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Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage
names 2Pac and briefly as Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur
has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2010, making him one of the
best-selling music artists in the world. MTV ranked him at number two on their
list of The Greatest MCs of All Time and Rolling Stone named him the 86th
Greatest Artist of All Time. His double disc album All Eyez on Me is one of
the best selling hip hop albums of all time.
Shakur began his career as a roadie, backup dancer, and MC for the alternative
hip hop group Digital Underground, eventually branching off as a solo artist.
The themes of most of Shakur's songs revolved around the violence and hardship
in inner cities, racism and other social problems. Both of his parents and
several other of his family were members of the Black Panther Party, whose
ideals were reflected in his songs.
During the latter part of his career, Shakur was a vocal participant in the so-called
East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry, becoming involved in conflicts with other
rappers, producers and record-label staff members, most notably The Notorious B.I.G.
and his label Bad Boy Records.
On September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot multiple times in a drive-by shooting at
the intersection of Flamingo Road and Koval Lane in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was
taken to the Southern Nevada University Medical Center, where he died six days
later.
Life and career
1971–1990: Early life and career beginnings
East Harlem neighborhood of New York City, where Shakur was born
Shakur was born on June 16, 1971, in the East Harlem section of Manhattan in New
York City. He was named after Túpac Amaru, an 18th-century South
American revolutionary who was executed after leading an indigenous uprising
against Spanish rule. Subsequent to Shakur's death, the Las Vegas
Metropolitan Police Department (as well as the official coroner's report, which
lists "Crooks" as an aka) released his name as Lesane Parish Crooks.
His mother, Afeni Shakur, and his father, Billy Garland, were active members of
the Black Panther Party in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The
infant boy was born a month after his mother was acquitted of more than 150
charges of "Conspiracy against the United States government and New York
landmarks" in the New York "Panther 21" court case.
Shakur lived from an early age with people who were convicted of serious
criminal offences and who were imprisoned. His godfather, Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt,
a high ranking Black Panther, was convicted of murdering a school teacher during
a 1968 robbery, although his sentence was later overturned. His stepfather,
Mutulu, spent four years at large on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list
beginning in 1982. Mutulu was wanted for having helped his sister Assata Shakur
(also known as Joanne Chesimard) to escape from a penitentiary in New Jersey.
She had been imprisoned for killing a state trooper in 1973. Mutulu was caught
in 1986 and imprisoned for the robbery of a Brinks armored truck in which two
police officers and a guard were killed. Shakur had a half-sister, Sekyiwa,
two years his junior, and an older stepbrother, Mopreme "Komani" Shakur, who
appeared in many of his recordings.
At the age of twelve, Shakur enrolled in Harlem's 127th Street Repertory
Ensemble and was cast as the Travis Younger character in the play A Raisin in
the Sun, which was performed at the Apollo Theater. In 1986, the family
relocated to Baltimore, Maryland. After completing his second year at Paul
Laurence Dunbar High School, he transferred to the Baltimore School for the Arts,
where he studied acting, poetry, jazz, and ballet. He performed in
Shakespeare plays, and in the role of the Mouse King in the ballet The
Nutcracker. Shakur, accompanied by one of his friends, Dana "Mouse" Smith,
as his beatbox, won many rap competitions and was considered to be the best
rapper in his school. He was remembered as one of the most popular kids in
his school because of his sense of humor, superior rapping skills, and ability
to mix with all crowds. He developed a close friendship with a young Jada
Pinkett (later Jada Pinkett Smith) that lasted until his death.
In the documentary Tupac: Resurrection, Shakur says, "Jada is my heart. She will
be my friend for my whole life." Pinkett Smith calls him "one of my best friends.
He was like a brother. It was beyond friendship for us. The type of relationship
we had, you only get that once in a lifetime." A poem written by Shakur titled "Jada"
appears in his book, The Rose That Grew From Concrete, which also includes a
poem dedicated to Pinkett Smith called "The Tears in Cupid's Eyes". During his
time in art school, Shakur became affiliated with the Baltimore Young Communist
League USA, and began dating the daughter of the director of the local
Communist Party USA.
In June 1988, Shakur and his family moved to Marin City, California, a
residential community located 5 miles (8.0 km) north of San Francisco, where
he attended Tamalpais High School in nearby Mill Valley. He began attending
the poetry classes of Leila Steinberg in 1989. That same year, Steinberg
organized a concert with a former group of Shakur's, "Strictly Dope"; the
concert led to him being signed with Atron Gregory. He set him up as a roadie
and backup dancer with the young rap group Digital Underground in 1990.
1990–92: 2Pacalypse Now
Shakur's professional entertainment career began in the early 1990s, when he
debuted his rapping skills in a vocal turn in Digital Underground's "Same Song"
from the soundtrack to the 1991 film Nothing but Trouble and also appeared with
the group in the film of the same name. The song was later released as the lead
song of the Digital Underground extended play (EP) This is an EP Release, the
follow-up to their debut hit album Sex Packets. Shakur appeared in the
accompanying music video. After his rap debut, he performed with Digital
Underground again on the album Sons of the P. Later, he released his first solo
album, 2Pacalypse Now. Though the album did not generate any "Top Ten" hits, 2Pacalypse
Now is hailed by many critics and fans for its underground feel, with many
rappers such as Nas, Eminem, Game, and Talib Kweli having pointed to it as
inspiration. Although the album was originally released on Interscope
Records, rights of it are now owned by Amaru Entertainment. The album's name is
a reference to the 1979 film Apocalypse Now.
