Tupac Shakur
Tupac Amaru Shakur (/ˈtuːpɑːk ʃəˈkʊər/ TOO-pahk shə-KOOR; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and songwriter. He is considered to be one of the most influential and successful rappers of all time,[1][2] and according to academics one of the most influential music artists of the 20th century and also a politically conscious activist voice for Black America.[3][4] Shakur is among the best-selling music artists, having sold more than 75 million records worldwide. His lyrical content has been noted for addressing social injustice, violence, and the marginalization of African-Americans.[5][6]
"Tupac" redirects here. For other uses, see Tupac (disambiguation).
Tupac Shakur
September 13, 1996 (aged 25)
Drive-by homicide (gunshot wounds)
- 2Pac
- Pac
- 2Pacalypse
- Makaveli
- MC New York
- Rapper
- songwriter
- actor
- activist
- poet
1989–1996
- Afeni Shakur
- Billy Garland
- Mutulu Shakur (step-father)
- Assata Shakur (step-aunt)
- Mopreme Shakur (step-brother)
- Kastro (cousin)
Shakur was born in New York City to parents who were both political activists and Black Panther Party members. Raised by his mother, Afeni Shakur, he relocated to Baltimore in 1984 and to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1988. With the release of his debut album 2Pacalypse Now in 1991, he became a central figure in West Coast hip hop for his conscious rap lyrics.[7][8] Shakur achieved further critical and commercial success with his follow-up albums Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z... (1993) and Me Against the World (1995).[9] His Diamond certified album All Eyez on Me (1996), the first double-length album in hip-hop history, abandoned his introspective lyrics for volatile gangsta rap.[10] In addition to his music career, Shakur also found considerable success as an actor, with his starring roles in Juice (1992), Poetic Justice (1993), Above the Rim (1994), Bullet (1996), Gridlock'd (1997), and Gang Related (1997). Shakur's most notable songs include "California Love," "Changes," "Dear Mama," "Hail Mary," "Keep Ya Head Up," "Hit 'Em Up," "Ambitionz Az a Ridah," "All Eyez on Me," "Ghetto Gospel," "So Many Tears," "How Do U Want It," "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted," and "I Get Around." Alongside his solo career, Tupac was part of the group Thug Life and collaborated with artists like Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, and Outlawz.
During the later part of his career, Shakur was shot five times in the lobby of a New York recording studio and experienced legal troubles, including incarceration. He served eight months in prison on sexual abuse charges, but was released pending an appeal of his conviction in 1995.[11] Following his release, he signed to Marion "Suge" Knight's label Death Row Records and became heavily involved in the growing East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry.[12] On September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot four times by an unidentified assailant in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas; he died six days later. Following his murder, Shakur's friend-turned-rival, the Notorious B.I.G., was at first considered a suspect due to their public feud; he was also murdered in another drive-by shooting six months later in March 1997, while visiting Los Angeles.[13][14] On September 22, 1996, a peace summit was convened at Mosque Maryam by Louis Farrakhan in response to his assassination.[15] The circumstances of Shakur’s murder have led to numerous conspiracy theories with some believing that he faked his own death.[16]
Shakur's double-length posthumous album Greatest Hits (1998) is one of his two releases—and one of only nine hip hop albums—to have been certified Diamond in the United States.[17] Five more albums have been released since Shakur's death, including his critically acclaimed posthumous album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (1996)[18] under his stage name Makaveli, all of which have been certified Platinum in the United States.[19] In 2002, Shakur was inducted into the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame.[20] In 2017, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.[21] Rolling Stone ranked Shakur among the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[22] In 2023, he was awarded a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[23] According to Ana Martinez, producer of the Hollywood Walk of Fame: "Tupac Shakur was a rapper, actor, activist, poet, and revolutionary. This iconic artist has continued to be part of the zeitgeist for decades after his passing and will continue to be an important cultural figure for many years to come. Surely, as one of L.A.’s own, Tupac’s star will be added to the list of most visited stars.” [24]
Music career
MC New York
Shakur began recording under the stage name MC New York in 1989.[68] That year, he began attending the poetry classes of Leila Steinberg, and she soon became his manager.[69][63] Steinberg organized a concert for Shakur and his rap group Strictly Dope. Steinberg managed to get Shakur signed by Atron Gregory, manager of the rap group Digital Underground.[63] In 1990, Gregory placed him with the Underground as a roadie and backup dancer.[63][70]
