my ears as they're telling me I got to

do the second part. I know you got it in

you. Just get it done for me. and he

please he used to beg like that. That's

how he begged me to do it. So I'm

hearing him pleasing and begging even

though I'm mad at Tommy D and them for

not giving me a second take of it. So

I'm like all right. So, they fast

forward the reals to the blank part. And

I don't even know what I'm gonna say at

this part because as I'm listening to

his lyrics and I'm running back the the

description that he gave me the night

before, well, the night before he

recorded the vocals with me and my my

baby daddy. I I'm like, I don't even

know what a gun is supposed to sound

like. Like, I grew up in the suburbs.

I'm trained in ballet and jazz. I've

been on tour with R&B acts. I just work

for the most gangster record label in

the world. You know what I mean? SO I'M

LIKE, I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT A GUN

sounds like being shot in real life, let

alone try to make myself sound like a

gun. So they run it back and

after I get the count, they like, "Are

you ready?" And I remember telling them

this. I said, "I don't know what I'm

doing, y'all. So whatever y'all do,

don't start. Don't stop recording no

matter how corny it gets. Right. So they

they let me hear um the part where Pac

is saying UM ONE SHOT MAKE A HEARTBEAT

STOP. And I didn't know they was

recording, but I just went in. WHAT? I'M

BUSTING ON ALL YOU [ __ ] I'M DUCKING

HIGH. I'M ON YOUR ASSAUNT.

DIE, [ __ ] DIE. And then I'm saying a

whole lot of stuff that comes after. And

then I kind of get my voice gets kind of

because my throat is dry and they stop

recording and another celebration dance

goes on and

once they finally finally mixed and

broke up everything and added the

gunshots and I think there's a sound of

a bus going by the sound of some some

tire screeching like the people that I'm

shooting at is trying to get away from

me. That's how you got the masterpiece

of me and my girlfriend. I got

goosebumps now.

That's how that song came about. It was

a total accident, but it was a work of

art. It was a total accident that became

a work of art.

Yeah, that song is is definitely

notorious. Let me let me ask you this.

Um, there's a version that leaked that's

like a rough mix version that has you

just on the intro part but not, you

know, like not the second part where you

where you cut into Tupac's verse. Um,

but you're saying that you did though

both of them the same day, right?

>> Yeah, I did them I did them at the I did

them same day, same time. Um, but the

the reason why that probably came about

is because like I just kept running.

Like it's shorter now when I'm telling

the story, but when I when I laid that

second part, it was long. It was They

told me that they would be able to, this

is when Pro Tools first started, they

told me not to worry about it, that they

would be able to cut, copy, paste, put

what they wanted and needed wherever

they needed it to be. Um, so I probably

was on that rant as the gun for a good

two minutes and I'm sure that's probably

how that that other version has come

about.

>> Okay, gotcha. That makes sense.

>> Yeah.

>> Okay. So, let me ask you this. So, after

the songs come out, you know, I saw on

your um Instagram and on your TikTok

that it's been a bit of a challenge to

try to figure out your your credit and

your royalt royalties and all this

stuff. Um I know you had mentioned, you

know, reaching out to to the estate and

that Suge at one time was going to help

you. Do you think that um when it came

to to Suge that he didn't know how to

help you or you think he just didn't

help you? Like what do you think

happened with that situation?

>> [sighs]

>> It was so complicated at that time

because he Suge went to prison

and I honestly don't think Death Row

meant to leave me out off of the credits

and out of getting me my royalties at

that time in in96.

Um cuz Pac passed away, Suge went to

prison, they shut down the recording

studio at Can-Am, I was laid off, ISIS

was laid off, the other girl that was

working there. Um and then it became

really hard to get in touch with anybody

at Death Row. I don't even know who was

running it. I know everybody kept

telling me that I needed to talk to Roy

and Norris because Suge was in jail. Um

and I don't know if you guys know who

those people are, but they worked at the

record label. The people that worked at

the recording studio were different from

the people that worked at the record

label. But we all worked under the death

row umbrella. Like all of our checks

said the same thing. And some of those

people I didn't even know. I knew them

by voice, but I didn't even know what

they did for the record label. So

after months of trying to get in touch

with somebody, um I was pregnant. I

actually found out the day that um Pac

passed away, September 13th, 1996. I

drove back from Las Vegas early that

morning and I went right to a clinic and

found out I was pregnant. So trying to

to get in touch with someone in the

label and get becoming I don't know

deeper falling deeper into my pregnancy

cuz I found out I was 3 months pregnant

at that time. Um, I kind of backed off

and like I said, my son's father was

Eric B and we had money and I don't

think they intended it to go down

because I wasn't the only person that

got left off. I'm just the only person

that hasn't been recognized and and and

it hasn't been fixed for me. I

understand some producers have been

paid. um singers that were left off,

they've been paid and gotten their

recognition and life just kind of took

over for me and yeah, I just it just

became a nightmare and and it went on

for years. So life kicked in for me and

then I became a single mom and then I

got back into the entertainment business

as a dancer and I started touring and

dancing again and I and and each time I

hired an attorney and even when Shu got

out of jail the the second time. The

second time I believe he intentionally

didn't help me get my royalties or my

recognition. The first time though to

answer your question no he was in he was

in jail. He he was fighting, you know,

he violated his probation, so he was

fighting for his freedom at that time,

too. So, the first time, no. But the

second time, yeah, I think he

intentionally

didn't take care of me properly after

promising me that he would.