The album generated significant controversy. Dan Quayle criticized it after a
Texas youth's defense attorney claimed he was influenced by 2Pacalypse Now and
its strong theme of police brutality before shooting a state trooper. Quayle
said, "There's no reason for a record like this to be released. It has no place
in our society." The record was important in showcasing 2Pac's political
conviction and his focus on lyrical prowess. On MTV's Greatest Rappers of All
Time List, 2Pacalypse Now was listed as one of 2Pac's "certified classic" albums,
along with Me Against the World, All Eyez On Me and The Don Killuminati: The 7
Day Theory.
2Pacalypse Now went on to be certified Gold by the RIAA. It featured three
singles; "Brenda's Got a Baby", "Trapped", and "If My Homie Calls". 2Pacalypse
Now can be found in the Vinyl Countdown and in the instruction manual for Grand
Theft Auto: San Andreas, along with the track "I Don't Give a ***," which
appeared on the in-game radio station, Radio Los Santos.
1993: Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z.
His second studio album, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., was released in February
1993. The album did better than the previous one debuting on number 24 on the
Billboard 200. The album contains many tracks emphasizing Tupac's political and
social views. This album had more commercial success than its predecessor, and
there were noticeable differences in production. While Tupac's first effort had
an indie-rap-oriented sound, this album was considered his "breakout" album. It
spawned the hits "Keep Ya Head Up" and "I Get Around" and reached platinum
status. On vinyl, Side A (tracks 1–8) was labeled the "Black Side" and Side B (tracks
9–16) the "Dark Side." It's known as his tenth-biggest selling album with 1,366,000
units moved as of 2004.
1994: Thug Life, Thug Life: Volume 1 and November shooting
"Thug Life" redirects here. For the film, see Thug Life (film). For the album,
see Thug Life: Volume 1.
In late 1993, Shakur formed the group Thug Life with a number of his friends,
including Big Syke, Macadoshis, his stepbrother Mopreme Shakur, and Rated R. The
group released their only album Thug Life: Volume 1 on September 26, 1994, which
went gold. The album featured the single "Pour Out a Little Liquor," produced by
Johnny "J" Jackson, who went on to produce a large part of Shakur's album All
Eyez on Me. The group usually performed their concerts without Shakur. The
album was originally released by Shakur's label Out Da Gutta Records. Due to
criticism about gangsta rap at the time, the original version of the album was
scrapped and re-recorded with many of the original songs being cut. Among the
notable tracks on the album are "Bury Me a G," "Cradle to the Grave," "Pour Out
a Little Liquor" (which also appears in the soundtrack to the 1994 film Above
the Rim), "How Long Will They Mourn Me?" and "Str8 Ballin'." The album contains
ten tracks because Interscope Records felt many of the other recorded songs were
too controversial to release. Although the original version of the album was not
completed, Tupac performed the planned first single from the album, "Out on Bail"
at the 1994 Source Awards. Although the album was originally released on
Shakur's label Out Da Gutta, Amaru Entertainment, the label owned by the mother
of Tupac Shakur, has since gained the rights to it. Thug Life: Volume 1 was
certified Gold. The track "How Long Will They Mourn Me?" appeared later in 1998
from 2Pac's Greatest Hits album.
On the night of November 30, 1994, the day before the verdict in his ***
abuse trial was to be announced, Shakur was shot five times and robbed by two
armed men in army fatigues after entering the lobby of Quad Recording Studios in
Manhattan. He would later accuse Sean Combs, Andre Harrell, and Biggie
Smalls—whom he saw after the shooting—of setting him up. Shakur also suspected
his close friend and associate, Randy "Stretch" Walker, of being involved in the
attack. In the documentary,[which?] Biggie says that they were in the recording
studio and did not know Shakur would be there. Once they heard he was downstairs,
Lil' Cease went to get him but came back with news that he had just been shot.
When Biggie's entourage went downstairs to check on the incident, Shakur was
being taken out on a stretcher, still conscious and giving the finger to those
around.
According to the doctors at Bellevue Hospital, where he was admitted immediately
following the incident, Shakur had received five bullet wounds; twice in the
head, twice in the groin and once through the arm and thigh. In the documentary
"Biggie and Tupac", Tupac's father is interviewed and said that Tupac made a
point to show him that no damage was inflicted upon his *** and/or testicles.
His father also mentions that when he saw Tupac's groin, he knew that he was his
son. He checked out of the hospital against doctor's orders, three hours after
surgery. In the day that followed, Shakur entered the courthouse in a wheelchair
and was found guilty of three counts of molestation, but innocent of six others,
including sodomy. On February 6, 1995, he was sentenced to one-and-a-half to
four-and-a-half years in prison on a *** assault charge.
A year later on November 30, 1995, Stretch was killed after being shot twice in
the back by three men who pulled up alongside his green minivan at 112th Ave.
and 209th St. in Queens Village, while he was driving. His minivan smashed into
a tree and hit a parked car.
