Early life
Shakur, whose birth name according to relatives was Lesane Parish Crooks,[18][19][20] was born on June 16, 1971, in the East Harlem section of Manhattan in New York City.[21] He was named after Túpac Amaru II,[22][23] the 18th-century South American revolutionary who was executed after leading an indigenous uprising against Spanish rule.[24]
His mother, Afeni Shakur (born Alice Faye Williams), and his father, Billy Garland, were active members of the Black Panther Party in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The infant was born a month after his mother was acquitted of more than 150 charges of "Conspiracy against the United States government and New York landmarks" in the New York "Panther 21" court case.[25][26]
Shakur lived from an early age with people who were involved with the Black Liberation Army and convicted of serious criminal offenses and who were imprisoned. His godfather, Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt, a high-ranking Black Panther, was convicted of murdering a school teacher during a 1968 robbery, although his sentence was later overturned. His stepfather, Mutulu, spent four years at large on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list beginning in 1982. Mutulu was wanted for having helped his sister Assata Shakur (also known as Joanne Chesimard) to escape from a penitentiary in New Jersey. She had been imprisoned for killing a state trooper in 1973. Mutulu was caught in 1986 and imprisoned for the robbery of a Brinks armored truck in which two police officers and a guard were killed.[27] Shakur had a half-sister, Sekyiwa, two years his junior, and an older stepbrother, Mopreme "Komani" Shakur, who appeared in many of his recordings.[28]
At the age of twelve, Shakur enrolled in Harlem's 127th Street Repertory Ensemble and was cast as the Travis Younger character in the play A Raisin in the Sun, which was performed at the Apollo Theater. In 1986, the family relocated to Baltimore, Maryland.[29] After completing his second year at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, he transferred to the Baltimore School for the Arts, where he studied acting, poetry, jazz, and ballet.[30] He performed in Shakespeare plays, and in the role of the Mouse King in the ballet The Nutcracker.[27] Shakur, accompanied by one of his friends, Dana "Mouse" Smith, as his beatbox, won many rap competitions and was considered to be the best rapper in his school.[31] He was remembered as one of the most popular kids in his school because of his sense of humor, superior rapping skills, and ability to mix with all crowds.[32] He developed a close friendship with a young Jada Pinkett (later Jada Pinkett Smith) that lasted until his death.
In the documentary Tupac: Resurrection, Shakur says, "Jada is my heart. She will be my friend for my whole life." Pinkett Smith calls him "one of my best friends. He was like a brother. It was beyond friendship for us. The type of relationship we had, you only get that once in a lifetime." A poem written by Shakur titled "Jada" appears in his book, The Rose That Grew from Concrete, which also includes a poem dedicated to Pinkett Smith called "The Tears in Cupid's Eyes". During his time in art school, Shakur became affiliated with the Baltimore Young Communist League USA,[33][34] and began dating the daughter of the director of the local chapter of the Communist Party USA.[35]
In June 1988, Shakur, then 17, and his family moved to Marin City, California, a residential community located 5 miles (8.0 km) north of San Francisco,[29] where he attended Tamalpais High School in nearby Mill Valley.[36] Shakur befriended two sisters, Liza and Molly. For Lisa, he made an answering-machine message for her in hip-hop style. Molly would become his personal assistant. She interviewed him for a project where he said he would change the world. Shakur contributed to the school's drama department by performing in several productions. In an English class, Shakur wrote a paper "Conquering All Obstacles" where he said, "our raps not the sorry-story raps everyone is so tired of. They are about what happens in the real world. Our goal is [to] have people relate to our raps, making it easier to see what really is happening out there. Even more important, what we may do to better our world."[37] He began attending the poetry classes of Leila Steinberg in 1989.[38] That same year, Steinberg organized a concert with a former group of Shakur's, "Strictly Dope"; the concert led to him being signed with Atron Gregory. He set him up as a roadie and backup dancer with the hip hop group Digital Underground in 1990.[12][13][14]
Career
1991–93: Beginnings and rise to fame
Shakur's professional entertainment career began in the early 1990s, when he debuted his rapping skills in a vocal turn in Digital Underground's "Same Song" from the soundtrack to the 1991 film Nothing but Trouble and also appeared with the group in the film of the same name. The song was later released as the lead song of the Digital Underground extended play (EP) This is an EP Release, the follow-up to their debut hit album Sex Packets. Shakur appeared in the accompanying music video. After his rap debut, he performed with Digital Underground again on the album Sons of the P. Later, he released his first solo album,2Pacalypse Now. Though the album did not generate any "Top Ten" hits, 2Pacalypse Now is hailed by many critics and fans for its underground feel, with many rappers such as Nas, Eminem, Game, and Talib Kwelihaving pointed to it as inspiration.[39] Although the album was originally released on Interscope Records, rights of it are now owned by Amaru Entertainment. The album's name is a reference to the 1979 filmApocalypse Now.
