In the same fashion that Elvis defined Rock ‘n’ Roll; Tupac Shakur defined the hip-hop music scene, as we know it today. What made Tupac (also known as 2Pac, or Makaveli) so special were his enormous talent, his on screen friendly looks, and the sense that he was “real” and talked the talk, while walking the walk. Tupac was born on June 16, 1971, Tupac Amaru Shakur. He was named after Tupac Amaru, the Inca Indian that was sentenced to death by the Spaniards. He was originally from Brooklyn, New York. Tupac spent a lot of time moving around as he was growing up. He was the son of a Black Panther activist Afeni Shakur and Billy Garland. Tupac moved from Harlem, to Baltimore, to Oakland. The constant moving caused Tupac to fit into his new communities by joining gangs, and his lengthy rap sheet was created even before his profalic entry into music and film. He was arrested eight times before even turning twenty (MTV.com). Tupac’s first big break came when he joined the group Digital Underground as a dancer and roadie. During that time, Tupac spent a lot of the time composing his own poetry and lyrics to launch his own career. In 1991 he signed with Interscope records and a year later he released his first album 2Pacalypse Now, which immediately landed him into “gangster” rap stardom. That year he also starred in Juice with Omar Epps and Samuel L. Jackson. It was the beginning to a bright acting career, which also landed him parts in other urban and African American oriented films such as Poetic Justice (1993), Above the Rim (1994), Bullet (1996), and Gridlock’d (1996). His main notoriety was through music, and he followed up his successful debut with Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. (1993), which also was a success. In 1995 he released Me Against the World, and in 1996 came All Eyez On Me (Smith 15-18). Shakur’s post celebrity run-ins with the law were almost as frequents as when he was growing up. In 1992 he was arrested when a stray bullet killed a six-year old child during a scuffle between Shakur and two others. The charges were later dropped. In 1993 Tupac was arrested for allegedly shooting two off duty Butts County Atlanta police officers who were harassing a black motorist, but the charges were again dropped. Ironically one of the officers was shot in the... ... middle of paper ... ...re are many people that believe everything they have to say. For example take Bill Clinton, our own President; he stood up and lied straight to all of us saying he never committed adultery. And then what about Watergate? And we elect these people into office to govern us. I cannot believe the media, they only tell what they get from the government, a system that lies and cheats its way through. I still believe that he is alive. I believe in all of the evidence that I have suggested that he some how in some way faked his own death. I believe that Tupac, his family and some presumably well-paid, official looking stand- ins have conspired to pull of the ultimate scam. But is it really a scam? A scam to gain what? There is still a multi- million-dollar life insurance policy out there with Tupac’s name on it. It’s been six years and no one has bothered to cash it. I will tell you why. He had a reason to believe that his life was in danger, and he had to do something to take care of it. Besides haven’t you ever been curious about who would show up at your funeral, and who would really be crying? Tupac was curious, but he never had a funeral, so his questions may never be answered
When Kody was 16 years old he met his girlfriend and future wife, Tamu Shakur. They had their first child a year later. Even after having a child, Kody continued to live a life of murder and theft. In Kody’s autobiography he talked about how he would ride around his neighborhood blocks on his bicycle with a shot gun and a hand gun shooting rival gang members that were on “his turf” (Monster, 124). On January 1, 1980,...
Shawn’s career only went up from there. In 1997, Jay-Z's follow-up, In My Lifetime, Vol. 1, peaked at #3 on the Billboard album charts, and helped establish his career and mainstream success. He continued releasing top selling records until 2003, when he announced the release of the Black Album as his last record.
Throughout all of this Tupac had made rivals with many people. He was beginning to be hated by just about everyone. He had his talent by his side though and he began filming movies.
Tupac Amaru Shakur was born on June 16, 1971 in New York City to Afeni Shakur, a Black Panther member since 1968. She gave birth to him 2 months after she was released from Women’s House of Detentions in Grenwich Village. She was charged with conspiracy to bomb several New York public locations and just had her bail revoked. In court she represented herself and won against the state of New York in a surprising turn out. In Incan dialect, his name Tupac Amaru means “shining serpent” and Shakur is Arabic for “thankful to God.” For most of his childhood his crack addicted mother shuffled Tupac between the ghettos of Harlem and the Bronx. Young Tupac began his performance career with the 127th Street Ensemble and then enrolled Baltimore School for the Arts where he was educated in ballet and acting. Tupac was forced to drop out of the school because he had to move to California with his mother, where his criminal career began. He left his house at the age of 17 because of the continuous fights with his mother he then began selling/doing drugs, and was homeless for about 2 years. His life was spiraling down wards at a rapid rate. Till one day he got his big break. Tupac always dreamt about being famous someday, now his dream was becoming a reality. He struck a recording deal with Interscope records. He was on his way to super stardom, but as we all know with fame comes problems. He was involved in the shooting of two off duty police officers, although the chargers were later dropped. He was also convicted of rape, and sentenced to 5 years in Clinton Correctional Facilities.