On March 17, 2008, Chuck Philips wrote a Los Angeles Times article stating that
Jimmy Henchman, a hip hop talent manager, ordered a trio of thugs to rough up
Shakur. The article, which was later retracted by the LA Times because it
partially relied on FBI documents which turned out to be forged was thought
to be vindicated in 2011 when Dexter Isaac admitted to attacking Tupac on orders
from Henchman. Following Isaac’s public confession, Philips
corroborated Isaac as one (among many) of his key unnamed sources. In a June
12, 2012 exclusive for The Village Voice, Philips reported that Jimmy Henchman
admitted to setting up Tupac's ambush during one of nine "Queen For A Day"
proffer sessions with the government in autumn of 2011, according to prosecutors,
key evidence supporting Philips' theory of the attack.
1995: Prison sentence, Me Against the World and bail
Shakur began serving his prison sentence at Clinton Correctional Facility on
February 14, 1995. Shortly afterward, he released his multi-platinum album Me
Against the World. Shakur became the first artist to have an album at number one
on the Billboard 200 while serving a prison sentence. Me Against the World made
its debut on the Billboard 200 and stayed at the top of the charts for four
weeks. The album sold 240,000 copies in its first week, setting a record for
highest first week sales for a solo male rap artist at the time. While
serving his sentence, he married his long-time girlfriend, Keisha Morris, on
April 4, 1995; the couple divorced in 1996. Shakur stated he married her "for
the wrong reasons". While imprisoned, Shakur read many books by Niccolò
Machiavelli, Sun Tzu's The Art of War and other works of political philosophy
and strategy. He wrote a screenplay titled Live 2 Tell while incarcerated, a
story about an adolescent who becomes a drug baron.
The album was very well received, with many calling it the magnum opus of his
career. It is considered one of the greatest and most influential hip hop albums
of all-time. It is his fourth biggest selling album with 2,439,000 units moved
to date. Me Against the World won best rap album at the 1996 Soul Train
Music Awards.
"Dear Mama" was released as the album's first single in February 1995, along
with the track "Old School" as the B-side. "Dear Mama" would be the album's
most successful single, topping the Hot Rap Singles chart, and peaking at the
ninth spot on the Billboard Hot 100. The single was certified platinum in
July 1995, and later placed at #51 on the year-end charts. The second single,
"So Many Tears", was released in June, four months after the first single.
The single would reach the number six spot on the Hot Rap Singles chart, and the
44th on the Billboard Hot 100. "Temptations", released in August, was the
third and final single from the album. The single would be the least
successful of the three released, but still did fairly well on the charts,
reaching number 68 on the Billboard Hot 100, 35 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles &
Tracks, and 13 on the Hot Rap Singles charts.
1996: All Eyez on Me and The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory
All Eyez on Me was the fourth studio album by 2Pac, released on February 13,
1996 by Death Row Records and Interscope Records. The album is frequently
recognized as one of the crowning achievements of 1990s rap music. It has
been said that "despite some undeniable filler, it is easily the best production
2Pac's ever had on record". It was certified 5× Platinum after just 2 months
in April 1996 and 9× platinum in 1998. The album featured the Billboard Hot 100
number one singles "How Do U Want It" and "California Love". It featured 5
singles in all, the most of any 2Pac album. Moreover, All Eyez On Me (which was
the only Death Row release to be distributed through PolyGram by way of Island
Records) made history as the first double-full-length hip-hop solo studio album
released for mass consumption. It was issued on two compact discs and four LPs.
Chartwise, All Eyez on Me was the second album from 2Pac to hit number-one on
both the Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. It sold 566,000
copies in the first week of its release, and was charted on the top 100 with the
top one-week Soundscan sales since 1991. The album won the 1997 Soul Train R&B/Soul
or Rap Album of the Year Award. Shakur also won the Award for Favorite
Rap/Hip-Hop Artist at the 24th Annual American Music Awards.
Makaveli The Don - Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, commonly shortened to The 7
Day Theory, is the fifth and final studio album by Tupac Shakur, under the new
stage name Makaveli, finished before his death and his first studio album to be
posthumously released. The album was completely finished in a total of seven
days during the month of August 1996. The lyrics were written and recorded
in only three days and mixing took an additional four days. These are among the
very last songs he recorded before his fatal shooting on September 7, 1996. In
2005, MTV.com ranked Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory at #9 on their greatest hip
hop albums of all time list and, in 2006, recognized it as a classic.
The emotion and anger showcased on the album has been admired by a large part of
the hip-hop community, including other rappers. Ronald "Riskie" Brent is the
creator of the Makaveli Don Killuminati cover painting. George "Papa G"
Pryce, Former Head of Publicity for Death Row, claimed that "Makaveli which we
did was a sort of tongue and cheek and it was not really to come out and after
Tupac was murdered, it did come out. But before that it was going to be a sort
of an underground." The album peaked at number one on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop
Albums chart and the Billboard 200. The album generated the second-highest
debut-week sales total of any album that year, selling 664,000 copies on the
first week. This album was certified 4× Platinum on June 15, 1999.
