Tupac Shakur

Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971-September 13, 1996) was an American hip hop artist, poet and actor. He is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the best-selling rap/hip-hop artist ever, having sold 67 million albums worldwide (mostly posthumously), including 37 million sales in the United States alone. He has had 17 Top Ten singles in the U.S. He is consistently ranked by fans, critics and industry insiders as one of the greatest rappers of all time.

Most of Shakur's songs are about the hardships of growing up around violence in United States ghettos, poverty, racism, and sometimes his feuds with fellow rappers. He is known for the messages of political, economic, and racial equality that pervade his work. His music features extensive use of metaphors and shows a high degree of lyrical structure.

Tupac's next album is scheduled to be released on September 13, 2006 exactly 10 years after the day he died.

Early life

Tupac Amaru Shakur was born in the East Harlem section of Manhattan in New York City.[1] He was named after TÑŠpac Amaru II, an Incan revolutionary who led a Peruvian uprising against Spain and was subsequently sentenced to death. It has been reported by many sources that Shakur's birth name was Lesane Parish Crooks. Shakur's mother Afeni was an active member of the Black Panther Party in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was born just one month after his mother's acquittal on more than 100 charges of "conspiracy against the United States government and New York landmarks" in the "New York Panther 21" court case.[2]

Shakur was raised under difficult circumstances. His godfather, Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt, was convicted of murdering a schoolteacher during a 1968 robbery. His stepfather, Mutulu Shakur, was found guilty of the attempted robbery of a Brinks armored car in which two police officers and a guard were killed.[3] He has a half-sister, Sekyiwa, who is two years his junior & his step-brother Mopreme Shakur (aka, "Komani") who appeared on many of his recordings.

At age 12, Shakur was enrolled in Harlem's famous "127th Street Ensemble". His first major role with this acting troupe was as Travis in the play A Raisin in the Sun. In 1984, his family relocated to Baltimore. He enrolled in the Baltimore School for the Arts, where he befriended a young Jada Pinkett-Smith. The two developed a close friendship. In the documentary Tupac: Resurrection, Shakur says, "Jada is my heart. She will be my friend for my whole life." Also in this documentary, Smith calls Shakur "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." The two remained close friends until Shakur's death in 1996. At the School for the Arts, he studied ballet, poetry, jazz, and acting, performing in Shakespearean plays and landing the role of the Mouse King in The Nutcracker.[4]

In June 1988, he and his family moved once again, this time to Marin City, California, where Shakur continued to pursue his career in entertainment. In 1990 he was hired as a back-up dancer and roadie for the up-and-coming rap group Digital Underground. His professional entertainment career began in early 1991, when he debuted his rap skills on the single "Same Song" from the group's album This is an EP Release. Also in 1991, he appeared in the music video for "Same Song" and made a brief appearance as himself in the movie Nothing But Trouble. At the age of 17, he moved out of his mother's house and struck out on his own.

Rise to fame

In late 1991, after his rap debut, Shakur performed with Digital Underground again on the album Sons of the P. Later that year, he released his first solo album, 2Pacalypse Now. Initially he had trouble marketing his solo debut, but Interscope Records executives Ted Field and Tom Whalley eventually agreed to distribute the record. Although produced with the help of his Digital Underground crew, the intent of his solo album was to showcase his individual talent.

Shakur claimed his first album was aimed at the problems facing young black males, but it was publicly criticized for its graphic language and images of violence by and against police.[5] In one incident, a young man claimed his killing of a Texas trooper was inspired by the album. Former Vice President Dan Quayle even entered the fray by publicly denouncing the album as having "no place in our society". 2Pacalypse Now did not do well on the charts, spawning no top ten hits. His second CD, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., was released in 1993. It was heavily produced by Stretch and the Live Squad, and generated two number one hits: the emotional Keep Ya Head Up and the playful I Get Around, the latter featuring guest appearances by other members of the Digital Underground crew.

In addition to rapping, Shakur achieved fame and acclaim as a movie actor. His first starring role was in the 1991 movie Juice, in which he was hailed by Rolling Stone's Peter Travers as "the film's most magnetic figure." He went on to star in Poetic Justice (with Janet Jackson), Above the Rim, Gridlock'd (with Tim Roth), Bullet, and Gang Related. He had also been slated to star in the Hughes brothers' Menace II Society but was replaced by Larenz Tate after assaulting the directors. Director John Singleton claimed that he wrote the film 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.

In late 1993, he formed the group Thug Life with a few of his friends, including Big Syke, Macadoshis, his step-brother Mopreme, and Rated R. The group released their first album Thug Life: Volume 1 on Interscope in 1994 which, despite its graphic content, still managed to be certified as a gold record.

Legal problems

Even as he garnered fame as a rapper/actor, Shakur gained notoriety for his conflicts with the law. In October 1991 he filed a $10 million lawsuit against the Oakland Police Department, alleging they brutally beat him over a jaywalking incident. The suit was later settled for $42,000.[6] [7]

In October 1993, in Atlanta, GA, Shakur shot two off-duty police officers (one in the leg, one in the buttocks) that were harassing a black motorist. Charges against Shakur were dismissed when it was discovered that both officers were intoxicated and were in possession of stolen weapons from an evidence