Tupac Amaru Shakur † (born: Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 - September 13, 1996 [aged 25]),[1] better known professionally as 2Pac, was an American rapper, singer, and songwriter.
Early life[]
Lesane Parish Crooks was born in the East Harlem section of Manhattan, New York City, New York on June 16, 1971. At one year of age, he was renamed after José Gabriel Túpac Amaru, a Peru-born rebellion leader who was executed on May 18, 1781.
Only a month before Crooks was born, his mother Afeni, whose real name is Alice Faye Williams, was tried in New York City as part of the Panther 21 criminal trial. She was acquitted of over 150 charges.
Tupac's stepfather, Mutulu Shakur, whose real name is Jeral Wayne Williams, was a member of the Black Panthers' Black Liberation Army until being sentenced to 60 years in prison for his role in the 1981 Brink's robbery and murder of two police officers.
Tupac's grandfather, Geronimo Pratt, a high-ranking Black Panther, was convicted of murdering a school teacher during a 1968 robbery, although his sentence was overturned. Pratt was also a Sergeant in the Army during the Vietnam War. Pratt died of a heart attack in Tanzania, on June 3, 2011.
In 1984, Tupac and his family relocated in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended Roland Park Middle School to finish his middle school run and later went to Paul Laurence Dunbar High School. He then transferred to the Baltimore School for the Arts, where he studied acting, poetry, jazz, and ballet. While at the Baltimore School for the Arts, Tupac met Jada Pinkett, who became influenced by some of his poems.
After connecting with the Young Communist League USA, Tupac dated the daughter of the director of the local chapter of the Communist Party USA. In 1988, Tupac and his family moved to the small and impoverished Marin City, California. In nearby Mill Valley, he attended Tamalpais High School, where he performed in several theater productions.
Music[]
In January 1991, Tupac used the alias 2Pac for short due to his experience with rapping. He helped collaborate with Digital Underground for the single "Same Song", which would later be put in the film Nothing but Trouble.
MC New York[]
Shakur began to record music under his stage name MC New York in 1989.[2]
2Pacalypse Now[]
Tupac released his first studio album, 2Pacalypse Now, on November 12, 1991, under his stage name. Tupac had signed with Interscope Records in order to help finance the recording timeframe and release of the album. Recording for the album took place at Starlight Sound Studios in Richmond, California. The album included thirteen tracks.
Despite the release, the tracks did not garner any airplay due to explicit and tricky lyrics. The album received mixed to below average reviews, and went on to be gold 19 years after its release.
Strictly for my N.I.G.G.A.Z...[]
Tupac released his second studio album, Strictly for my N.I.G.G.A.Z..., on February 16, 1993. The album included sixteen tracks. "Holler If Ya Hear Me" featured Live Squad and was released as a single. The next single was "I Get Around" featuring Digital Underground, although it had nothing to do with the song The Beach Boys had of the same title. "Keep Ya Head Up" featured Dave Hollister and was the third single out of the album.
The fourth single, "Papa'z Song", featured Wycked and Poppi. Notably, one track that did not release as a single was "Last Wordz", the fifth track of the album, which featured fellow superstars Ice Cube and Ice-T. The album was certified platinum.
Thug Life: Volume 1[]
Around the same time his second studio album was released, Tupac formed a side project hip-hop group known as Thug Life. The group featured fellow hip-hoppers and rappers Big Syke, Macadoshis, Mopreme, and The Rated R. Thug Life: Volume 1, released on September 26, 1994, was the only album the side project group released. The album included ten tracks. Most of the material that was originally intended for the album was scrapped, because Interscope Records felt that many of the other recorded songs were too controversial to release to the public market. It was later revealed that Tupac created two other versions of the album, which have since went unreleased. The album was certified gold.
Me Against the World[]
With Thug Life disbanding after only two years, Tupac released his third studio album, Me Against the World, on March 14, 1995. The album included fifteen tracks. "Dear Mama", "So Many Tears", and "Temptations" became singles. The album received average reviews and went double platinum.
All Eyez on Me[]
Tupac released his fourth studio album, All Eyez on Me, on February 13, 1996. It was recorded at Can-Am Studios in Los Angeles, California. The album contained 27 total tracks. Due to sizing limitations, tracks had to be in separate discs, as Disc 1 contained 14 tracks while Disc 2 contained the remaining 13 tracks. Around the same time of recording, Tupac signed with Death Row Records after expressing sympathy and gratitude with its founder, Suge Knight.[3]
"California Love" became the first single from the album, which featured Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman. "2 of Americaz Most Wanted" featured Snoop Dogg and was the next single in line. "How Do U Want It" featured featuring K-Ci and JoJo and was the third single in line. The fourth single, "I Ain't Mad at Cha", featured Danny Boy. The album was certified diamond, which was the highest ranking by the RIAA.
Death[]
On September 7, 1996, Tupac was in Las Vegas, Nevada to celebrate his business partner, Tracy Danielle Robinson's birthday. In addition, Tupac attending a boxing match with Suge Knight at the MGM Grand, where Mike Tyson faced off against Bruce Seldon. After seeing the match, a person named Orlando Anderson, an alleged Southside Compton Crip, was spotted in the Grand's lobby, whom the individual accused of having recently in a shopping mall tried to snatch Tupac's neck chain with a Death Row Records medallion attached to it. Surveillance footage captured in the hotel showed an ensuing assault on Anderson. Tupac went into his hotel room then went with Knight to Club 662 in a 1996 BMW 750iL sedan.
At around 11:00 P.M., police in motorcycles stopped the vehicle due to stereo blasting and not having license plates attached in the front or rear. The unattached plates were found in the trunk of the car and was released without a penalty ticket. Fifteen minutes later, at 11:15 P.M., a Cadillac sedan creeped closer to the passenger side of Knight's vehicle, and an unidentified occupant opened fire with a .40 S&W Glock 22. Tupac was struck once in the arm, once in the thigh, and twice in the chest, while one shot entered the right lung, bringing the total to four times shot. Fragments of broken glass and debris struck Knight in the head, although he did not suffer any serious injuries.
Tupac was admitted to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, where he was heavily sedated and put on a life support system. He was then transferred to a medically-induced coma after repeatedly failing to get out of bed. Six days later, on September 13, 1996, while still on life support, Tupac was pronounced dead at 4:03 P.M. due to internal hemorrhage.[4] He was 25 years of age. Further investigations revealed that Tupac had also suffered respiratory failure and cardiopulmonary arrest associated with multiple gunshot wounds. His body was cremated the very next day.
Channels[]
The 2PacVEVO channel is the associated YouTube channel that is run by the record company and his family since 2Pac died before the creation of YouTube. 2Pac is known for being the leader of the west coast hip hop music during the period where there was a conflict between the west and east coast. The videos on the channel seem to be music videos, and there is even an animated video that has 2Pac on stage rapping with other artists, which would be impractical during 2pac's lifetime.
References[]
- ↑ https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000637/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20210621181314/https://www.spin.com/photos/these-were-tupacs-startling-last-words/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20200814121519/https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/gqkqz3/tupac-biggie-friends-to-foes
- ↑ https://archive.ph/20120523233842/http://www.numberonestars.com/tupacshakur/tupacdeathcertificatedetails.htm