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A veteran sportswriter ventures beyond his lane with “Only God Can Judge Me,” a Tupac biography featuring 650 interviews and the real person behind “Brenda’s Got a Baby.”

Jeff Pearlman debunks conspiracy theories around Tupac’s 1996 murder and examines the rapper’s complex childhood, particularly his relationship with his mother, Black Panther activist Afeni Shakur.

The research unearthed 150 never-before-seen love letters written by teenage Tupac to his girlfriend, revealing a romantic vulnerability that contradicts his gangster rap public persona.

It was an odd pitch. For nearly 30 years, veteran journalist and author Jeff Pearlman had made his bones as a respected sportswriter

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