Tupac Shakur was one of the most influential artist of our last decade. He not only made several albums, but was also a large role in many films and a poet. Millions of people bought and still buy his albums. He was a pioneer to gangster rap, and he sang about things that mattered. Although, he was a role model and was admired by many, he also had a lot of enemies, and in the end, his enemies over powered his fans by taking his life. Some say that he may still be alive, but no one really knows.
Tupac Shakur was born Lesane Parish Crooks in Brooklyn, NY, on June 16, 1971. His mother Afen Shakur changed his name when he was a small child to Tupac Amura after an Inca-Indian revolutionary, “Tupac Amura,” meaning “Shining Serpant. ” His last name came from his step father, Jeral Wayne Williams, or Mutula Shakur, which means, “thankful to God” in Arabic. During Tupac’s childhood, he was known as the “Black Prince,” for misbehaving.
When Tupac was two his sister, Sekyiwa, was born. A few months before she was born, her father, Mutula, had been sentenced to 60 years for a fataled armed car robbery. Without his step father the family went through hard times. Tupac was very distressed, because they moved to the Bronx, Harlem, and homeless shelters. Tupac stated that he cried all of the time.
He couldn’t fit in because he was from everywhere, and didn’t have any buddies to grow up with. At the age of 12, Tupac had moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where he attended the Baltimore School For Performing Arts, where he studied acting and ballet. Around this time in his life he discovered his love for acting, writing love songs, and poetry. At this school, he left a lasting impression on his teachers and showed tremendous potential. Unfortunately, Tupac moved with his family to Oakland, California, and was unable to finish his training.
That’s when Tupac began to hang out with the wrong crowd. When he turned 15, he fell into rap, and started writing lyrics, forming his New York background for all it was worth. He called himself Mc New York and made people believe he was a tough guy. By the time Tupac was 20 he had been arrested eight times, and served eight months in prison, after being convicted of sexual abuse.
Tupac then joined the rap group, Digital Underground, as a dancer. Shortly before the group received award-winning success, Tupac released his own album, “2Pacalypse Now,” which was a great success. His hit single, “Brenda’s Got A Baby,” sky-rocketed his career. His remarkable talent got him a role in the motion picture “Juice.
” Eventually he released his second album, “Strictly For My N. I. G. G. A. Z.
,” which was even a bigger hit and introduced his music to the pop charts. On November 30, 1994, Tupac entered a Time Square studio accompanied by Stretch, one of his close friends, and his manager, Freddie Moore. There was a black man sitting on the desk in the entrance way of the office building. The man got up from the desk as two other men walked through the door. The three men followed him to the elevators, drew their guns and yelled, “Give up the jewelry, and get on the floor!” Instead, Tupac went for one of the guns, during his struggle, he was shot five times throughout his body, including two shots to the head.
The robbers got away with $40,000 in jewelry. Tupac was then dragged into the elevator, and then taken upstairs, where Biggie Smalls and Sean “Puffy” Combs were. No one even got up to help him. They stared at him as if they were surprised he was alive. As he lied there filled with bullets, Tupac reportedly had someone roll him a joint, and then he made a call to his girlfriend who called his mother, who in turn called an ambulance.
Somehow Pac ended up surviving the attempted murder. Tabitha Soren of MTV met with Tupac, as soon as he got to California, for an interview. When asked about the shooting, he looked troubled, as if he was scared to give too much information to the public, in fear of his life. After the interview he pointed the finger toward Bad Boy Records.
By saying this, he meant that they didn’t warn him of the attack that was about to happen, and they possibly revealed information to the attacker about his whereabouts that night. Some people say that Tupac was shot because of some dealings with some shady people in New York, known as the “Black Mafia. ” It was rumored that they financed Bad Boy Records. King Tut was one of the people involved with the mafia.
A week before he was shot King Tut walked in the studio with Biggie, and Biggie supposedly told Tupac not to mess with him. The Black Mafia demanded that Tupac sign with Bad Boy Records because they weren’t making enough money. Just before the shooting Tupac refuse Bad Boy’s offer, and was punished by getting shot. Puffy set him up and Biggie new about it. After Tupac’s rape case began, he blamed Haitain Jack for setting him up in the trial.
Jack and Tut were home boys, and together they shot Tupac on November 30 of 1994. Tupac was shot five times on September 7, 1996 at a party in Knights Club in California. He was rushed to the hospital and remained there until September 13, 1996, when he was finally pronounced dead. Tupac officially died at 4:03 PM. (4+3 = 7) Also he “died” at an age of 25 years.
(2+5 = 7) It seems as if seven is Tupac’s number. There is nothing in the new album that says “TUPAC RIP 1971-1996. ” Wouldn’t it make sense to include something like that in the first album after his “death”? The only thing mentioned is “EXIT TUPAC ENTER MAKAVELI. “A confidential reliable informant told the LVPD that the shooting might have had something to do with what had happened at the Lakewood mall in Compton.
The informant stated that a man named Travon Lane, a Death Row affiliate was at the malls Foot Locker in July or August, where he was confronted by several members of the South Side Crips. A fight broke out and Lanes Death Row medallion was taken from him. On September 7, in Las Vegas, moments after the Tyson/Seldon fight at the MGM Grand, Lane was walking through the hotel when he spotted Orlando Anderson. Anderson was the same man that Lane thought had taken his medallion at the mall. Lane then pointed the man out to Tupac.
Tupac confronted Anderson, and asked him if he was associated with the South Side Crips. Almost an hour later, a line of Death Row cars went to a party at Knights Club 662. A white Cadillac pulled up to Tupac and Knights vehicle. The passenger shot Tupac with a Glock 40 Caliber handgun, critically wounding him and grazing Knight. The real question is; Is Tupac really dead or is he still living to this day? In a recent survey over 83 % of his fans believe that he is still alive.
In his song, “Life Goes On,” he raps about his funeral. Tupac did many songs and videos about his death and his funeral. In the song “Aint Hard To Find” Tupac raps, “I heard raps that I died, murdered in cold blood, traumatized pictures of me in my final states, you know momma cried, but that was fiction, some coward got the story twisted. .
. . ” In Tupacs song “Hold Ya Head,” on Tupacs Machiavelli album, a voice says before Tupac, “Can you see him?,” and another one replies, “I see him. ” Then Tupac softly says, “Im alive.
” In the video “I Aint Mad At Cha,” Tupac dies. In his next video, “Toss It Up,” his name is Machiaveli. While Tupac was in prison, he studied Machiavelli in depth. He was a 16th century Italian philosopher who played out the staging of ones death in order to escape ones enemies in order to gain power. In Tupacs new album “Machiavelli A. K.
A. The Seven Day Theory,” relates to how he was shot on the seventh day of September and died seven days later. Also, in this album, he states, “Ive been shot and murdered, cant tell you how it happened word for word, but best believe that niggas gonna get what they deserve. ” The cross that Tupac has on his back says, “Exodus 16:31.
” The line above this one in the bible states, “So the people rested on the seventh day. ” In essence, Exodus 16 is about the seven days. The sketchy part about the whole story is that he was cremated immediately after he died, the next day. Why would they cremate a murder victim the day after the murder? That is a question that remains to be unanswered.
The memorial services were canceled in both Los Angeles and Atlanta.Bibliography:
