Well, this is my first post talking about someone, so I hope you like it and if it has a good repercussion, I'll do other biographies as well.
If you are a fan of Hip Hop, you've probably heard of Tupac Amaru Shakur, also known as 2Pac, Makaveli or just Pac. This American rapper is considered to this day by critics and members of the music industry as the greatest rapper of all time. But how did this legend come about? How did you live? And what are the theories about his death? That's what we're going to talk about now.
Tupac Amaru Shakur was born on June 16, 1971, in a neighborhood called East Harlem of Manhattan in New York. Suffering and incarceration surrounded Shakur as a child. His godfather, Geronimo Pratt, an important member of the Black Panthers, was convicted of the murder of a teacher during a robbery in 1968, although the sentence was later revoked. His stepfather, Mutulu, spent four years on the FBI's top ten list beginning in 1982.
Mutulu was partly sought after to help his sister Assata Shakur escape from a penitentiary in New Jersey where he was arrested for killing a policeman in 1973. Mutulu was caught in 1986 and arrested for the assault of an armored truck, where two policemen and a guard were killed. Shakur had a half sister, Sekyiwa, two years younger than him, and an older half-brother, Mopreme "Komani" Shakur, who became a rapper and appeared in many of Pac's recordings.
Twelve-year-old Shakur enrolled in Harlem's 127th Street Repertory Ensemble, a theater group, and was chosen as Travis Younger in A Raising in the Sun, which was performed at the Apollo Theater. In 1986, his family moved to Baltimore, Maryland. After completing his second year at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, he was transferred to the Baltimore School for the Arts, where he studied acting, poetry, jazz and ballet. He acted in some Shakespeare plays and also acted as the King of the Rats in the Nutcracker. It is possible to realize that from childhood, although his family lived marginalized by crime and much of his family was behind the bars, he had an artistic side, a gift, something where he could channel his feelings that was not with violence, an escape from the difficult reality of crime.
Shakur, accompanied by his friend Dana "Mouse" Smith, his beatboxer, won in most of the rap competitions in which he participated and was considered the best rapper in school. He was also remembered as one of the school's most popular children because of his sense of humor, superior rap skills, and ability to blend in with all classes. Pac also developed a strong friendship with a young Jada Pinkett (later Jada Pinkett Smith, after marrying Will Smith), that lasted until his death. A poem written by 2Pac entitled "Jada" appeared in his book The Rose That Grew From Concrete, which included another poem dedicated to her called "The Tears in Cupid's Eyes." Tupac was a very captivating person from his early days, so he was a popular person, and from early on, there was already a talent for Hip Hop, where he continued his career. Tupac debuted his rap skills in Digital Underground's song "Same Song" in 1991. 2Pac then released their debut album, 2Pacalypse Now in 1991. The album remained hidden for a few years and no top ten hit was released. Later it was the turn of Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. to be released in 1993. Considered their first hit album, it released two hit singles, "I Get Around" with Digital Underground and "Keep Ya Head Up". The album and the singles took gold disc still at the end of 1993. Two years after its beginning in rap, pac got a gold record, really, he is a distinguished artist and in, he had already sold at least 75 million copies the world.
Pac was well known for attacking the system with his songs, always criticizing the government, or organizations such as the Illuminati. Shakur became the target of several lawsuits and suffered other legal problems. Early in his career, he was hit by five shots and robbed in the hallway of a recording studio in New York. After the incident, Tupac began to suspect that other figures in the rap industry learned of the incident and did not advise Shakur, which triggered the rivalry between the East and West coasts and it is from here that theories began to emerge for his death.
Later Shakur was eventually convicted of sexual abuse and was jailed for eleven months and was released from prison at a resource funded by Suge Knight, chief executive officer of Death Row Records. In exchange for Suge's help, Tupac had to record three albums under the Death Row label. Many fans believe that the allegations of sexual abuse came from the lyrics to Pac that always attacked the Goveno and the Illuminati and it was all a scheme to keep the artist out of the game.
On the night of September 7, 1996, Tupac, inside Suge's car, was struck by four gunshot wounds in the city of Las Vegas. He died six days later, a victim of respiratory failure and cardiac arrest, at the Medical University of Nevada. After his death, the American newspaper The New York Times quoted him as "the greatest rapper of all time". From there came some theories that Suge himself had commissioned the murder because Pac would not renew the contract with Suge's label. Others believed that all this happened because of the impasse that Pac had with Notorious B.I.G., another North American Rapper. But Pac had admitted in a live program, weeks before his death that this clash between him and Notorius, was just a marketing move to increasingly bomb the record of both. So the theory about his death that has been emerging in recent times is that Shakur was assassinated by the Illuminati for citing in many songs, attacking this organization that until then was not much talked about at the time.
Well folks, I want to thank you for the attention, I spent a lot of time writing, reading and researching so I hope you enjoy my work.
