Hussein Fatal
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Hussein Fatal (also known as Fatalveli, after Tupac Shakur's Makaveli alias), born Bruce Washington in Montclair, NJ, is an African-American rapper. Washington is sometimes mistakenly identified as Fatal Hussein, instead of Hussein Fatal.
Bruce Washington began rapping at a young age, briefly joining a group called The Plague, associated with New Jersey group The Fugees.
Washington went to high school with Yaki Kadafi, Godbrother of famous rapper 2Pac; in 1995, when Tupac was incarcerated in the Clinton Correctional Facility, Kadafi asked Washington to accompany him on a visit to the prison. Bruce thought Kadafi was playing a joke on him, and declined. Later, Kadafi's mother mentioned the friendship between her son and Shakur, and Washington hastily reconsidered.
He was inducted into 2Pac's group Tha Outlawz, and Tupac gave him his alias, based on the name of Saddam Hussein. He appeared on various Outlawz projects (including infamous diss song "Hit 'Em Up") over the next year. Though he and Pac became good friends, they had a rocky relationship; Shakur rumoredly sent him back to New Jersey numerous times for acting out-of-line. An oft-cited example is when Fatal apparently borrowed Shakur's Land Cruiser without permission and crashed it.
Eventually, Fatal apologized for his actions and calmed down; shortly after, he left California for a court date. The next day, Shakur was assassinated. 2 months later, Kadafi was killed as well. Hussein went in a downward spiral, quitting the Outlawz (reportedly for signing with Death Row Records, a move forbidden by Tupac when he was alive) and quit rapping for a short period.
He resorted to crime; eventually he started up again, appearing on Cormega's shelved Def Jam debut album, The Testament. He signed with Relativity Records, releasing his first album, In the Line of Fire in 1998, which didn't do well. He left Relativity and signed with Rap-A-Lot Records, and began recording for a second album; in 1999, before its completion, he was arrested for assault and jailed.
He was released in 2001 to a halfway house, then got out on parole in 2002. The next year he allied with Ja Rule, just in time for the escalation of the beef between Ja and Aftermath Entertainment/G-Unit/Shady Records. Currently it is rumored he has signed to Ja's home label, The Inc. Records.
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