>> Do you have any idea why he why you feel

like he didn't do that? I mean, do you

feel like he do you feel like he had it

to where when he got out of prison that

he could have gotten it handled and just

didn't? Yes. Or if so, do you know why

he wouldn't have done it for you?

>> I think he was just too distracted with

honestly having a good time because he

was free.

I mean, don't get me Okay, so listen. I

started working for the record label

again when he got out. He hired me again

to come work at the record label. The

the label was on Wilshire, I think, in

San Vicente at the time. and he hired me

to be a receptionist. Um, it kept me

from touring that way I could be home to

be a mom. I also worked on he was

releasing the dysfunctional family

soundtrack at the time. So, work was

being done and I I'm actually on a I'm

on another song with Crooked Eye from

that time and he didn't take care of me

then. my name is on it, but he didn't he

didn't he didn't have me deal with the

people that would take care of the he

kept telling me, "I'mma get it taken

care of for you. I'mma get it taken care

of." So, I trusted him and I did another

song with Crooked Eye called Still the

Row. He changed the name from Death Row

to The Row and he didn't take care of me

for that song. And then he fired me. So

then I had no way to like and I don't

know if he fired me because I was asking

him to take care of me for me and my

girlfriend because I do know that he

signed over he gave clearance for Jay-Z

and Beyonce to remake my song. This was

during that time not my song our song to

me and Pac song me and my girlfriend

Jay-Z and Beyonce redid it and they

named it 03 Bonnie and Clyde. So I mean

I'm working for you. I'm right there in

the office. HE HE PLAYED THE SONG ON

REPEAT WHILE I WAS WORKING THE DAY IN

THE OFFICE. So he was very much so aware

that he needed to take CARE OF ME THAT

DAY. I REMEMBER walking into his office

and smirking and him saying, "I'mma take

care of you." Sitting back smoking his

cigar and telling me, "We going to get

that paperwork done, Queenie. I promise

you." And still. And then I trusted his

ass again. and I did um Still the Row

with Cricut Eye off the dysfunctional

family soundtrack. We shot a video. It

was the first single released and he

still didn't take care of me from that.

So in '96, not his fault in 03. Totally

his fault.

Totally intentional. He totally left me

off of that intentionally.

Okay. Um, from what I understand, and

you can correct me if I'm wrong, and and

if you don't want to speak on this, that

that's fair. But from what I understand

now, um, Reggie and the realists are

trying to help you get to the right

person at Universal to get everything

situated. Is that right?

>> Yes. Yes. Thank God for them. Thank God

for the realist. Shout out to Reggie,

right? Salute y'all for really stepping

up. And I'm glad I shared my story on

Tik Tok and Instagram because I really

wasn't gonna do that. But now that I did

that, they thought, well, the realist

because he is like my brother. We have

been rocking with each other for so many

years. He thought all these years that I

had received a plaque. He thought that I

had gotten my royalties. Maybe not

really like my name featuring me, but he

thought that behind the scenes all of

that had been taken care of. Um, and I'm

assuming that because over the years I

have been telling people that even even

some of the outlaws, you know, that I

was working with Afeni before she passed

away to get it taken care of. Um, and

yeah, I guess I guess you know they say

social media works if you want to kick

somebody in the butt and get it in gear,

but yeah, the realist and Reggie Wright

are now helping me get to the proper

place cuz I even told Realist the story

about how I um I contacted Molly in 2023

and Molly talked to me by email for six

months just to tell me in the final

month that I'm not even the person

you're supposed to be talking to about

this, Queen. Yeah.

Yeah. So, sorry, the cameraman just made

a face. But that's that's how people

have been I'm going to help you dragging

it out. Every time I get I get close,

something happens or I'm not talking to

the right person or you know

[clears throat] redirecting me to Hasbro

and redirected me to Pox State and then

I finally get somebody from Pox State

and after 6 months she tells me I'm not

even the person you're supposed to talk

to. So I've been getting the runaround.

I I've been trying I've been trying to

take care of my business, but life be

lifing. And I forgot that Molly had told

me that until the realist asked me that

I get in touch with Molly. He brought

her name up a couple of days ago and I

went back into those emails and I got

discouraged and I never tried again

after her last email. She sent me the

emails of the of her legal team and I

didn't even get in contact with them. So

after I told the realist that story, he

contacted um Reggie or I don't know how

it went on that on their end. Uh oh,

actually the realist contacted some

people that knew how to get in. I think

it was Big Sea Style and he got in touch

with Snoop Dogg and for a while I

thought Snoop was going to be able to

help me with that and we found out that

he doesn't own the rights to um not only

Tupac's estate but um Dr. Dre and any of

the soundtracks like Above the Rim that

was on death row. Um so that would be

like beating a dead horse going that

way. So yep, Reggie and the Realist are

currently helping me um get my royalties

and and now I'm I I think I found out

through Reggie that it was it's

Universal Music Group that I possibly

have to go through. Either way, The

Realist and Reggie jumped into action

for me and I really appreciate them. I

love them so much for doing that for me.