Death
September 1996 shooting
On the night of September 7, 1996, Shakur attended the Mike Tyson–Bruce Seldon
boxing match at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. After leaving the match, one
of Knight's associates spotted Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson, an alleged Crips
gang member from Compton, California, in the MGM Grand lobby. Earlier that year,
Anderson and a group of Crips had robbed a member of Death Row's entourage in a
Foot Locker store. Knight's associate told Shakur, who attacked Anderson. Shakur's
entourage, as well as Knight and his followers, assisted in assaulting Anderson.
The fight was captured on the hotel's video surveillance. After the brawl,
Shakur went with Knight to go to Death Row-owned Club 662 (now known as
restaurant/club Seven). He rode in Knight's 1996 black BMW 750iL sedan as part
of a larger convoy, including many in Shakur's entourage.
At around 11:00–11:05 pm, they were halted on Las Vegas Boulevard by Metro
bicycle police for playing the car stereo too loudly and not having license
plates. The plates were found in the trunk of Knight's car; the party was
released without being fined a few minutes later. At about 11:10 pm, while
they were stopped at a red light at Flamingo Road near the intersection of Koval
Lane in front of the Maxim Hotel, a vehicle occupied by two women pulled up on
their left side. Shakur, who was standing up through the sunroof, exchanged
words with the two women, and invited them to go to Club 662. At
approximately 11:15 pm, a white, four-door, late-model Cadillac with an unknown
number of occupants pulled up to the sedan's right side, rolled down a window,
and rapidly fired gunshots at Shakur. He was hit in the chest, pelvis, and his
right hand and thigh. One of the rounds went into Shakur's right lung.
Knight was hit in the head by fragmentation, though it is thought[by whom?] that
a bullet grazed him. The bodyguard, Frank Alexander, stated that when he was
about to ride along with the rapper in Knight's car, Shakur asked him to drive
the car of Shakur's fiancée Kidada Jones instead, in case they needed additional
vehicles from Club 662 back to the hotel. The bodyguard reported in his
documentary, Before I Wake, that shortly after the assault, one of the convoy's
cars drove off after the assailant but he never heard from the occupants.
After arriving on the scene, police and paramedics took Knight and a wounded
Shakur to the University Medical Center. According to an interview with the
music video director Gobi, while at the hospital, he received news from a Death
Row marketing employee that the shooters had called the record label and
threatened Shakur. Gobi told the Las Vegas police, but said they claimed to
be understaffed. No attackers came. At the hospital, Shakur was heavily
sedated, was placed on life support machines, and was ultimately put under a
barbiturate-induced coma after repeatedly trying to get out of the bed. While
in the critical care unit, on the afternoon of Friday, September 13, 1996,
Shakur died of internal bleeding; doctors attempted to revive him but could not
stop the hemorrhaging. His mother, Afeni, made the decision to tell the
doctors to stop. He was pronounced dead at 4:03 pm (PDT). The official
cause of death was noted as respiratory failure and cardiopulmonary arrest in
connection with multiple gunshot wounds. Shakur's body was cremated the next
day and some of his ashes were later mixed with marijuana and smoked by members
of the Outlawz. His fifth album, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory was
released two months later.
Aftermath
*** case
In 2002, the LA Times published a story by Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative
reporter Chuck Philips, titled "Who Killed Tupac Shakur", based on a yearlong
investigation that reconstructed the crime and the events leading up to it.
Evidence gathered by the paper indicated that: "the shooting was carried out by
a Compton gang called the Southside Crips to avenge the beating of one of its
members by Shakur a few hours earlier. Orlando Anderson, the Crip whom Shakur
had attacked, fired the fatal shots. Las Vegas police discounted Anderson as a
suspect and interviewed him only once, briefly. He was later killed in an
unrelated gang shooting." Philips's article also included East Coast rappers
including Biggie, Tupac's rival at the time, and several New York criminals.
Before they died, The Notorious B.I.G. and Anderson denied their role in the
***. In support of their claims, Biggie's family produced computerized
invoices suggesting that Biggie was working in a New York recording studio the
night of the drive-by shooting. His manager Wayne Barrow and fellow rapper James
"Lil' Cease" Lloyd made public announcements denying Biggie's role in the crime
and claimed further that they were both with him in the recording studio during
the night of the event. Philips' article, however, was based on police
affidavits and court documents as well as interviews with investigators,
witnesses to the crime and members of the Southside Crips who had never before
discussed the killing outside the gang.
Artistry
Influences and musical style
Shakur's music and philosophy is rooted in many American, African-American, and
world entities, including the Black Panther Party, Black nationalism,
egalitarianism, and liberty.
Tupac’s love of theater and Shakespeare also influenced his work. A student of
the Baltimore school of Arts where he studied theater, Tupac understood the
Shakespearian psychology of inter-gang wars and inter-cultural conflict. During
a 1995 interview, Tupac told the Pulitzer prize-winning Los Angeles Times
reporter Chuck Philips: “ … I love Shakespeare. He wrote some
of the rawest stories, man. I mean look at Romeo and Juliet. That's some serious ghetto
***. You got this guy Romeo from the Bloods who falls for Juliet, a female
from the Crips, and everybody in both gangs are against them. So they have to sneak
out and they end up dead for nothing. Real tragic stuff. And look how Shakespeare
busts it up with Macbeth. He creates a tale about this king's wife who
convinces a happy man to chase after her and kill her husband so he can take
over the country. After he commits the ***, the dude starts having delusions
just like in a Scarface song. I mean the king's wife just screws this guy's
whole life up for nothing…”. ”
Chuck Philips made his recorded 1995 interview with Tupac available at
chuckphilipspost.com on September 13, 2012, the 16th anniversary of Tupac's
death. In a European interview Philips said that what impressed him the
most about Tupac was that he was a poet. Philips said "I like sacred texts,
myths, proverbs and scriptures. ... When Tupac came along, I thought he was
quite the poet... It wasn’t just how cleverly they rhymed. It wasn’t just the
rhythm or the cadence. I liked their attitude. It was protest music in a way
nobody had ever thought about before. ...These artists were brave, wise and
smart – wickedly smart. The thing about Tupac was he had so many sides. He was
unafraid to write about his vulnerabilities."