Personal life
In his 1995 interview with Vibe magazine, Shakur listed Jada Pinkett, Jasmine Guy, Treach and Mickey Rourke among the people who were looking out for him while he was in prison.[124] Shakur also mentioned that Madonna was a supportive friend.[124] Madonna later revealed that they dated in 1994.[135][136]
Shakur became close friends with Jada Pinkett while attending the Baltimore School for the Arts.[137] Shakur helped Pinkett land her first movie role in the film Menace II Society (1993).[138] In turn, Pinkett secured Shakur a guest starring role on the sitcom A Different World in 1993.[139][140] She appeared in his music videos "Keep Ya Head Up" and "Temptations".[141][97] She also came up with the concept for his "California Love" music video and had intended to direct it, but she removed herself from the project.[142] In 1995, Pinkett contributed $100,000 towards Shakur's bail as he awaited an appeal on his sexual abuse conviction.[143][144] Pinkett later revealed that she turned down his marriage proposal while he was incarcerated at Rikers Island in 1995.[145][146][147] Speaking about Pinkett, Shakur stated: "Jada is my heart. She will be my friend for my whole life. We'll be old together. Jada can ask me to do anything and she can have it."[148] Pinkett said Shakur was "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."[149]
After Shakur was shot in 1994, he recuperated at Jasmine Guy's home.[150] They had met during his guest appearance on the sitcom A Different World in 1993.[150] Guy appeared in his music video "Temptations" and later wrote his mother's 2004 biography, Afeni Shakur: Evolution of a Revolutionary.[151][97]
Shakur befriended Treach when they were both roadies on Public Enemy's tour in 1990.[152] He made a cameo in Naughty by Nature's music video "Uptown Anthem" in 1992.[153] Treach collaborated with Shakur on his song "5 Deadly Venomz" and appeared in his music video "Temptations".[97] Treach was also a speaker at a public memorial service for Shakur in 1996.[154]
In 1993, during a police raid of Shakur's room at New York City's Parker Meridian Hotel, a videotape was confiscated which showed Shakur having sex with his then-girlfriend Desiree Smith. Officers were attempting to build their case against Shakur for the alleged sodomy of Ayanna Jackson. In 2022, Smith insisted she was neither underage or intoxicated at the time of their tryst.[155] In 2011, a sex tape featuring Shakur receiving oral sex from a groupie while rapping and dancing along to one of his own unreleased songs, was sold to a private collector. The video, which was filmed in 1993, also features rapper Money B from Digital Underground.[156]
Shakur and Mickey Rourke formed a bond while filming the movie Bullet in 1994.[157] Rourke recalled that Shakur "was there for me during some very hard times."[158]
Shakur had friendships with other celebrities, including Mike Tyson[159] Chuck D,[160] Jim Carrey,[161] and Alanis Morissette. In April 1996, Shakur said that he, Morrissette, Snoop Dogg, and Suge Knight were planning to open a restaurant together.[162][163]
On April 29, 1995, Shakur married his then girlfriend Keisha Morris, a pre-law student.[11][164] Their marriage was annulled ten months later.[164]
In a 1993 interview published in The Source, Shakur criticized record producer Quincy Jones for his interracial marriage to actress Peggy Lipton.[165] Their daughter Rashida Jones responded with an irate open letter.[166] Shakur later apologized to her sister Kidada Jones, whom he began dating in 1996.[167] Shakur and Jones attended Men's Fashion Week in Milan and walked the runway together for a Versace fashion show.[168] Jones was at their hotel in Las Vegas when Shakur was shot.[169]
Legal issues
Sexual assault case, prison sentence, appeal and release
In November 1993, Shakur and two other men were charged in New York with sodomizing a woman in Shakur's hotel room. The woman, Ayanna Jackson, alleged that after she performed oral sex on Shakur at the public dance floor of a Manhattan nightclub, she went to his hotel room a later day, when Shakur, record executive Jacques "Haitian Jack" Agnant, Shakur's road manager Charles Fuller and an unidentified fourth man apprehended and forced her to perform non-consensual oral sex on each of them.[170][171] Shakur was also charged with illegal possession of a firearm as two guns were found in the hotel room.[172] Interviewed on The Arsenio Hall Show, Shakur said he was hurt that "a woman would accuse me of taking something from her", as he had been raised in a female household and surrounded by women his whole life.[173]
On December 1, 1994, Shakur was acquitted of three counts of sodomy and the associated gun charges, but convicted of two counts of first-degree sexual abuse for "forcibly touching the woman's buttocks" in his hotel room.[170][53] Jurors have said the lack of evidence stymied a sodomy conviction.[174] Shakur's lawyer characterized the sentence as "out of line" with the groping conviction and the setting of bail at $3 million as "inhumane". Shakur's accuser later filed a civil suit against Shakur seeking $10 million for punitive damages which was subsequently settled.[175][176]
