Tupac Amaru Shakur, aka 2pac, was a popular rap artist whose meteoric rise and early death made him a legendary figure in the world of entertainment. His music and lifestyle had a significant impact on hip-hop culture in the nineties. He was christened Tupac Amaru after an Inca Indian revolutionary. Shakur means “thankful to God” in Arabic. His mother was a member of the Black Panther Party. She had to stand trial for over a hundred charges for conspiring against the government.
2pac was just a child when he earned the sobriquet, the “Black Prince”. He started writing poetry and love songs at a very early age. In 1984, his family shifted to Baltimore where he studied at the Baltimore School for the Arts. The family again shifted to Oakland, California, where he fell among bad company. By the age of twenty, Tupac had already been arrested eight times. He soon joined Digital Undergound as a dancer, prior to releasing his own album, “2Pacalypse Now”, which went on to become an instant success. The single “Brenda’s Got A Baby” reached the RB Top 30. The rapper’s first main acting role was in the movie “Juice”. Shortly afterward, Tupac released “Strictly For My N.I.G.G.A.Z”, which became even more successful than his earlier album. He starred with Janet Jackson in “Poetic Justice”. In the midst of releasing his album ‘Me Against The World’, Tupac was found guilty of assaulting a woman and had to serve time in jail.
In September, 1996, Shakur was shot dead on the Las Vegas strip. After his death, more of his songs were released than during his lifetime. Tupac finds mention in "The Guinness Book of World Records” as the best-selling ever hip-hop artist. |
