Few rap figures are as iconic as 2Pac. West Coast legend, three-dimensional storyteller and cultural icon: The late rapper spearheaded an obsession with the golden era of hip-hop throughout his life, and even to this day.

The man’s backwards bandana swag was on point. The man had ‘THUG LIFE’ tattooed on his stomach for fucks sake. His rant at the end of ‘Hit Em Up‘ contains some of the most aggressive rap smack-talk of all time. If you listen to this track shirtless while sculling cans of Four Loko, your head will probably explode.

That’s why it’s no surprise that someone decided to create a @2PacShakur Instagram account, holding throwback pictures along with some pearls of wisdom from the OG himself. However, we recently discovered that this account wasn’t being run by a mixtape rapper in his mother’s basement in Los Angeles. Nope, it was being run by a long-haired, 24-year-old surfie from Sydney’s Northern beaches:

This is Jake Bulgin. Notably, he lives in a treehouse. It’s here that he built the @2PacShakur Instagram account, which he eventually monetised after reaching a colossal 300,000 followers. We interviewed Jake to see how the account started, its downfall and some interesting phone calls from 2Pac’s crew:

When did you get the idea to start a 2Pac Instagram account?

I got the idea for the 2pac page in March, 2011. I used to be a residential support worker for foster kids out west, and I was between shifts. I went to McDonalds in Blacktown and searched for 2pac on Instagram. No page existed, so I got onto it and the rest was history!

Obviously the account reached pretty viral levels of engagement. Was there a moment when you thought ‘Fuck, this is getting Godzilla’?

It’s funny because when I started I thought “If I reach the unreachable 10K, I will reveal that I am white, surf and am possibly the farthest thing from a gangster”. Mate – 10K was nothing. I reached that point when I was at 16K, posted a photo, fell asleep and woke up to 21K – I had hit the popular page for the first time. Godzilla was in town!

Is it ever okay for somebody to throw up the ‘Westside’ sign if they are Australian?

Absolutely not, even though I have done it as a joke, it’s not okay. I almost hate myself for it! Nah, I guess it just depends on the attitude behind it. Bro, if you’ve got a mad 1990 Holden Commodore and you throw a ‘Westside’ out the window as you turn a corner, then lord help you.

What about if they are from Parramatta?

Well I guess the last person I described is probably from Parramatta, so nope… All jokes aside though, if you actually live on the west coast of somewhere then you have the right to do so.

I’m assuming your a fan of 2Pac. Besides being a great rapper, why do you think people have such a nostalgic attraction to him in particular?

Yeah I am a fan, it would be weird if I wasn’t. I don’t know really, people always have a different view when I talk about him. You get the people who only know the way he acted towards the end of his life, so they think he is some crazy artist who hates everyone and loves to smoke weed and shoot AK-47’s. My perspective is different; yeah he was an artist, not just musically but in every way. He was an actor, he took dance lessons, wrote poetry… He even bloody well studied at a fine arts school in Baltimore! I guess people don’t become crazy for no reason. From what I have been told, stuff went down and it changed him.

There is this crazy interview of him at the age of 17. The stuff he talks about is mental, so deep and full of wisdom – kind of scary. I think Pac was one of the most powerful leaders the world has ever seen and I think people are attracted to him because he knew what he wanted, he knew the difference between right and wrong and was not afraid to speak his mind. People are attracted to the truth that he so confidently carried.

You also set up a contact email for the Instagram account. Did anybody particularly interesting or important get in contact with you?

Yep I had an email; I set it up so that I could start to sell 2pac products through the page. When I hit 200K I thought it was time to use the influence I had. I set up a fee structure and contacted around 50 businesses that sold 2pac products – tees, hats, phone cases. I would charge them a fee and in return I would shout them out, post an image of their product and put their website in my bio. It was a dream!

In regards to interesting people contacting me, that absolutely happened. I got a call from a guy named Young Noble, he is now the leader of 2pac’s group The Outlawz. It was weird being on the phone to someone who has rapped on stage with Pac. He even told me that “Pac would be proud”. I just laughed because I could not believe that the moment was real. I had a few emails with some of the other Outlawz and Daz Dillinger.

There are some other 2Pac-related accounts on Instagram, including one of his official estate. Was there any online beef stemming from these dudes? Is that why you shut the page down?

Well I did not actually shut down the page. 2pac’s estate contacted Instagram and got me kicked out. So heavy, man. I was nearly at 300K and without warning I got kicked out. Now the page that is claiming to be run by his estate is actually my page, and I have no idea who it is. All I know is that they’ve got it easy because of my hard work and 300K followers were just given to them. My page was the biggest by far.

When I hit 200K the next biggest page was at 22K. His estate took their page too! I tried to contact Instagram but they would do nothing about it, I reckon the estate paid them to kick me out! I kind of want to start a petition to get my page back…

Any notable celebrities end up following your account?

Yep; Sonny Bill Williams, Tyga, Daz Dillinger, Lauren London, Keyshia Cole… They are the only ones I know of, it’s pretty hard to know who follows you – I just came across those ones randomly.

If you could take 2Pac out on the town for a day, what would you do?

Well let’s be honest; he knows what he wants. I can’t imagine having much say in the matter. But if he asked, I would definitely take him to Mexicano in Narrabeen, maybe try teach him to surf… it would be an intimidating day.

What would be your advice for people looking to run Instagram accounts for other deceased musicians? 

To be honest, I would say don’t do it. Maybe just have a fan page. The estate has the final say so I would not risk getting it taken again. However all the names would be taken now, I got onto it real early! Having said that, I do still have the official Biggie Smalls page… nowhere near as big but same concept: @thenotoriousbig