The two rappers first crossed paths in a recording studio in the '90s. After casually bumping into each other in various cities, Whitaker and Shakur became friends, and eventually, their relationship turned romantic. "We were in love and we loved each other until the day he died," the rapper said in a 2021 interview with EUR Web Spotlight.
Still, she said, they became more like siblings near the end of their relationship. "Pac became like a brother to me. Nothing [bad] really happened [that caused our split]," she continued. "We were just two people on the road who found each other, fell in love with each other. We spent many nights on the road together. He wasn't perfect nor was he trying to be. He wasn't afraid to talk about his community, about his parents, stuff that people don't what to hear about, stuff people don't want to talk about. People don't want to talk about their truth. That kind of love he had for truth made me love him more."