Tupac's debut album, 2Pacalypse Now, revealed the socially conscious side of
Shakur. On this album, Shakur attacked social injustice, poverty and police
brutality on songs "Brenda's Got a Baby", "Trapped" and "Part Time ***". His
style on this album was highly influenced by the social consciousness and
Afrocentrism pervading hip hop in the late 1980s and early 1990s. On this
initial release, Shakur helped extend the success of such rap groups as Boogie
Down Productions, Public Enemy, X-Clan, and Grandmaster Flash, as he became one
of the first major socially conscious rappers from the West Coast.
On his second record, Shakur continued to rap about the social ills facing
African-Americans, with songs like "The Streetz R Deathrow" and "Last Wordz". He
also showed his compassionate side with the anthem "Keep Ya Head Up", while
simultaneously putting his legendary aggressiveness on display with the title
track from the album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. He added a salute to his former
group Digital Underground by including them on the playful track "I Get Around".
Throughout his career, an increasingly aggressive attitude can be seen pervading
Shakur's subsequent albums.
The contradictory themes of social inequality and injustice, unbridled
aggression, compassion, playfulness, and hope all continued to shape Shakur's
work, as witnessed with the release of his incendiary 1995 album Me Against the
World. In 1996, Shakur released All Eyez on Me. Many of these tracks are
considered by many critics to be classics, including "Ambitionz Az a Ridah", "I
Ain't Mad at Cha", "California Love", "Life Goes On" and "Picture Me Rollin".;
All Eyez on Me was a change of style from his earlier works. While still
containing socially conscious songs and themes, Shakur's album was heavily
influenced by party tracks and tended to have a more "feel good" vibe than his
first albums. Shakur described it as a celebration of life, and the record was
critically and commercially successful.
He had enjoyed and had been influenced by the work of contemporary English and
Irish pop musicians as a teenager such as Kate Bush, Culture Club, Sinéad O'Connor
and U2.
Other ventures
Death Row Records
Upon his release from Clinton Correctional Facility, Shakur immediately went
back to song recording. He began a new group called Outlaw Immortalz. Shakur
began recording his first album with Death Row and released the single "California
Love" soon after. On February 13, 1996, Shakur released his fourth solo album,
All Eyez on Me. This double album was the first and second of his three-album
commitment to Death Row Records. It sold over nine million copies. The
record was a general departure from the introspective subject matter of Me
Against the World, being more oriented toward a thug and gangsta mentality.
Shakur continued his recordings despite increasing problems at the Death Row
label. Dr. Dre left his post as house producer to form his own label, Aftermath.
Shakur continued to produce hundreds of tracks during his time at Death Row,
most of which would be released on his posthumous albums R U Still Down? (Remember
Me), Still I Rise, Until the End of Time, Better Dayz, Loyal to the Game and Pac's
Life. He also began the process of recording an album with the Boot Camp Clik
and their label Duck Down Records, both New York–based, entitled One Nation.
On June 4, 1996, he and Outlawz released the diss track "Hit 'Em Up", a scathing
lyrical assault on Biggie and others associated with him. In the track, Shakur
claimed to have had *** intercourse with Faith Evans, Biggie's wife at the
time, and attacked Bad Boy's street credibility. Shakur was convinced that some
members associated with Bad Boy had known about the '94 attack on him beforehand
due to their behavior that night and what his sources told him. After the attack,
Shakur immediately accused Jimmy Henchman (an associate of Bad Boy CEO Sean
Combs) of orchestrating the attack, according to a 2005 interview with Henchman
in Vibe magazine. After the attack, Shakur therefore aligned himself with Suge,
Death Row's CEO, who was already bitter toward Combs over a 1995 incident at the
Platinum Club in Atlanta, Georgia, which culminated in the death of Suge's
friend and bodyguard, Jake Robles; Suge was adamant in voicing his suspicions of
Combs' involvement. (In a June 12, 2012 Village Voice article, Chuck Philips
reported that Sean Comb's associate Jimmy Henchman, remarkably, admitted to
setting up Tupac's ambush during one of nine "Queen For A Day" proffer sessions
with the government in autumn of 2011, according to prosecutors).
While incarcerated in Clinton Correctional Facility, Shakur read and studied
Niccolò Machiavelli and other published works, which inspired his pseudonym "Makaveli"
under which he released the album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. The
album presents a stark contrast to previous works. Throughout the album, Shakur
continues to focus on the themes of pain and aggression, making this album one
of the emotionally darker works of his career. Shakur wrote and recorded all the
lyrics in only three days and the production took another four days, combining
for a total of seven days to complete the album (hence the name).
