TUPAC BIOGRAPHY- The Life of Rap Legend 2Pac: Tupac Shakur Full Biography

Tupac Amaru Shakur was born in Bronx (born as Lesane Parish Crooks), New York on June 16, 1971 and died from fatal gun shot wounds in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 13, 1996. He was an influential, best-selling Rap Star, not only famous for his music, he was also a well respected actor with several films.

Tupac Amaru Shakur was named after an Inca Indian chief, "Tupac Amaru" means "Shining serpent" and "Shakur" means "thankful to god" in Arabic. Shakur's name was adopted the alias "Tupac" from Tupac Amaru, the last Inca royal heir in the captured Inca Empire in western South America, which resisted Spanish imperialism in what is now Peru. Tupac Amaru's great-grandson was also called Túpac Amaru II, and spearheaded the first major anti-Spanish military campaign after colonization. Contrary to rather popular belief, Tupac Amaru was not Tupac's first birth name or a name he chose for himself; his mother re-named him shortly after birth.

2Pac was famous for being down to die for everything he represented always real and upfront. Some people consider 2Pac a modern-day prophet.

2Pac was a deep, multi-faceted individual. 2Pac's lyrics always went deep into the meaning of many political and social subjects including violence, drug abuse, teenage pregnancy and broken families. He was well read as noted by his extensive reading list. 2Pac's poetry also reflected his many sides, some poems were motivated by love, others seeking to understand himself better and others by the cruel injustices of America and society.

His first breakthrough in music came in 1991 as a member of the group Digital Underground. In the same year he received individual recognition for his album "2Pacalypse Now," but this album was also the beginning of his notoriety as a leading figure of the gangsta permutation of hip-hop, with references to cop killing and sexual violence. His solo movie career also began in this year with Juice.

Since his death Shakur's recorded legacy has generated several posthumous releases and hit singles, amid ugly squabblings over his estate. R U Still Down? (Remember Me) (released on his mother's new Amaru label) collects unreleased material from 1992-1994. The Rose That Grew From Concrete is an excellent tribute album from many of rap's new wave, all of whom owe much to his talent and legacy.

Early Life of Tupac Shakur:

Tupac Amaru Shakur was born in jail on 16 June 1971, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA, and raised in Oakland, Calif. by a former member of the Black Panthers. His parents had separated before he was born, and his mother moved him and his sister around the country for much of their childhood. Frequently, the family was at the poverty level, but Shakur managed to gain acceptance to the prestigious Baltimore School of the Arts as a teenager. While he was at the school, his creative side flourished, as he began writing raps and acting. At the age of 12, Shakur joined a Harlem theatre group and acted as Travis in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun.

In 1984 Tupac's mother brought him and his sister to live in Baltimore, Maryland. The Shakurs lived on Greenmount Ave., in East Baltimore where Tupac was intensely despised because of his looks, name, and lack of trendy fashionwear of the 80s. However, he made a few friends while staying there. Tupac attended Roland Park Middle School. The following year he spent his freshman year at Paul Lawrence Dunbar High. For his sophomore year Tupac was accepted to the Baltimore School for the Arts. And it was there he "loved [his] classes" and had the opportunity to study theater, ballet, and other arts. Even at this age, Shakur was outspoken on the subject of racial equality. His teachers remembered him as being a very gifted student. He was an avid reader, delving into books about eastern religions, and even entire encyclopedia sets. Shielding his love of literature from his peers, he gained the respect of Baltimore kids by acting like a tough guy. Shakur composed his first rap in Baltimore under the name "MC New York". The song was about gun control and was inspired by the killing of one of his close friends. In 1986, a drug-addicted Afeni was having significant trouble finding work. Tupac later claimed it was because of her Black Panther history, but it was probably more a result of her drug use. She uprooted the family again and brought Tupac and Sekyiwa to live with a family friend in Marin City, California. Tupac described this move away from Baltimore and the arts school as "where I got off track". He displayed a strong contempt for law enforcement and was hassled occasionally for playing music loudly. Shakur's discontent with law officials clearly was rooted in his Black Panther/revolutionary upbringing. In August of 1988, Shakur's stepfather Mutulu was sentenced to sixty years in prison for armed robbery after being on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list for several years.

Shakur soon moved in with a neighbor and started selling drugs and hustling on the street, but he also made friends who helped spark his interest in rap music. He made friends with Ray Luv, and with a mutual friend named DJ Dize (Dizz-ee), they started a rap group called Strictly Dope. Their recordings were later released in 2001 under the name Tupac Shakur: The Lost Tapes. Their neighborhood performances brought Tupac enough acclaim to land an audition with Shock G of Digital Underground.

