Tupac Shakur
American rapper and actor (1971–1996) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), better known as 2Pac or Makaveli, was an American rapper, actor, dancer, record producer and record executive. He is considered by many music enthusiasts to be one of the greatest rappers and actors of all time. He sold many records. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2001.[1] Shakur began his career as a roadie, backup dancer, and MC for the alternative hip hop group Digital Underground as "MC New York". He eventually branched off as a solo artist.[2][3][4]
On June 7, 2003, Tupac was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[5]
In 2004, a biographical movie about Tupac was announced.[6][7]
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Early life
He was born as Lesane Crooks in East Harlem, New York. Crooks was later renamed Tupac Amaru Shakur after Túpac Amaru II, a ruler in Peru. His family later moved to Marin City, California when Tupac was 17. Tupac went to the Baltimore School for the Arts, where he found it interesting to read Shakespeare's poems. He got very affected by the beauty of rhyming, choosing the word and expression. He studied poetry, acting, jazz, and ballet.
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Music career
In 1990, Shakur joined with the Oakland, California-based alternative hip hop group Digital Underground. He appeared on two of the group's albums in 1991: This Is an EP Release and Sons of the P. Later that year he produced and released his first solo album, 2Pacalypse Now. The album protested problems such as racism, and made him much more popular.
His second album, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., was released in 1993. It contained the hit singles "I Get Around" and "Keep Ya Head Up."
His third album, Me Against the World, was released in 1995. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. He was incarcerated (in prison) at the time.
His fourth album, All Eyez on Me (1996), was the last album released during his lifetime. All Eyez on Me included the Billboard Hot 100 number one singles "How Do U Want It?" and "California Love."
Shakur won the Soul Train Music Award for Best Rap Album in 1996 for ‘Me Against the World’. He received the American Music Award for the Favorite Rap/Hip Hop artist posthumously in 1997.
Several of Shakur's albums were released posthumously. It contained previously recorded material from when he was alive.
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Controversy and Rivalries
Shakur was convicted of assault and sexual assault in separate incidents.[8]
On November 30, 1994, Shakur was shot outside of Quad Studios, a recording studio in Manhattan, New York.[9] Shakur had been invited to record, but was later confronted by three armed men in the lobby, who robbed him of his possessions and shot him multiple times. These nonfatal gunshot wounds incited a feud between Shakur and well known Hip-Hop artist Christopher Wallace, also known as The Notorious B.I.G., as Shakur believed that it was Wallace's associates who assaulted him. This escalated into a rap beef, when Shakur and his labelmates of Death Row Records sided against Wallace and his labelmates of Bad Boy Records. This west coast versus east coast beef eventually led to the killings of both Shakur and Wallace in the 1990's.[10]
Assassination
On September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot four times in a drive-by shooting by someone in a Cadillac car at the intersection of Flamingo Road and Koval Lane in Las Vegas, Nevada.[11] He died six days later at the Southern Nevada University Medical Center.[12] His murder is still unsolved.[13]
Shakur's friend and labelmate from Death Row Records, Marion "Suge" Knight, was in the car with Shakur. Knight survived the shooting.[13]
In 1998, a prime suspect in Shakur’s murder, Orlando Anderson (aka Baby Lane) was killed in another drive-by shooting.
In 2002, reporter Chuck Phillips wrote in the Los Angeles Times that another rapper called Biggie Smalls (The Notorious B.I.G.) could have paid members of the Crips street gang to kill Shakur and that he could have given them the gun.[13]
A Suspect Arrested in 2023
On September 29, 2023, Duane "Keefe D" Davis was named as a suspect and was arrested by the Las Vegas Police Department in connection with the murder of Shakur.[14] Keefe D had previously admitted to killing Tupac on July 2, 2018 when he [thought that he was going to die soon, or] was dying from cancer.[15] The trial against Davis, is delayed until February 2026.[16][17]
There were four people in the car that was used by the suspects during the murder, according to the media. Three of the suspects are dead as of 2023.[18]
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Discography
Studio albums
Studio albums after death
Collaboration
Compilations
Soundtrack appearances
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Singles
- A Did not chart on the Hot 100 or Hot R&B/Hip-Hop charts (Billboard rules at the time prevented album cuts from charting). Chart peak listed here represents Hot 100 Airplay and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay charts data.
- 1 Double-A-Side in the U.S.
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Filmography
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References
Other websites
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