An episode of SKG’s new podcast featuring Suge Knight discussing Tupac Shakur passed 3 million listeners. That number, for an independent show with no major label or network behind it, signals something beyond a successful launch.
SKG — born Helecia Choyce — is a Los Angeles rapper, entrepreneur, and cultural commentator who built her profile through independent music and media. Her new podcast, West Coast Queen Diaries, covers music, politics, influence, power, and legacy. What separates it from the crowded hip-hop commentary space: exclusive interviews conducted with Suge Knight while he serves a 28-year sentence at California State Prison.
“This podcast is about ownership of the narrative,” SKG said. “I’m speaking from where I stand — as a woman, an artist, and someone who’s really lived this culture. No filters, no middlemen.”
Knight, who founded Death Row Records in 1991 and signed Tupac Shakur in 1995, has rarely spoken publicly since his conviction for voluntary manslaughter in 2018. The episode in which he discusses Tupac drew thousands of views before crossing the 3 million listener mark — a figure that places it among the more significant moments in hip-hop podcast history. Tupac’s murder in Las Vegas on 7 September 1996 remains unsolved. Three decades later, conversations about Death Row, that era, and the people who shaped it still pull audiences at scale.
“These are conversations people still care about because they shaped the culture,” SKG said. “We’re not rewriting history — we’re telling it straight.”
West Coast Queen Diaries sits at the intersection of true crime, oral history, and hip-hop — a space that shows like Drink Champs and No Jumper proved commercially viable. Yet SKG’s access sets it apart. A sitting interview with Suge Knight, from prison, discussing the most discussed unsolved murder in music history, is not content any other host currently holds.
The podcast draws on SKG’s position inside West Coast culture rather than outside it. She reports from experience rather than research, which shapes both her questions and the answers she gets. The show continues to release new episodes and build its audience across YouTube, Patreon, Spotify, and major streaming platforms.