Outlawz
Outlawz
When Tupac Shakur recorded "Hit 'Em Up" a diss song towards his former friend
and rival, The Notorious B.I.G., also known as Biggie Smalls he recruited three
members from the former group Dramacydal whom he had worked with previously, and
was eager to work with again. Together with the three New Jersey rappers and
other associates, they formed the original lineup of the Outlawz. When 2Pac
signed to Death Row upon his release from prison, he recruited his step brother
Mopreme Shakur and Big Syke from Thug Life. Hussein Fatal, Napoleon, E.D.I. Mean,
Kastro, Yaki Kadafi, and Storm (the only female Outlaw) were also added, and
together they formed the original lineup of the Outlaw Immortalz that debuted on
2Pac's multi-platinum smash All Eyez on Me. They later dropped the immortal
after the untimely deaths of 2Pac and Yaki Kadafi and moved on as Outlawz
without the members of Thug Life. Young Noble was later added and appeared on 2Pac's
second Death Row release The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. It was on 2Pac's
Makaveli album that Outlawz first came to the greater rap community's notice,
appearing on a few songs. The idea behind the group was for each member to have
a rap name coinciding with the names of various tyrants or enemies of America,
past and present. Outlawz chose in later years to make a backronym out of the
letters of their group name Operating Under Thug Laws As Warriorz although it
does not stand for the groups name and is used infrequently.
On forming the Outlawz, Tupac gave each of them a name of a dictator/military
leader or an enemy of America.
Yaki Kadafi, after Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi
Hussein Fatal, after Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein
Mussolini (formerly Big Syke), after Italian dictator Benito Mussolini
Komani (Shakur's half brother Mopreme Shakur), after Iranian Islamic Revolution
leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
Kastro, after Cuban leader Fidel Castro
E.D.I. Mean, after Ugandan dictator Idi Amin
Napoleon, after military strategist and leader Napoleon Bonaparte
For himself, Tupac created the alias "Makaveli" from Renaissance Italian
philosopher and strategist Niccolo Machiavelli, whose writings inspired Shakur
in prison, but who also preached that a leader could eliminate his enemies by
all means necessary.
He mentioned Makaveli Records a few times before his death. This was supposed to
be a music label for up and coming artists that Shakur had an interest in
developing or potentially signing, and his own future projects would have also
been published through it as well.
Acting career
In addition to rapping and hip hop music, Shakur acted in films. He made his
first film appearance in the motion picture Nothing But Trouble, as part of a
cameo by the Digital Underground. His first starring role was in the film Juice.
In this film, he played the character Roland Bishop, a violent member of the
Wrecking Crew, for which he was hailed by Rolling Stone's Peter Travers as "the
film's most magnetic figure." He then went on to star with Janet Jackson in
Poetic Justice and with Duane Martin in Above the Rim. After his death, three of
Shakur's completed films, Bullet, Gridlock'd and Gang Related, were released.
He had also been slated to star in the Hughes brothers' film Menace II Society
but was replaced by Larenz Tate after assaulting Allen Hughes as a result of a
quarrel. Director John Singleton mentioned that he wrote the script for Baby Boy
with Shakur in mind for the leading role. It was eventually filmed with
Tyrese Gibson in his place and released in 2001, five years after Shakur's death.
The film features a mural of Shakur in the protagonist's bedroom as well as
featuring the song "Hail Mary" in the film's score.
Personal life
Shakur was a voracious reader. He was inspired by a wide variety of writers,
including William Shakespeare, Niccolò Machiavelli, Donald Goines, Sun Tzu, Kurt
Vonnegut, Mikhail Bakunin, Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, and Khalil Gibran.
Shakur never professed following a particular religion, but his lyrics in
singles such as 'Only God Can Judge Me' and poems such as The Rose That Grew
from Concrete suggest he believed in God. This means many analysts currently
describe him as a deist. He believed in Karma, but rejected a
literal afterlife and organized religion.
Tupac has had several family members who were members of the Black Panthers;
Mutulu Shakur, the step-father of Tupac, Assata Shakur, his step-aunt, Billy
Garland the biological father of Tupac and Afeni Shakur his mother.
Legal issues
In October 1991, Tupac filed a $10 million civil suit against the Oakland Police
Department, alleging they brutally beat him for jaywalking. Shakur received
approximately $43,000 in settlement money, much of which went to pay his lawyer.
On August 22, 1992, in Marin City, Shakur performed at an outdoor festival, and
stayed for an hour afterwards signing autographs and pictures. A confrontation
occurred and Shakur drew a legally registered Colt Mustang, and allegedly
dropped it. As it was picked up by a member of his entourage, a bullet
discharged. About 100 yards away, Qa'id Walker-Teal, a 6-year-old, was pedaling
his bicycle at a school playground nearby when a bullet struck him in the
forehead and killed him. Although the fatal slug was matched by police to a .38-caliber
pistol registered to Shakur, and his stepbrother Maurice Harding was initially
arrested on suspicion of firing the weapon, no charges were filed. Marin County
prosecutors have said they were stymied by a lack of witnesses. Charges were
dropped when Shakur agreed to pay a $300,000 - $500,000 settlement to the
parents The police "rescued" them and took the two into custody, who
were soon released without charge for lack of evidence.
