Tupac Shakur Biography

The Late Tupac Shakur was a legendary American musician and rapper of the 1990s era. The Tupac Shakur biography would be incomplete without the mention of his embodiment of the aesthetic of gangsta-rap. Also famous as 2pac, Tupac Amaru Shakur devoted his life to music which made him one of the greatest musicians of his time. He was tremendously talented and yet was claimed to have had a troubled soul. His music career was devoted to bringing light to the injustices suffered by the African American community. A spokesperson for the community, Tupac Shakur’s life was short yet brilliant. 

As we pen down the 2pac Shakur biography, we will learn about Tupac Shakur’s life story and how he came about to be the legendary musician he is recognised as today. 

Tupac Life History - Birth and Early Years 

Born on 16 June 1971, Tupac Shakur was one of the two siblings born to single mother Alice Faye Williams a.k.a Afeni. At birth, was christened Lesane Parish Crooks. As we can learn from Afeni Shakur’s biography, Tupac’s birthplace was Harlem in New York and the family often struggled for money as the two children were single-handedly raised by their mother. 

In his early years, Tupac and his family often had to move around and stay in shelters at times. When the family moved to Baltimore, Tupac was enrolled at the Baltimore School for the Arts, a prestigious school. Tupac’s mother was actively involved with the Black Panther Party, post which she changed her own name to Afeni Shakur and her son’s first name to Tupac Amaru, inspired by the Peruvian revolutionary of the same name who was killed by the Spanish. Tupac later took his surname from the father of his younger sister, Mutulu Shakur, who also was a member of the Black Panther Party. Tupac’s estranged biological father was Billy Garland, whom he only met after he turned 23. 

Career

Tupac grew up in a crime-ridden neighbourhood in Baltimore, eventually leading the family to move to Marin City in California. His love for hip-hop kept him at bay from crime at the time. When he was just 17, Tupac was writing poetry obsessively and convinced an older woman, Leila Steinberg, whom he met at a park to become his manager. Steinberg had no experience in the music industry but was eventually able to get the singer in front of Atron Gregory, a music manager. Gregory scored a gig for Tupac in 1990 as a dancer and a roadie in Digital Underground, a hip hop group. 

As a part of the group, Tupac soon became a vocalist and made his debut in recording on Same Song in 1991. This song provided the soundtrack for Nothing but Trouble, a comedy by Dan Aykroyd. Later in October of the same year, Tupac appeared in ‘Sons of the P’, an album by Digital Underground. 

The band’s manager Gregory soon took over Steinberg as Tupac’s manager and landed the singer a deal with Interscope records. Tupac soon released his solo debut album, ‘2Pacalypse Now’, a month after Sons of the P was released. This album, although, was not a major hit, managed to sell a decent 500,000 copies. This led to establishing Tupac Shakur as a social commentator uncompromising in nature. 

His second album was ‘Strictly 4 My Niggaz’ was released in the February of 1993. Keeping in line with his debut, he continued the vein of social consciousness. This album earned him a gold-certified single ‘Keep Ya Head Up’. Tupac’s stepbrother Mopreme also contributed to this album. Eventually, Mopreme went on to become a member of Thug Life, a hip-hop group started by Tupac with the release of his album Thug Life: Volume 1 in the year 1994. 

Tupac’s third album ‘Me Against the World’ was released on 14 March 1995. This album was considered Tupac’s magnum opus by many. It topped the Billboard 200 chart with ‘Dear Mama’, the album’s lead single hitting number 9 on Billboard Hot 100 as of April 1995. This single was Tupac’s tear-jerking tribute to his mother Afeni. At the time of the release of this album, Tupac was in prison for rape charges. It was then when he was visited by  Suge Knight of the Death Row records. Knight, the notorious label boss of the record company, offered to provide the bail worth $1.3 million dollars that were required for the release of Tupac Shakur, pending his appeal. In exchange, Tupac was required to sign on to Death Row which Tupac complied with following which he was released in October 1995 from the high-security facility in Dannemora, New York.

Post his release, Tupac debuted for Death Row with his double-length album ‘All Eyez on Me’. which came out in 1996, February. This album saw an unapologetic commemoration of the thug lifestyle with Outlawz, Tupac’s new hip-hop group debuting on the album. The lyrics of the album’s songs, although socially conscious, favoured the menace and hedonism of gangsta-funk. 

The first single of the album ‘California Love’ topped the Billboard Hot 100 charts and remains the best-known song of Tupac Shakur. Within two months of the release of the album, its third single, ‘How Do You Want It’ also topped the charts. The single ‘All Eyez on Me’ has been certified double platinum five times and eventually went on to become diamond certified. 

‘Don Killuminati: The Seven Day Theory’, was Tupac’s fifth album that was released posthumously in November 1996. This album also topped the Billboard charts. In total, Tupac Shakur recorded six studio albums that were released posthumously including and up to the 2006’s Pac’s Life. 

Poems, Books and Movies

Prior to becoming a rapper, Tupac Shakur wrote poems. His verses were published in the book, The Rose that Grew from Concrete released in 2000. Also, no Tupac Amaru Shakur biography would be complete without mentioning the movies that starred the rapper. In 1993's Poetic Justice, he appeared alongside Janet Jackson while in the 1996's Bullet, he was seen appearing along with Mickey Rourke. 

During his career, Tupac Shakur released a total of 11 albums all of which went platinum. He is estimated to have sold 75 million and more records worldwide. The Recording Industry Association of America or RIAA has listed Tupac, as of September 2017, as the 44th all-time top-selling artist in terms of streaming figures and sales. 

Tryst With Law

Tupac was charged in October 1993 for shooting and wounding two policemen in Atlanta following an altercation. However, when it was found that the policemen under the influence of alcohol were responsible for initiating the incident and one of them threatened the rapper with a stolen gun, the charges against Tupac were dropped. 

In the year 1994, Tupac went to jail on assault charges put forth by Allen Hughes, the director who had fired the rapper from the movie ‘Menace II Society’ on account of the latter’s disruptive behaviour. 

Tupac Shakur was sentenced in February 1995 to a jail time between 1 and a half and 4 years for allegedly abusing a female fan sexually. The incident related case had reportedly occurred in the rapper’s suite in Meridien Hotel, New York, in November 1993. Tupac had never accepted the charges though he acknowledged he could have prevented the incident from taking place. 

Personal Life

Tupac, aged 21, had met Keisha Morris whom he later married in the year 1995 while he was still in prison. The marriage, however, had soon run out its course and was annulled five months after the release of Tupac from prison in October 1995. It is worth mentioning in Tupac Shakur’s biography that he and Morris remained friends until the former’s death. 

Death

On 7th September 1996, Tupac was in Las Vegas to watch a Mike Tyson match organised at the MGM Grand hotel. A scuffle that ensued between the rapper and the member of the Crips gang resulted in Tupac Shakur being inflicted with gunshot wounds of which he died six days later on 13th September 1996. 

As evident from Tupac Shakur’s life story, the short life of this talented rapper was never short of challenges. Despite growing up in a less fortunate family and neighbourhood, Tupac was able to make a name for himself in the American hip-hop music scene. Although he glorified an outlaw lifestyle in the albums for Death Row, he is said to have financed an at-risk youth centre, helped in setting up a helpline for young people undergoing problems. He truly made the most of his short yet extraordinary life. Tupac was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 7th April 2017.