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Iowa Official Shares The Tupac Quote He Sent To His Employees Prior To His Resignation
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He also revealed who his favorite rapper is after Tupac Shakur.
Jerry Foxhoven, the Tupac superfan who was recently asked to resign from his position as Iowa's Department of Human Services director, hopes that his fandom of the late rapper didn't contribute to his resignation.
"I always try to assume the best of everybody, and I can't imagine that [the governor] would base her decision on the Tupac incident," Foxhoven said to NPR. "If this is the reason, I'm really disappointed."
Foxhoven also shared the Tupac quote he sent in an email to the agency's 4,300 employees prior to his resignation: "Pay no mind to those who talk behind your back. It simply means that you are 2 steps ahead."
The 66-year-old said he first got into Tupac in the early '90s when the rapper was still alive.
"Part of the reason I like Tupac [is that] it's good music — it's not just rap with a bass in the background," Foxhoven said. "It's fun to listen to, and also I liked over his career, you could see him transform."
He also talked about the recent report of the man who fatally stabbed a teenager in Arizona because he was listening to rap music.
"It's important for us to break down those stereotypes: if you listen to rap music, you're a criminal or dangerous. It's not true at all," he said, before adding that he hoped his situation could lead to "having open discussions about race and what we have in common, instead of what separates us."
In a separate interview with the New York Times, Foxhoven shared that Snoop Dogg is his second favorite rapper, with the first obviously being Tupac.
Source: NPR