In 1995, a wrongful death suit was brought against Shakur by Qa'id's mother.
Ballistics tests proved the bullet that killed the boy was not from Shakur's or
any members of his entourage's gun . Shakur's attorney stated
that the festival was a "nasty situation," and his client was saddened by the
death of the young boy. Shakur's record company settled the lawsuit for an
undisclosed amount, reportedly between $300,000 and $500,000. Family
and close friends of Shakur often stated that the incident haunted Shakur for
much of his life. Mr. Shakur dedicated several songs to the seven-year-old Qa'id
including, "The Good Die Young" and "Nothing to Die for".
In October 1993, in Atlanta, two brothers and off-duty police officers, Mark and
Scott Whitwell, were with their wives celebrating Mrs. Whitwell's recent passing
of the state bar examination. The two officers were drunk and in possession of
stolen guns. As they crossed the street, a car with Shakur inside passed by them
or "almost struck them." The Whitwells began an altercation with the driver,
Shakur and the other passengers, which was joined by a second passing car.
Shakur shot one officer in the buttocks, and the other in the leg, back, or
abdomen, according to varying news reports. There were no other injuries. Mark
Whitwell was charged with firing at Shakur's car and later lying to the police
during the investigation; Shakur was charged with the shooting; the prosecutors
decided to drop all charges against all parties.
In November 1993, Shakur and others were charged with sexually assaulting a
woman in a hotel room. Shakur denied the charges. According to Shakur, he had
prior relations days earlier with the woman that were consensual (the woman
admitted she performed oral sex on Shakur). The complainant claimed ***
assault after her second visit to Shakur's hotel room; she alleged that Shakur
and his entourage *** her. In the ensuing trial, Shakur was found
innocent of seven counts of sodomy and other charges, however he was found
guilty of *** abuse for the "unwanted touching of the buttocks". In
sentencing Shakur to 1½–4½ years in prison, the judge described the crime as "an
act of brutal violence against a helpless woman." While appearing on
the Arsenio Hall Show, Shakur stated he was innocent of all charges and he was
hurt that "a women would accuse me of taking something from her" when he was
raised by and was surrounded by females. Shakur, did however, admit that he
should have been more responsible with the people he surrounded himself with.
After serving part of his sentence, Shakur was released on bail pending his
appeal. On April 5, 1996, a judge sentenced him to serve 120 days in jail for
violating terms of his release on bail.
In October 1995, Shakur's case was on appeal but due to all of his legal fees he
could not raise the $1.4 million bail. After serving eleven months of his one-and-a-half
year to four-and-a-half year sentence, Shakur was released from the Clinton
Correctional Facility due in large part to the help and influence of Suge Knight,
the CEO of Death Row Records, who posted a $1.4 million bail pending appeal of
the conviction in exchange for Shakur to release three albums under the Death
Row label.
Accolades
Legacy “ Since his death, Tupac has become an international
martyr, a symbol on the level of Bob Marley or Che Guevara, whose
life has inspired Tupacistas on the streets of Brazil, memorial murals in the
Bronx and Spain, and bandanna-wearing youth gangs in South Africa. ”
— Vinyl Ain't Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture
At a Mobb Deep concert following the death of Shakur and the release of The Don
Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, Cormega recalled in an interview that the fans
were all shouting "Makaveli," and emphasized the influence of The Don
Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory and of Shakur himself even in New York at the
height of the media-dubbed 'intercoastal rivalry'.[ Tupac Shakur was also
one of the few rappers that were paid a tribute during the Up in Smoke Tour that
featured many west coast hip-hop artists.
Shakur is held in high esteem by other MCs – in the book How to Rap, Bishop
Lamont notes that Shakur “mastered every element, every aspect” of rapping
and Fredro Starr of Onyx says Shakur, "was a master of the flow." "Every
rapper who grew up in the Nineties owes something to Tupac," wrote 50 Cent. "He
didn't sound like anyone who came before him." About.com for their part named
Shakur the most influential rapper ever.
Statue of Tupac at MARTa Museum in Herford, Germany.
To preserve Shakur's legacy, his mother founded the Shakur Family Foundation (later
renamed the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation or TASF) in 1997. The TASF's stated
mission is to "provide training and support for students who aspire to enhance
their creative talents." The TASF sponsors essay contests, charity events, a
performing arts day camp for teenagers and undergraduate scholarships. The
Foundation officially opened the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts (TASCA)
in Stone Mountain, Georgia, on June 11, 2005. On November 14, 2003, a
documentary about Shakur entitled Tupac: Resurrection was released under the
supervision of his mother and narrated entirely in his voice. It was nominated
for Best Documentary in the 2005 Academy Awards. Proceeds will go to a charity
set up by Shakur's mother Afeni. On April 17, 2003, Harvard University co-sponsored
an academic symposium entitled "All Eyez on Me: Tupac Shakur and the Search for
the Modern Folk Hero." The speakers discussed a wide range of topics dealing
with Shakur's impact on everything from entertainment to sociology.
