John Singleton was originally supposed to direct the film, but the studio and Singleton couldn't agree on how Tupac was to be portrayed in the film. Singleton eventually left the project completely but has since stated that he still hoped to make his own film about Tupac on his own terms some day. He was also the only director to have been given Afeni Shakur's full blessing to tell her son's story. Afeni Shakur Davis died on 2 May 2016, aged 69 from a heart attack, thirteen months before the release of the film. Singleton died on 28 April 2019, meaning he never got his wish to make another film about the life of Tupac Shakur.
Demetrius Shipp Jr.'s father, Demetrius Shipp produced Tupac Shakur's song "Toss It Up", which was the first single released after Shakur's death. The album from which "Toss It Up" appears, "The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory," is Shakur's first posthumous album release, and the only album Shakur released under his stage name Makaveli.
On Twitter, Jada Pinkett Smith stated that the film contained many inaccuracies about her relationship with Tupac Shakur and why he left for Los Angeles. Smith said that Tupac never read the poem he read to her character in the film, and she never knew it existed until it was published in his book. She also said that she never attended one of Tupac's shows at his request, and there was no backstage argument. She did, however, praise the performances of Demetrius Shipp Jr. and Kat Graham.
Demetrius Shipp Jr. said in an interview with Snoop Dogg that it had been his dream to do what Tupac did since his father, Demetrius Shipp Sr., had been working with Death Row Records.