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By Bruce Hari USA TODAY A record from slain rapper Tupac Shakur, The Don Killuminati — The 7-Day Theory, is out today, but re- cord executives, managers and art- ists.say the gangsta rap style he helped popularize is no longer the force that it once was. The major players in the feud that has divided the gangsta rap world for most of the past year — Marion “Suge” Knight, head of Shakur’s re- cord company, Death Row, and Bad Boy Entertainment head Sean “Puffy” Combs -— were already ex- panding their artistic scope before Shakur died of gunshot wounds Sept. 13, seeking new horizons beyond gritty tales of urban mayhem. But an industry that has already made millions from gangsta rap isn't exactly racing away from the style, with huge sales still expected from the 2Pac album and an upcoming one from Snoop Doggy Dogg. “I think the record company that 2Pac's on is probably eating it up be- cause now he's probably even selling more records,” says rocker Tairrie B. of Manhole, a former rapper for Eazy-E’s Ruthless Records. “It's a sad thing to say. But it's like when Kurt Cobain died.” Knight has said little about Death - Row's future in the wake of the Shakur slaying. A Death Row spokesman declined tequests for interviews, as did Death Row’'s distributors, MCA Music Entertain- ment and Interscope Records. Heavy D, the rapper tumed head of Up- town Entertainment, also says there won't be a wholesale rush away from the genre. “At the end of the day, from a business standpoint, it's all about money.” Sales of gangsta rap albums have de- clined from their early ‘90s peak — a trend mirrored by the overall flat sales in the music industry. Still, 2Pac's AU Eyez on Me, which topped the Billboard 200 earlier this year, was still No. 20 after 36 weeks. Sean “Puffy” Combs wants to clear the air between his Bad Boy Entertainment, leaders of the East Coast school of rap, and the West Coast's Death Row Records. “T think people have a mis- conception that frst of all we were in a feud,” he says, “I don't think you can be in a feud with somebody if there's fot two people arguing I mean, I've never had a prob- youd — Tupac’s death: A lem with Tupac or a problem with Suge Knight or problem with Death Row, a problem with anybody in the industry, for that matter. “The only thing I've heard is the records that you've heard. I've never been ap- proached on any other level besides that, So it was more hype than anything.” Combs is branching out in a big way. He has just signed ‘Death Row Reourds Shakur: Record producers are wondering what effect, if any, his death will have on the future of gangsta rap. Knight, who was with Shakur when he was shot, is currently under arrest for pa- role violations, The 3l-year-old has been accused in a federal racketeering suit of visiting Ruthless Records with basebalJ bats to settle a business dispute. But Death Row made its first foray be yond gangsta rap this summer with artist Danny Boy, who quickly dropped off the charts, and soon plans to release an al- bum by pop rapper Hammer. Such safe material may become more common piace in the future, some executives pre- ict, Steve Rifkind, president of-Loud Re- cords, a label whose acts include Wu-Tang Bad Boy’s Combs denies feuding with Death Row @ lucrative joint venture with Arista Records; he’s opening his own restaurant in Manhat- tan, Justin’s, devoted to soul and Caribbean food; and his debut album as an artist is due out in January, with con- tributions from most of his Bad Boy roster. Reffecting on his fortunes, Combs agrees that some Bangsta rap — particularly that made by imitators of the Cian, says caution will be the rap watchword for large record distrib- utors, most of them publicly traded. They “will censor it a little more — from album artwork to whatever they say lyrically just to avoid pres- sure from the outside,” he says. But ultimately, the genre is un- likely ever to vanish completely, “I honestly wish that it would ghange. For me better, that is,” vy D says, “I'm hoping maybe People will think twice about the types of iyrics that they're choosing to use now. But to say it's going to change, especially overnight, I would b leh say 0.” tor LL a ity, Manager for Cool J and head of Violator Records, admits corporate doors may be clos- ing, if only to newcomers. “I think it will make it harder if you're the new-up-and-coming gang- sta rap label and you're trying to break in the door right now, you're going to meet resistance.” Russelt Simmons, whose Def Jam Records is one of rap’s leading la- beis, says no one should expect much change because of Shakur. “Jimi Hendrix died of an O.D. Did the rock 'n’ roll world forget its pre- occupation with drugs?” Simmons asks. “Real life inspires art. It re- flects the reality that (people) live, saw or ut throcgh snteralize hey spit tt back out music or painting or plays or poetry.” Chuck D of Public Enemy says if any change comes post-Shakur, record compa- nies — particularly black music divisions — need to take greater interest in direct- ing young artists, much as the National Basketball Association offers its rookies counseling, “You could say whatever you want to say in a song, but when it comes down to whether or not you get thrown out of a ho- tel, ight backstage, or get arrested in other States, that needs to be checked,” he says, “because what it does is It sheds a bad light and a shadow on the art form.” original stylists — is passing from the scene. “I think there are different types of hardcore rap or gangsta rap," he says, “There are the things that are real, affecting people's lives, and then peopie that are just say- ing anything that sounds hard-core or sounds dark and dismal — I think some of those things may be on their way oul” ~66A-L4- 20/867 -{ 3 INDEXED” FILEO :