After Shakur had been convicted of sexual abuse, Jacques Agnant's case was separated and closed via misdemeanor plea without incarceration.[88][177] A. J. Benza reported in New York Daily News Shakur's new disdain for Agnant who Shakur theorized had set him up with the case.[88][130] Shakur reportedly believed his accuser was connected to and had sexual relations with Agnant and James "Henchman" Rosemond, who he considered to be behind the 1994 Quad Studios shooting.[178]
Shakur was unable to post the $3 million bond to keep himself free until sentencing so he surrendered himself to authorities at the Bellevue Hospital Jail Ward in New York City on December 23, 1994.[179] At the time, he was still recovering from injuries he received on November 30, when he was shot five times and robbed at Quad Studios.[180] In January 1995, Shakur was moved to the North Infirmary Command (NIC) on Rikers Island in the Bronx.[181] On February 7, 1995, he was sentenced to 18 months to 4+1⁄2 years in prison by a judge who decried "an act of brutal violence against a helpless woman".[172][182]
In March 1995, Shakur was transferred to Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora.[183] While imprisoned, he began reading again, which he had been unable to do as his career progressed due to his marijuana and alcohol habits. Works such as The Prince by Italian philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli and The Art of War by Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu sparked Shakur's interest in philosophy, philosophy of war and military strategy.[184] On April 29, 1995, Shakur married his girlfriend Keisha Morris; the marriage was later annulled.[164] While in prison, Shakur exchanged letters with celebrities such as Jim Carrey and Tony Danza among others.[185][186] He was also visited by Al Sharpton, who helped Shakur get released from solitary confinement.[187]
By October 1995, pending judicial appeal, Shakur was incarcerated in New York.[144] On October 12, he bonded out of the maximum security Dannemora Clinton Correctional Facility in the process of appealing his conviction,[53] once Suge Knight, CEO of Death Row Records, arraigned for posting of his $1.4 million bond.[67]
1993 shooting in Atlanta
On October 31, 1993, Shakur was arrested in Atlanta for shooting two off-duty police officers, brothers Mark Whitwell and Scott Whitwell.[188] The Atlanta police claimed the shooting occurred after the brothers were almost struck by a car carrying Shakur while they were crossing the street with their wives.[189] As they argued with the driver, Shakur's car pulled up and he shot the Whitwells in the buttocks and the abdomen.[190][191] However, there are conflicting accounts that the Whitwells were harassing a black motorist and uttered racial slurs.[190][189] According to some witnesses, Shakur and his entourage had fired in self-defense as Mark Whitwell shot at them first.[174]
Shakur was charged with two counts of aggravated assault.[188] Mark Whitwell was charged with firing at Shakur's car and later with making false statements to investigators. Scott Whitwell admitted to possessing a gun he had taken from a Henry County police evidence room.[190] Prosecutors ultimately dropped all charges against both parties.[191] Mark Whitwell resigned from the force seven months after the shooting.[174] Both brothers filed civil suits against Shakur; Mark Whitwell's suit was settled out of court, while Scott Whitwell's $2 million lawsuit resulted in a default judgment entered against the rapper's estate in 1998.[191]
1994 Quad Studios shooting
On November 30, 1994, while in New York recording verses for a mixtape of Ron G, Shakur was repeatedly distracted by his beeper.[192] Music manager James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond, reportedly offered Shakur $7,000 to stop by Quad Studios, in Times Square, that night to record a verse for his client Little Shawn.[88][192] Shakur was unsure, but agreed to the session as he needed the cash to offset legal costs. He arrived with Stretch and one or two others. In the lobby, three men robbed and beat him at gunpoint; Shakur resisted and was shot.[193] Shakur speculated that the shooting had been a set-up.[193][180]
Against doctor's advice, Shakur checked out of Metropolitan Hospital Center a few hours after surgery and secretly went to the house of the actress Jasmine Guy to recuperate.[150][194] The next day, Shakur arrived at a Manhattan courthouse bandaged in a wheelchair to receive the jury's verdict for his sexual abuse case.[194] Shakur spent the next few weeks being cared for by his mother and a private doctor at Guy's home.[150] The Fruit of Islam and former members of the Black Panther Party stood guard to protect him.[150]
Setup accusations involving the Notorious B.I.G.