Many of the speakers discussed Shakur's status and public persona, including
State University of New York at Buffalo English professor Mark Anthony Neal who
gave the talk "Thug *** Intellectual: Tupac as Celebrity Gramscian" in which
he argued that Shakur was an example of the "organic intellectual" expressing
the concerns of a larger group. Professor Neal has also indicated in his
writings that the death of Shakur has left a "leadership void amongst hip-hop
artists." Neal further describes him as a "walking contradiction", a status
that allowed him to "make being an intellectual accessible to ordinary people."
Professor of Communications Murray Forman, of Northeastern University, spoke of
the mythical status about Shakur's life and death. He addressed the symbolism
and mythology surrounding Shakur's death in his talk entitled "Tupac Shakur: O.G.
(Ostensibly Gone)". Among his findings were that Shakur's fans have "succeeded
in resurrecting Tupac as an ethereal life force." In "From Thug Life to
Legend: Realization of a Black Folk Hero", Professor of Music at Northeastern
University, Emmett Price, compared Shakur's public image to that of the
trickster-figures of African-American folklore which gave rise to the urban "bad-man"
persona of the post-slavery period. He ultimately described Shakur as a "prolific
artist" who was "driven by a terrible sense of urgency" in a quest to "unify
mind, body, and spirit".
In Holler If You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur, Michael Eric Dyson
indicated that Shakur "spoke with brilliance and insight as someone who bears
witness to the pain of those who would never have his platform. He told the
truth, even as he struggled with the fragments of his identity." At one
Harvard Conference the theme was Shakur's impact on entertainment, race
relations, politics and the "hero/martyr". In late 1997, the University of
California, Berkeley offered a student-led course entitled "History 98: Poetry
and History of Tupac Shakur."
Graffiti of Tupac
East Harlem, New York City
Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
In late 2003, the Makaveli Branded Clothing line was launched by Afeni. In 2005,
Death Row released Tupac: Live at the House of Blues. The DVD was the final
recorded performance of Shakur's career, which took place on July 4, 1996, and
features a plethora of Death Row artists. In August 2006, Tupac Shakur Legacy
was released. The interactive biography was written by Jamal Joseph. It features
unseen family photographs, intimate stories, and over 20 removable reproductions
of his handwritten song lyrics, contracts, scripts, poetry, and other personal
papers. Shakur's sixth posthumous studio album, Pac's Life, was released on
November 21, 2006. It commemorates the 10th anniversary of Shakur's death. He is
still considered one of the most popular artists in the music industry as of
2006.
According to Forbes, in 2008 Shakur's estate made $15 million. In 2002,
they recognized him as a Top Earning Dead celebrity coming in on number ten on
their list.
On April 15, 2012, a "hologram" of Tupac Shakur (technically a 2-D video
projection ) performed his songs "Hail Mary" and "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted"
with Snoop Dogg at the Coachella Music Festival, the effect was created
using an optical illusion called Pepper's ghost. The video footage was
created by visual effects company Digital Domain. The Wall Street Journal
reported Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg were in talks of a possible tour involving the
two rappers and the hologram version of Tupac, which was later turned down
by Dr. Dre.
Library of Congress
Shakur'*** song "Dear Mama" is one of 25 songs that were added to the National
Recording Registry in 2010. The Library of Congress has called "Dear Mama" "a
moving and eloquent homage to both the murdered rapper's own mother and all
mothers struggling to maintain a family in the face of addiction, poverty and
societal indifference." The honor came seven days after what would have been
Shakur's 39th birthday. Shakur is the third rapper to enter the library, behind
Grandmaster Flash and Public Enemy.
Honors
In a 2005 Rolling Stone magazine vote, Tupac was named No.86 of the '100
immortal artists of all time' behind the likes of Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson,
and John Lennon.
MTV ranked him at No. 2 on their list of The Greatest MCs of All Time.
Shakur was inducted into the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame in 2002.
Ranked No. 3 on VH1's 50 Greatest Hip Hop Artists.
In 2003, MTV's "22 Greatest MCs" countdown listed Shakur as the "Number 1 MC",
as voted by the viewers.
In 2004, at the VH1 Hip Hop Honors Shakur was honored along with DJ Hollywood,
Kool DJ Herc, KRS-One, Public Enemy, Run-D.M.C., Rock Steady Crew, and Sugarhill
Gang.
A Vibe magazine poll in 2004 rated Shakur "the greatest rapper of all time" as
voted by fans.
At the First Annual Turks & Caicos International Film Festival held on Tuesday,
October 17, 2006, Shakur was honored for his undeniable voice and talent and as
a performer who crossed racial, ethnic, cultural and medium lines; his mother
accepted the award on his behalf.
In 2008, The National Association Of Recording Merchandisers in conjunction with
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame recognized him as a very influential artist and
has added him in their Definitive 200 list.
On Wednesday, June 23, 2010, Shakur was inducted to the Library of Congress’s
National Recording Registry.
The seat of the Catholic Church released a list of 12 songs onto the social
networking Web site's streaming music service. Among the artists included are
Mozart, Muse and Dame Shirley Bassey; the list also includes Shakur's song "Changes",
which was released two years after his shooting death on a greatest hits album
in 1998.
His double album, All Eyez on Me, is one of the highest-selling rap albums of
all time, with over 5 million copies of the album sold in the United States
alone by April 1996; it was eventually certified 9x platinum in June 1998 by the
RIAA.