Before he could graduate, his family moved to Marin City, CA, when he was 17 years old. Tupac began his career as a back up dancer for Digital Underground, a Northern California rap group best known for their P-Funk inspired sex songs. The Oakland-based crew decided to hire him as a dancer and roadie, and as he toured with the group, he worked on his own material. 2Pac made his first recorded appearance on the group's spring 1991 record, This Is an EP Release, and he also appeared on their second album, Sons of the P. The following year, he released his own debut, 2Pacalypse Now. The album became a word-of-mouth hit, as "Brenda's Got a Baby" reached the R&B Top 30 and the record went gold. The shooting of a Texas police officer to his music and a public admonishment by Vice President Dan Quayle, quickly made Tupac the most controversial rapper in hip-hop. The album set the tone for Tupac's soon-to-be platinum formula: a mix of hardcore, gun toting, misogynist, Thug Life anthems, and a tender, caring, troubled side that exposed the light side of Tupac's darker image.

Acting Career:

He also began a successful acting career with the equally controversial film Juice, a movie that opened to gunfire in theaters and censorship of the movie poster. Tupac followed up his debut with the powerful Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., a hardcore masterpiece that responded to the controversies surrounding him and featured appearances by the other two most controversial West Coast rappers, Ice-T and Ice Cube. It also spawned two breakthrough singles "Keep Ya Head Up" and "I Get Around." Tupac also starred in the Janet Jackson vehicle Poetic Justice, another glimpse into the vulnerable side of this multi-faceted artist and Above The Rim, a basketball movie with a soundtrack produced by former N.W.A. rapper, and current A-list rap producer Dr. Dre. However, a slew of controversy ensued when Tupac was arrested in a variety of incidents including an assault and a rape charge, and was shot and wounded while recording tracks in the studio. Tupac recorded his next record, Me Against The World, for Dre's Death Row Records, but found himself in prison when it was released. Featuring the hit single "Dear Mama," Me Against The World was a moodier, more introspective album, finding Tupac looking and sounding less like a thug and more like the sensitive man he claimed to have become. Once out of prison, the freshly energized rapper spent months in the studio recording his double album opus, the first of its kind in hip-hop, All Eyez On Me , which featured a duet with Dr. Dre titled "California Love" and guest turns by Snoop Doggy Dogg, George Clinton, Roger Troutman and Method Man. He also managed to shoot two more films (Gridlock'd and Gang Related), make numerous guest appearances on other rappers' records and record a pseudo-follow up entitled The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory before he was gunned down in Las Vegas in 1996. He death was a major blow to the rap community and heated up the already steaming East vs. West rivalry. Many people believed his death was orchestrated by rival label Bad Boy and their main players Sean "Puffy" Combs and rapper Notorious B.I.G., who was later gunned down himself in Los Angeles. These theories remained rumors in the already legendary, iconoclastic story of Tupac Shakur.

Before he started his recording career, Tupac had no criminal record. In Oakland in October of 1991, Tupac was stopped by two officers for allegedly jaywalking. When he told the police "fuck y'all," he was choked, beaten, and had his head smashed on the pavement. He subsequently raised a ten million dollar lawsuit against the Oakland police department, which was eventually settled for $42,000.

In October 1993, Shakur came upon two off-duty police officers whom he perceived as harassing a black motorist on the side of the road in Atlanta. Shakur got into a fight with them and shot both officers (one in the leg, one in the buttocks). He faced serious charges until it was discovered that both officers were intoxicated during the incident and were using weapons stolen out of an evidence locker. The charges against Shakur were dismissed.

In 1994, he formed the group Thug Life with a few of his friends, including Big Syke, Macadoshis, his half-brother Mopreme, and Rated R. The group released their first album Thug Life: Volume 1 on Interscope in 1994 with moderate success. The group's lyrical strength undoubtedly lay primarily with Tupac, as the group has had little success after his death.

At the time of his death, Tupac 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 seven films, including the critically acclaimed Juice, Poetic Justice with Janet Jackson, and Gridlock'd with Tim Roth. He had also been slated to star in the Hughes brothers' "Menace II Society" but was replaced by Larenz Tate after assaulting the directors.

Next Pages: Tupac in prison Death of Tupac Shakur Death Theories

RAP T-SHIRT SHOP

Music T-Shirs, Clothings, Sweatshirts, Outdoor

<A class="APCAnchor" HREF="http://affiliates.allposters.com/link/redirect.asp?AID=472888&PSTID=5&LTID=16">Buy Posters at AllPosters.com </A>

Rap/Hip Hop/R & B T-Shirts

Music T-Shirt Shop

T-Shirts

Eminem T-Shirts

50 Cent T-Shirts

POSTER SHOP

Rap & Hip Hop

Gangsta Rap