general - 2Pac

Tupac Amaru Shakur, or Lesane Parish Crooks as some of his bigger fans may know him, was born to Afeni Shakur on the 16th June 1971 in Brooklyn. His mother changed his name to Tupac Amaru, meaning 'shining serpent', after an Inca Indian revolutionary. Shakur simply means 'thankful to God'. To his friends and family he was more commonly known as the 'black prince' throughout his childhood.

At the age of two, Tupac ceased being an only ...
...Sekyiwa. Mutulu, Sekyiwa's father and a black panther, was sentenced to sixty years imprisonment for his part in a fatal armed robbery just a few months before she was born.

Tupac and family suffered hard times, a family with no provider. With no money, they were forced to move about constantly between the Bronx, Harlem and homeless shelters. No matter where they went, Tupac was never happy. he found it hard to associate with anything. ... more

Tupac Amaru Shakur, or Lesane Parish Crooks as some of his bigger fans may know him, was born to Afeni Shakur on the 16th June 1971 in Brooklyn. His mother changed his name to Tupac Amaru, meaning 'shining serpent', after an Inca Indian revolutionary. Shakur simply means 'thankful to God'. To his friends and family he was more commonly known as the 'black prince' throughout his childhood.

At the age of two, Tupac ceased being an only child when his mother gave birth to a baby girl, Sekyiwa. Mutulu, Sekyiwa's father and a black panther, was sentenced to sixty years imprisonment for his part in a fatal armed robbery just a few months before she was born.

Tupac and family suffered hard times, a family with no provider. With no money, they were forced to move about constantly between the Bronx, Harlem and homeless shelters. No matter where they went, Tupac was never happy. he found it hard to associate with anything.

Not only did Tupac lack a father for guidance, he had no friends to associate with as he was being moved about constantly. He felt he could never fit in anywhere he went.

By the time Tupac hit 12, he was starting to develop into the person we loved so much. His love for acting and poetry had never been so apparent. He attended the Baltimore school for the performing arts and his talents were there for all to see. However, like all other good things in life, his time at Baltimore had to come to an end as his family was forced to move home once more.

This time he was shuffled to Oakland, California, a move which sent him off the rails. He started to associate with the wrong people, just thankful that he fit in somewhere. His love of poetry developed into rap by the age of fifteen and he was already writing his own lyrics and acting the gangster with his trademark swagger.

Moving from New York to a small town changed his life forever. People in small towns feared the reputation of places like New York. Tupac was allowed to milk this reputation and started to strike fear into people's hearts.

By the age of 20, Tupac had turned into America's worst nightmare - 'young, black, and just didn't give a f**k'(Menace to Society). He had been arrested eight times and had already served an eight month stretch in prison for sexual abuse.

The controversy that surrounded this man had heightened already. He was at the centre of two wrongful-death lawsuits, one of which concerned the death of a six year old boy who died in the crossfire of gang warfare, involving Tupac's group. Tupac had come of age.

His purpose now known, Tupac joined the rap group, Digital Underground. Tupac released his debut album, '2Pacalypse Now', which was a massive success, shortly before Digital Underground achieved award-winning success. I wonder whether that was coincidence, or whether Tupac shot the group to fame through his own success.

By the age of 22, Tupac was a household name. His role in the 1993 film, Poetic Justice, catapulted him to world stardom. Starring alongside Janet Jackson, Tupac Shakur showed the world that he was more than just another rapper. Here was a man of many talents.
Amusingly, Janet Jackson refused to go anywhere near Tupac until he had had an AIDS test. After this came back clear, the shooting commenced.

Tupac moved on to star in the 1994 hit, Above The Rim(still one of my favourite films today), and life was looking up for the 'Black Prince'.

Controversy continued to surround Tupac, and life became more and more dangerous for him. He was shot five times as he was robbed of forty thousand dollars worth of jewellery, in November of 1994, but recovered in a way which made the world think he was immortal.

He came back with arguably his best work in the form of the album 'Me Against The World' which was released in February of 1995. It seemed the shooting had given Tupac a new outlook on life, aswell as reinforcing his old views. He still felt alone, which is portrayed in the title of the album, but at the same time felt his life was in the hands of God. He was thankful to be alive, but would only become more terrifying.

In the midst of Tupac's acting exploits, shootings and the release of the new album, Tupac was charged with sexual assault yet again. Just as he was hitting the top, there was someone bringing him back down.

A woman, who he had met in a nightclub, alleged that Tupac had sexually assaulted her. His version of events was slightly different. He says he walked into a nightclub and she started stroking him and dancing with him. He says there was no assault, but there was sexual activity. Anyway, Tupac was again found guilty of sexual assault, but was eventually released on a $1m bail.

Just hours before Tupac was convicted of the assault, he was again robbed at gunpoint, this time without gunfire. With all this in his life, it was little wonder that Tupac released the album entitled 'Me Against The World', as anyone would feel this way after a year like that.

After Tupac was released from jail, he released another album, in the form of 'All Eyes On Me'. This album is believed to have been influenced by a guy named Niccolo Macchiavelli. Whilst in jail, Tupac studied his work, in great depth, and was so influenced by him that he changed his name to Makaveli when he left prison, to represent his new way of thinking.

Macchiavelli taught Tupac that if he wanted to avoid being overthrown, he must avoid being hated. Although too late for this teaching, another one of his teachings was about deception. The teachings of Macchiavelli add to the belief that when Tupac died, he did not pass.

Tupac was shot by mystery gunmen as he left the Mike Tyson fight in Las Vegas on 7th September 1996. He finally died on 13th September, but most of what happened on that night is a complete mystery. Shortly after his death, Tupac's record label released 'The Don Kiluminati, The Seven Day Theory' under his new-found name, Makaveli.

This album added to the suspicion about whether he had really died. I could write about this subject all day, but will merely add that the suspicion that surrounds his death is all circumstantial and coincidental. There is no evidence to support the claim he is alive, but it is very suspect.

Some of my favourites

12th November 1991 2Pacalypse Now
1st February 1993 Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z.
26th September 1994 Thug Life vol. 1 (with Thug Life)
27th February1995 Me Against The World
13th February 1996 All Eyez On Me
5th November 1996 Don Kiluminati - 7 Day Theory
16th December 1997 R U Still Down? (Remember Me)
24th November 1998 Greatest Hits
21st December 1999 Still I Rise feat. Outlawz

Some of my favourite films

1992 Juice
1993 Poetic Justice
1994 Above The Rim
1996 Bullet
1997 Rhyme and Reason
1997 Gridlock'd
1997 Gang Related

Death Row records claim to have numerous records by Tupac Shakur that were never released. Over the past couple of years a few of these have been released, but it would be nice to see a few more.
 

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