Tupac Amuru Shakur was and still is the greatest rapper of all time. This page will go deeper into the short life of this rap superstar. Here we go:
Tupac Shakur was born in 1971 in Bronx, New York. After a few years he moved to Baltimore, Maryland to attend a performing arts school. There he wrote his first rap under the alias "MC New York." He soon moved from Baltimore to Marion City, California which is next to Oakland. Once in Marion City he continued to write and record raps. There he also joined the grammy-nominated group Digital Underground. Tupac was featured on "This is an EP Release" and "Sons of the P", both albums were put out by Digital Underground.
That same year Pac released his first solo album "2Pacalypse Now" which featured one of his best known pieces of work in "Brenda's Got A Baby." The current Vice-President of The United States of America at the time targeted "2pacalypse Now" to demonstrate what his views on traditional values were, using Pac's album as a negative value. In the following year Pac would be casted for the Ernest Dickerson film, "Juice." In my opinion "Juice" was Pac's best acting performence in a movie ever. He was praised by the late Gene Siskel as "I thought Tupac gave an exceptional performence in this movie." In Juice Tupac plays the role of "Bishop", a crazed teen gwoing up in urban New York that gets hold of a gun and goes on a killing rampage killing several people including his best friend, thus having the "Juice." At the end of the movie he falls of a building and dies. In my opinion the role he played in Juice was similar to his image in real life, with his "I Don't Give A Fuck" attitude and his obsession with killing and sucidalness. In 1993 Tupac was selected to star with Janet Jackson in the film "Poetic Justice." The film was a sucess and Tupac gained more fame from it. Tupac said in one of his interviews after the shooting of Poetic Justice that Janet Jackson had given Pac her number and told Pac to call her and to chill some time but when Pac called her it ended up that she had given him a number that was no longer in service! That same year Tupac also released his sophmore album "STRICTLY 4 MY N.I.G.G.A.Z" which produced the hit singles "Keep Ya Head Up" and "I Get Around." That year he was nominated for an American Music Award as best new rap/hip-hop artist.
In 1994 Tupac starred in "Above The Rim" with Marlon Wayans . That movie in my mind is his second best performence afer "Juice" where he played another "I don't give a fuck" role and was insensative and likes his tatoo says "Heartless."1994 also marked the first release from Pac's group Thug Life. "Thug Life Volume I: Pour Our A L'il Liquor" is a pretty tight album. Tupac is only featured on a few songs but the album is still tight. October 20th, 1998 marked the release date for "Thug Life Volume II: The Reunion" which was suppose to feature artists such as E-40, Kc & JoJo, Master P, and more but it was delayed, perhaps indefinitly. In November of '94 2Pac began a trail for sexually harrassing a woman, 2Pac claimed the bitch was lyin. Also in November one of the most crucial points in the LIFE of 2Pac.
Late at night in New York Tupac enters a studio where he is suppose to record with another artist. As he is entering he is shot 5 times and robbed blind. The Ironic thing is that two of Pac's worst enemies Puff Daddy and B.I.G were in the same studio and "saw and knew nothing." You can see 2Pac's anger in the photo where he is being taken to the hospital. Pac left the hospital many days before doctors thought he should. The reason he left was he wanted to attend the verdict in his Rape Trail.******** Before the shooting in '94 Pac recorded several tracks that would have been an album but due to the shooting they never got released that year. However they did get released recently on "R U Still Down? (remember me?)" released in '97 by Afeni Shakur's label, Amuru Records. In 1995 Tupac released one of his greatest albums, "Me Against The World" which would spend 4 weeks at #1 on Billboard while he was in jail. The album would go on to become a multi-platinum selling album. In February of 1995 Tupac is sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison for sex abuse. In May of '95 he married his long time girlfriend Keisha Morris. While in prison, VIBE Magazine interviews Tupac and in the interview Pac says "Thug Life to me is dead. If it's real, let somebody else represent it, because I'm tired of it,I represented it too much. I was Thug Life." After 8 monthes in prison, Suge Knight of Deathrow Records put up one million dollars for Tupac's bail. After Pac appeals his sentence he is released and signs with Deathrow Records and begins recording immediatly. This leads to the release of Tupac's (2Pac's) best album, the double CD, "All Eyez On Me." To this day, no album comes close to the creativity, lyrical grace and power, and beats of "All Eyez On Me." And in my mind, it is still is the GREATEST ALBUM IN HIP-HOP HISTORY! All Eyez On Me has gone more than 8x platinum. Almost 3 days after the death of Tupac MTV, BET, and many other music networks debuted the video of "I Ain't Mad At Cha" which had Pac gettin shot, in the back of an ambulence and him dyin, then it had him in heaven rappin' and comin back lookin over his homey in tha video. Ironically this video was also directed by Tupac. That video is still one of my favorites just cuz it reminds me of tha last time that PAC was still alive. A few monthes after his death Deathrow released an album under his alias Makaveli. The cover of the album had Tupac on the cover ona cross being crucified with 5 New York Cities towards the top of the cross and 5 Cali cities towards the bottom. That album has gone more than 5x Platinum. The tight thing about the Makaveli "The 7 Day Theory" is that he recorded it in 7 dayz. (For more on Niccolo Machivelli and the similarities between Makavel and him peep my Makaveli link) Last year Amuru Records released a collection of tracks that were recorded from 91-94. That album has gone mroe than 6x Platinum, telling you that Pac fans haven't lost tha faith. Earlier this year Amuru/Deathrow released "2Pac's Greatist Hits" which has sold more than 5 million copies. This October/November, Death Row plans on releasing 2Pac & Tha Outlawz. Its been 2 years since his death, and he is still greatly missed. Many will and have tried to be like Pac but no one has or will succeed tha REAL Last Don. Rest In Peace Pac, Your Music Lives On....