The album generated significant controversy. Dan Quayle criticized it after a Texas youth's defense attorney claimed he was influenced by 2Pacalypse Now and its strong theme of police brutality before shooting a state trooper. Quayle said, "There's no reason for a record like this to be released. It has no place in our society." Shakur stated that he felt he had been misunderstood.[40] He said, "I started out saying I was down for the young black male, you know, and that was gonna be my thang," Shakur said. "I just wanted to rap about things that affected young black males. When I said that, I didn't know that I was gonna tie myself down to just take all the blunts and hits for all the young black males, to be the media's kicking post for young black males. I just figured since I lived that life I could do that, I could rap about that."[41][42] The record was important in showcasing Shakur's political conviction and his focus on lyrical prowess. On MTV's Greatest Rappers of All Time list, 2Pacalypse Now was listed as one of Shakur's "certified classic" albums, along withMe Against the World, All Eyez on Me and The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. 2Pacalypse Now went on to be certified Gold by the RIAA. It featured three singles; "Brenda's Got a Baby", "Trapped", and "If My Homie Calls".
His second studio album, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., was released in February 1993. The album did better than the previous one debuting on number 24 on the Billboard 200. The album contains many tracks emphasizing Shakur's political and social views. This album had more commercial success than its predecessor, and there were noticeable differences in production. While Shakur's first effort had an indie-rap-oriented sound, this album was considered his "breakout" album. It spawned the hits "Keep Ya Head Up" and "I Get Around" and reached platinum status. On vinyl, Side A (tracks 1–8) was labeled the "Black Side" and Side B (tracks 9–16) the "Dark Side". It is his tenth-biggest selling album, with 1,366,000 units moved as of 2004.[43]
1994–95: Acting and rise to prominence
In late 1993, Shakur formed the group Thug Life with a number of his friends, including Big Syke, Macadoshis, his stepbrother Mopreme Shakur, and Rated R. The group released their only album Thug Life: Volume 1 on September 26, 1994, which went gold. The album featured the single "Pour Out a Little Liquor", produced by Johnny "J" Jackson, who went on to produce a large part of Shakur's album All Eyez on Me. The group usually performed their concerts without Shakur.[44] The album was originally released by Shakur's label Out Da Gutta Records. Due to criticism about gangsta rap at the time, the original version of the album was scrapped and re-recorded with many of the original songs being cut. Among the notable tracks on the album are "Bury Me a G", "Cradle to the Grave", "Pour Out a Little Liquor" (which also appears in the soundtrack to the 1994 film Above the Rim), "How Long Will They Mourn Me?" and "Str8 Ballin'". The album contains ten tracks because Interscope Records felt many of the other recorded songs were too controversial to release. Although the original version of the album was not completed, Shakur performed the planned first single from the album, "Out on Bail" at the 1994 Source Awards.[45] Although the album was originally released on Shakur's label Out Da Gutta, Amaru Entertainment, the label owned by Shakur's mother, has since gained the rights to it. Thug Life: Volume 1 was certified Gold. The track "How Long Will They Mourn Me?" appeared later in 1998 from 2Pac's Greatest Hits album.[46]
His third album, Me Against The World, was very well received, with many calling it the magnum opus of his career. It is considered one of the greatest and most influential hip hop albums of all-time. It is his fourth biggest selling album with 3,524,567 copies in the United States as of 2011.[47]Me Against the World won best rap album at the 1996 Soul Train Music Awards.[48]
"Dear Mama" was released as the album's first single in February 1995, along with the track "Old School" as the B-side.[49] "Dear Mama" would be the album's most successful single, topping the Hot Rap Singleschart, and peaking at the ninth spot on the Billboard Hot 100.[50] The single was certified platinum in July 1995,[51] and later placed at #51 on the year-end charts. The second single, "So Many Tears", was released in June, four months after the first single.[52] The single would reach the number six on the Hot Rap Singles chart, and number 44 on the Billboard Hot 100.[50] "Temptations", released in August, was the third and final single from the album.[53] The single would be the least successful of the three released, but still did fairly well on the charts, reaching number 68 on the Billboard Hot 100, 35 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks, and 13 on the Hot Rap Singles charts.[50]
