The name Tùpac - comes from the South American revolutionary Tùpac Amaru, whose name translates to “shining serpent”
Childhood - Both of his parents and several other people in his family were members of the Black Panther Party, whose ideals were reflected in his songs. At the age of 13, he played Travis Younger in “A Raisin in the Sun” at the Apollo Theater in Harlem to raise money for Jessie Jackson’s presidential campaign. He took ballet classes at the Baltimore School for the Arts and played the Mouse King in “The Nutcracker”
His first stage name - was MC New York when he started rapping in Baltimore.
Career start - Shakur began his career as a roadie, backup dancer, and MC for the alternative hip hop group Digital Underground, eventually branching off as a solo artist.
Success - His double disc albums All Eyez on Me and his Greatest Hits are among the best selling albums in the United States, each selling more than 5 million copies
Ranking - He has been listed and ranked as one of the greatest artists of all time by many magazines, including Rolling Stone which ranked him 86th on its list of The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. He is consistently ranked as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time
The themes of most of Shakur's songs - revolved around the violence and hardship in inner cities, racism, and other social problems
Political Views - Tupac grew up around radicals and revolutionaries. He joined a Communist organization as a young man and stuck to his views of fiscal equality and far-left economic ideas into adulthood
Jada Pinkett - had a very deep friendship with Tupac, and his poem “Tears in the Cupid’s Eye” was written for her
The Don Killuminati:The 7 Day Theory - While under the stage name Makaveli, he completed “The Don Killuminati:The 7 Day Theory” in 7 days, with 3 days of writing and recording and 4 days of mixing the album
Prison - When “Me Against the World” hit number 1 on the Billboard 200, Tupac was the first artist to claim that spot while in prison. There, he spent a lot of time reading Niccolò Machiavelli, being heavily influenced by works such as “The Prince”. He also loved Shakespeare
Trivia - His ex-wife Keisha Morris claims that he auditioned for the role of Bubba in Forrest Gump, but didn’t end up getting it. While filming “Poetic Justice” Tupac says he was asked to take an HIV test before filming a love scene with Janet Jackson
Rivalries - During the latter part of his career, Shakur was a vocal participant during the East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry, becoming involved in conflicts with other rappers, producers, and record-label staff members, most notably The Notorious B.I.G. and the label Bad Boy Records
Death - On September 7, 1996, Shakur was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting at the intersection of Flamingo Road and Koval Lane in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was taken to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, where he died six days later. Tupac’s death has many mysteries, but the first officer on the scene of the shooting witnessed his last words. After struggling to get Tupac, who was fatally wounded, out of the vehicle, he asked the rapper if he could identify the shooter. The officer says, “he looked at me and he took a breath…and then the words came out. F*ck you.” After Shakur was cremated, members of the Outlawz mixed some of his ashes with weed and smoked it
Bio / wiki sources: Wikipedia, accounts on social media, content from our users.
Zahra: What was his last word? (February 22, 2022)Reply »
Quotes
(About Romeo and Juliet) That’s some serious ghetto sh*t. You got this guy Romeo from the Bloods who falls for Juliet, a female from the Crips, and everybody in both gangs are against them. So they have to sneak out and they end up dead for nothing. Real tragic stuff.
Reality is wrong. Dreams are for real.
My mama always used to tell me: 'If you can't find somethin' to live for, you best find somethin' to die for.
Everybody's at war with different things... I'm at war with my own heart sometimes.
It seems like every time you come up, something happens to bring you back down.
All I’m trying to do is survive and make good out of the dirty, nasty, unbelievable lifestyle that they gave me.
I don't have no fear of death. My only fear is coming back reincarnated.
During your life, never stop dreaming. No one can take away your dreams.
The only time I have problems is when I sleep.
For every dark night, there's a brighter day.
Don't change on me. Don't extort me unless you intend to do it forever.