In a 1995 interview with Vibe, Shakur accused Sean Combs,[195] Jimmy Henchman,[193] and the Notorious B.I.G, – who were at Quad Studios at the time – among others, of setting up or being privy to the November 1994 robbery and shooting. Vibe alerted the names of the accused.[196] The accusations were significant to the East-West Coast rivalry in hip-hop; in 1995, months after the robbery, Combs and B.I.G. released the track "Who Shot Ya?", which Shakur took as a mockery of his shooting and thought they could be responsible, so he released a diss song, "Hit 'Em Up", in which he targeted B.I.G., Combs, their record label, Junior M.A.F.I.A., and at the end of "Hit 'Em Up", he mentions rivals Mobb Deep and Chino XL.[197][198][199][200][201]
In March 2008, Chuck Philips, in the Los Angeles Times, reported on the 1994 ambush and shooting.[202] The newspaper later retracted the article since it relied partially on FBI documents later discovered forged, supplied by a man convicted of fraud.[203] In June 2011, convicted murderer Dexter Isaac, incarcerated in Brooklyn, issued a confession that he had been one of the gunmen who had robbed and shot Shakur at Henchman's order.[204][205][206] Philips then named Isaac as one of his own, retracted article's unnamed sources.[207]
Artistry
Musical style
Shakur's music and philosophical outlook were deeply influenced by a wide range of American, African American, and global influences, including the Black Panther Party, black nationalism, egalitarianism, and the concept of liberty. Moreover, Shakur's artistic sensibilities were enriched by his passion for theater and admiration for the works of William Shakespeare. Notably, he honed his theatrical skills as a student at the Baltimore School for the Arts, where he delved into the psychological complexities inherent in inter-gang warfare and inter-cultural conflicts, reflecting themes explored in Shakespearean dramas.[1]
2Pacalypse Now (1991), showcased his socially conscious perspective. Through powerful tracks like "Brenda's Got a Baby", "Trapped", and "Part Time Mutha", Shakur addressed social injustice, poverty, and police brutality. In doing so, he contributed to the ongoing success of rap groups such as Boogie Down Productions, Public Enemy, X-Clan, and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, while establishing himself as one of the pioneering socially conscious rappers from the West Coast.[8]
Continuing his focus on the social challenges faced by African American people, Shakur's second album featured songs like "The Streetz R Deathrow" and "Last Wordz". Simultaneously, he showcased his compassionate side with the empowering anthem "Keep Ya Head Up", and his legendary intensity with the title track from the album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z... Additionally, he paid homage to his former group Digital Underground by including them on the playful track "I Get Around". Throughout his career, Shakur's subsequent albums reflected a growing assertiveness in his approach.[12]
Shakur's body of work encompassed contrasting themes, including social inequality, injustice, compassion, playfulness, and hope. These elements continued to shape his artistry, exemplified by his explosive 1995 album Me Against the World.[17] The release of All Eyez on Me in 1996 further solidified his reputation, with tracks like "Ambitionz az a Ridah", "I Ain't Mad at Cha", "California Love", "Life Goes On", and "Picture Me Rollin'" being hailed as classics by critics. Shakur described All Eyez on Me as a celebration of life, and the album achieved both critical acclaim and commercial success.[13] According to Eminem, Tupac is the greatest songwriter of all time.[242]
Vocal style
Shakur's vocal style was characterized by its raw emotion, versatility, and ability to captivate listeners. He possessed a commanding presence on the mic, delivering his lyrics with a combination of intensity, passion, and vulnerability. Whether he was expressing anger, frustration, joy, or pain, Tupac's voice had a way of evoking deep emotions in his audience. Shakur was also known for his impeccable storytelling abilities. He had a gift for crafting vivid narratives through his lyrics, painting detailed pictures and creating a sense of empathy and connection with his audience.
His voice became the vehicle through which he shared his personal experiences, the struggles of the marginalized, and his commentary on social and political issues. A notable technique employed by Shakur was his skilful manipulation of emphasis and inflection, effectively highlighting specific words and phrases. This was particularly evident in songs like 'Dear Mama,' where he infused the chorus with emotional emphasis on the word 'mama.' One of Tupac's early producers, Shock G talks about how rappers also project from different parts of their body stating that
Tupac drew inspiration from influential orators such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. His voice carried a profound sense of strength and authority, creating an impression that exceeded his physical stature. He was known for his adept use of the vocal technique known as stacking or layering. This technique added an additional layer of richness and authenticity to his voice, elevating his performances. One notable example of Tupac employing this method can be found on the track 'Hail Mary' from his 1996 album 'The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory'. When executed effectively, it serves to emphasize specific rhythms, words, and phrases in a rap song.
Final resting place in Soweto
In 2006, on the 10th anniversary of Tupac Shakur's passing his ashes were laid to rest in Soweto. The rapper's mother, Afeni Shakur transported them to the "birthplace of his ancestors" and conducted a memorial service in what's considered as one of the most renowned South African townships. Afeni Shakur explained that Soweto had been selected due to its significance as the "birthplace of the South African struggle for democracy and against apartheid." The Johannesburg city council donated a five-acre plot of undeveloped land in the Zola area of Soweto to build a memorial honoring Shakur. A portion of the land was designated to be transformed into a park for the benefit of local children as well as aimed at promoting environmental education ,pathways, orphanages, bridges, skateboard ramps and a golf range while plans also included the construction of an amphitheater and a museum showcasing South African music and arts. Funding for the project was sourced partially from Johannesburg authorities and the remainder from the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation. The memorial was hosted by South African musician and actor Zola 7. Singer Macy Gray and members of the Outlawz were amongst the attendees who paid their respects.[314][315]
