rap artist. Some of his handles
included 2Pac,
Pac, and Makaveli.
He was fatally shot several times in
Las Vegas, Nevada on
September 7, 1996 after attending a
boxing match and died in hospital a
week later. Earlier acts of violence
have said to have been spurred by
antagonism between him and other East
Coast rappers (namely
Notorious B.I.G), bred by
gangsta rap.
The Las Vegas Metro Police and
Compton police, although they never
officially solved the case, concluded
that Shakur was shot by Southside
Crips after the
Tyson fight. Hours before, Tupac had
been involved in a confrontation between
the Death Row entourage and a Southside
Crip by the name of Orlando Anderson.
Conspiracy theories about his death
abound: there are some who insist that
he is not dead, or that the shooting was
a government
assassination.
A previous assassination attempt led
Shakur to seek protection, and Shakur
employed bodyguards after getting out of
jail in
October,
1995.
At the time of his death, Shakur was
also building on his acting career.
John Singleton wrote the
film
Baby Boy with Shakur in mind
for the leading role, but Shakur died
before it was made. It was eventually
filmed with
Tyrese Gibson in his place, and
released in
2001, five years after Shakur's
death. From
1991-1996,
Shakur acted in 7 films, including the
critically acclaimed Juice, Poetic
Justice with
Janet Jackson, and Gridlock'd with
Tim Roth. Shakur even wrote a play
while in jail.
Shakur's mother was
Afeni Shakur, an early member of the
Black Panther Party and victim of
the United States'
Federal Bureau of Investigation
COINTELPRO against the Black
Liberation movement. Much of Tupac's
upbringing revolved around the Black
Panther philosophy.
On
November 14,
2003, a documentary about the rapper
entitled Tupac: Resurrection,
was released.
Discography
1.) 2Pacalypsenow (1991)
2.) Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z (1993)
3.) Thug Life: Thug Life Vol. 1 (1994)
4.)
Me Against the World (1995)
5.)
All Eyez on Me (1996)
6.) Makaveli: The Don Killuminati: 7 Day
Theory (1996)
7.) R U Still Down (1997)
8.) 2Pac's Greatest Hits (1998)
9.) Still I Rise (1999)
10.) The Rose that Grew from Concrete
(2000)
11.) Until the End of Time (2001)
12.) Better Dayz (2002)
13.) Tupac Resurrection (2003)