1996: Final recordings
All Eyez on Me was the fourth studio album by 2Pac, released on February 13, 1996 by Death Row Records and Interscope Records. The album is frequently recognized as one of the crowning achievements of 1990s rap music.[54] It has been said[who?] that "despite some undeniable filler, it is easily the best production 2Pac's ever had on record".[55] It was certified 5× Platinum after just 2 months in April 1996 and 9× platinum in 1998. The album featured the Billboard Hot 100 number one singles "How Do U Want It" and "California Love". It featured 5 singles in all, the most of any 2Pac album. Moreover, All Eyez on Me (which was the only Death Row release to be distributed through PolyGram by way of Island Records) made history as the first double-full-length hip-hop solo studio album released for mass consumption. It was issued on two compact discs and four LPs. Chartwise, All Eyez on Me was the second album from 2Pac to hit number-one on both the Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts.[56] It sold 566,000 copies in the first week of its release, and was charted on the top 100 with the top one-week Soundscan sales since 1991. The album won the 1997 Soul Train R&B/Soul or Rap Album of the Year Award.[57] Shakur also won the Award for Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist at the 24th Annual American Music Awards.[58]
Makaveli – The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, commonly shortened to The 7 Day Theory, is his fifth and final studio album and was released under the new stage name Makaveli.[59] The album was completely finished in a total of seven days during the month of August 1996.[60] The lyrics were written and recorded in three days and mixing took an additional four days. In 2005, MTV.com ranked Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory at #9 on their greatest hip hop albums of all time list[61] and, in 2006, recognized it as a classic.[62] The emotion and anger showcased on the album has been admired by a large part of the hip-hop community, including other rappers.[63]
George "Papa G" Pryce, former Head of Publicity for Death Row, claimed that "Makaveli, which we did was sort of tongue-in-cheek and it was not really to come out and after Tupac was murdered, it did come out. But before that it was going to be a sort of an underground [record]."[64] The album peaked at number one on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and the Billboard 200.[65] The album generated the second-highest debut-week sales total of any album that year,[66] was certified 4× Platinum on June 15, 1999.[67]
Other ventures
Death Row Records
Upon his release from Clinton Correctional Facility in 1995, Shakur immediately went back to song recording. He began a new group called Outlaw Immortalz. Shakur began recording his first album with Death Row and released the single "California Love" soon after.
On February 13, 1996, Shakur released his fourth solo album, All Eyez on Me. This double album was the first and second of his three-album commitment to Death Row Records. It sold over nine million copies.[68]The record was a general departure from the introspective subject matter of Me Against the World, being more oriented toward a thug and gangsta mentality. Shakur continued his recordings despite increasing problems at the Death Row label. Dr. Dre left his post as house producer to form his own label, Aftermath. Shakur continued to produce hundreds of tracks during his time at Death Row, most of which would be released on his posthumous albums Still I Rise, Until the End of Time, Better Dayz, Loyal to the Game and Pac's Life. He also began the process of recording an album with the Boot Camp Clik and their label Duck Down Records, both New York – based, entitled One Nation.[69]
On June 4, 1996, he and Outlawz released the diss track "Hit 'Em Up", a scathing lyrical assault on Biggie and others associated with him. In the track, Shakur claimed to have had sexual intercourse with Faith Evans, Biggie's wife at the time, and attacked Bad Boy's street credibility. Shakur was convinced that some members associated with Bad Boy had known about the '94 attack on him beforehand due to their behavior that night and what his sources told him. After the attack, Shakur immediately accused Jimmy Henchman (an associate of Bad Boy CEO Sean Combs) of orchestrating the attack, according to a 2005 interview with Henchman in Vibe magazine. After the attack, Shakur therefore aligned himself with Suge, Death Row's CEO, who was already bitter toward Combs over a 1995 incident at the Platinum Club in Atlanta, Georgia, which culminated in the death of Suge Knight's friend and bodyguard, Jake Robles; Knight was adamant in voicing his suspicions of Combs' involvement.[70]
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