COMPTON STREET LEGEND: Notorious Keffe D’s Street-Level Accounts of Tupac and Biggie Murders, Death Row Origins, Suge Knight, Puffy Combs, and Crooked Cops

by Duane 'keffe D' Davis

The infamous Suge Knight, former Death Row Records CEO, and I are the only living eyewitnesses to the deadly confrontation on the Las Vegas strip between the occupants of our two vehicles. A violent confrontation that led to the deaths of two of Hip-Hop’s biggest stars (Tupac Shakur & Christopher ‘Notorious B.I.G.’ Wallace) and changed Hip-Hop history forever.There’s a strict code on the streets. One that real street players live, kill, and die by. COMPTON STREET LEGEND reveals the street-level code violations and the explosive consequences when the powerful worlds of the streets, entertainment, and corrupt law enforcement collide. More than twenty years after the premature deaths of Tupac and Biggie there have been numerous TV specials, documentaries, books, magazine and newspaper, and social media dedicated to the subject. But at the end of the day, none of the private investigators, retired police officers, informants, Hip-Hop heads, actors, or academics that have weighed in on the topic truly know what happened and the reasons behind it, because none of them were there.Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis, a native of Compton, California, admittedly lived most of his life as a gangster; a real gangster that did the shit that real gangsters do. He rose up the gang-banging ranks to become a shot-caller for the notorious Southside Compton Crips, while running a multi-million dollar, multi-state drug empire. Keffe D has been a central figure in both the Tupac Shakur and Biggie murders for the past 20 years. COMPTON STREET LEGEND will add valuable information about two of the biggest “unsolved” crimes in American history. It will serve as the missing piece of the puzzle that Hip-Hop Fans have been waiting for. On the surface COMPTON STREET LEGEND will look like a story based on violence and hate, it is actually a story about Love, Family, Brotherhood, Loyalty, Trust, and Honor. Scroll to the top and click the “buy now” button. It’s time to set the story straight. Fasten your seatbelts.

232 pages, Paperback

Published April 28, 2019

Reviews

[Kiera ☠ · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are interested in the story of what happened to Biggie and Tupac, this is definately worth a read. I would not say that this is well written and that's where it loses marks for me. It's more written from Keffe D's voice, re-telling the story of his life in the game and specifically during the time period of the murder of Tupac. I found it to be insightful, adding more details to what went down. If you watched 50 Cent's documentary on Sean Combs, I would say it's quite clear that he read this book. As of today (Jan 5th, 2026) Keffe D is in prison awaiting trial which was recently postponed to August of this year. His current story is that he was coerced by police into his confession, however the confession in question, mirrors his re-telling in this book that he wrote.

My interest in reading this book was less to find out the real story of what happened to Pac but more to know how deep Diddy's involvement really was. I'm very interested to see how his trial pans out being as if Keffe D is convicted in connection with the murder of Tupac Shakur, then Diddy will certainly be facing 'conspiracy to commit murder' charges after all.

If you're a hip-hop head, specifically a fan of the genre from the 90's, I feel like this is a must read to get a little more of the plot. Overall, I found Keffe D's perspective to be very interesting. Getting more of the story about gang involvement and affiliation when it come to Bad Boy and Death Row Records paints a better picture of the story we've heard for years. I should also note, I read this book with a grain of salt. Less so about the details, I do believe he is telling the truth. However, the way in which he write himself I found to be off putting. This whole "greatest gangster" while simultaneously spinning this "woe is me" narrative is annoying at best. I think Keffe D is exactly where he should be right now and I hope he does have to answer for his involvement in Tupacs death once and for all. I also hope it snowballs back in Diddy's face.

Underneath the music that influence the genre to this day was a lot of bad guys doing a lot of bad shit in the name of money, power and fame. A lot of artist we're hurt, victimized and killed so a handful of guys could play these games and ultimately, they're all in jail anyways. It's a damn shame.

[Jaret Ferratusco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having been published all the way back in 2019, it feels like I've been living under a rock. The story here seems fairly explosive regarding details, yet I was utterly ignorant of this information before the man's sudden arrest in September.

This is a pretty damn exciting book, in other words. And I would/could/should recommend it to anyone with a historical interest in the gangster scene, music, or biographies. Keffe D has a great voice, wrought with a no-bullshit attitude and the frank, conservative, tough-guy admonishments you could expect from someone who lived by the sword. Yet, the sad evidence of a heartfelt raincloud of sadness is heavy and hovering over these fast-paced stories. Like most autobiographical gangland tales, there's a lot of self-congratulation and the staunch passing of blame for shit gone wrong. In a crime confessional, it seems only fair. As to the tale's honesty, it's anybody's guess what the actual story is, but I can't help but feel this one is being told by a man who believes it to be true. Or mostly true, as he would likely accept because he hasn't ratted on anybody living and holds the right to beef up a tale if he wants to.

Will there be more to the story once his current case reaches a more comprehensive public knowledge? I hope so.

[Ramon Alejandro · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book needs some severe editing. The overall narrative is interesting enough, especially if you’re not familiar with Los Angeles street gang politics, the drug trade, and/or the East/West rap beef of the mid 90s. But Duane “Keffe D” Davis’ narration is chaotic, so sometimes it’s hard to keep track when something happened or who was involved. Also, Davis name drops so much the reader’s not sure how much of this is true. Still, with everything going on with the arrest regarding Tupac’s murder, it’s an engaging read. Just take it with a grain of salt.

[Heidi L · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s remains unclear why this man wrote this. It’s also unclear what took LVMPD so long. Why did he choose to live in Vegas? No clue but this poorly written book made for a pretty entertaining work shift

[Riccardo Lo Monaco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to hear his take. Fascinating that it led to his arrest.

[Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

I appreciate the way the book was written. It feels a lot more authentic than if it read like a highly-polished book. I do not think that an editor was necessary at all.