It is alleged that the incident occurred due to a fracas which started with Whitney Houston who was insulted by Michael Jackson. As such, she called her boyfriend Tupac Shakur and informed him of the situation. Subsequently, Shakur confronted Jackson at the dorm gathering which
Through all his family and education issues, he stood up to become a well-known hip-hop artist according to his history background. He released a couple albums and then was offered to be in some movies. He made some songs and music videos with them that made it big on the Billboard charts. For example, in these movies and albums called, “Power respect Juice” (1992), “Bullet”(1996), “Gang Related” (1997), “all eyez on me”(1996),”Greatest Hits”(1998), and “Until the end of time”(2001), according to all these released, he won prizes from music and artist industry, people can recognize him. Tupac has become rich and famous and he is not showing off his own style.
Immediately after Tupac Shakur’s murder the night of September 7, 1996, possible suspects were targeted and investigated. Among the earliest accused was Suge Knight, the creator of Death Row Records (Scott 183). Shakur’s contract with Death Row was a profit vacuum for Knight because of Shakur’s immense talent and popularity. And, allegedly, a four-million dollar insurance policy was enacted on Tupac after signing with Death Row Records, giving Death Row the benefit rather than his family (Scott 183). This policy reinforced the idea that Tupac was the driving money force for Death Row; therefore, he was extremely valuable for the success of the company. As Knight once said, "Tupac IS Death Row." (Johnson and McQuillar 173). However, tension came when Tupac supposedly was ready to depart from Death Row Records once the contract expired, which would negatively affect the success of Death Row (Scott 184). The devastation of Shakur’s departure would cause a major change in Death Row's success, and potentially causing another company to be more successful than Knight’s. T...
“Shakur was shot four times in the chest and abdomen. Police believe he was the
On September 7,1996, Tupac Shakur had just left a wrestling match and was at a traffic light when he was shot by a African American male in a white Cadillac. Tupac was allegedly rushed to the hospital and treated for severe gunshot wounds. 2Pac died six days later on September 16,1996, after his mom, Afeni, took him off of life support. This is the news story that everyone hears how 2Pac “died”.
Throughout the years Tupac tended to participate in the arts, landing seven movie roles. While Shakur had been producing things professionally since 1987, his career hadn’t truly taken off until the early 90’s when he debuted in Digital Underground's "Same Song" from the soundtrack to the 1991 film “Nothing but Trouble.” Up until the day Tupac died, he was going head first into the game. Shakur was always working hard and doing what he loved. Biggie, on the other hand, was from the Clinton Hill section of the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York. He was nicknamed “Big” because he was overweight from the time he was ten years old. Wallace had been rapping since his early teen years and continued his passion all throughout his life. While he was always excelled in school, he dropped out of school at the age of seventeen. Biggie started dealing drugs at the age of twelve and continued his criminal life until the end. The Notorious B.I.G. was arrested on several occasions. A few examples are that he was arrested in 1989 for weapons charges, 1990 for violation of probation, and in 1991 for dealing Crack Cocaine. On August
Tupac Amaru Shakur was an African-American rapper, poet, and record producer during the 1990’s. In his adolescent years, he attended the Baltimore School for the Arts where he took acting and dance classes, like ballet. He was taught radical politics by his mother, which helped him develop ideas about topics he would later use in his many works. At an early age, Tupac had seen the injustices of the real world. His mother was a former Black Panther activist who turned to substance abuse during Tupac’s childhood. Aside from that, he and his mother also moved many times while they lived together in New York City. While Tupac was in Baltimore, he discovered rap; not long after, he and his mother moved to the West Coast where he joined the rap group
The documentary, Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, was produced, written, and directed by Byron Hurt and was released in 2007 by PBS. Mr. Hurt is an American activist, lecturer, and a graduate of Northeastern University where he played American football as a quarterback. The documentary provides details about sexuality; violence, homophobia and hyper-masculinity in Hip Hop culture. Hurt, a long time hip-hop lover, the more he learned, the more the lyrics, violence and sexism became more unexpected to him, and this influenced him to make the documentary Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes.
Today, most young people think that if a person is rich and famous, they can get away with anything. They see rappers get charged with felonies and then they see that the charges get dropped. They’ve heard of celebrities running over children while drunk and getting away with it without doing anything. However, not all rappers have run-ins with the law, but the ones that do are very well known. Tupac Shakur (RIP), for example, had many run-ins with the law.
Tupac's mother, Afeni Shakur on the other hand, refuses to speak to Broomfield as she was still working with Suge Knight and is said to have her lawyers ask Broomfield to leave town, disapproving of all the interviews that he had conducted. Through these interviews, he also produces eyewitnesses who help identify some of the shooters as LAPD officers who were off-duty on the night of the shooting and proves it with drawings and photos of the policemen said to be involved. Although interviewing these people reduces misrepresentation of these murders, it may seem, that at the same time, the people he is seen interviewing may suggest that he is being biased in trying to support his own claims about Suge Knight, who was part of the West Coast Gang, being the mastermind behind both murders. This is because, he is seen talking to more people related to Biggie Smalls - the East Coast gang, with comparison to that of Tupac - the West Coast Gang. This is most probably also because of the fact that no one from Death Row was willing to be
It is so hard to become a rapper. But it is harder to become a great rapper. I believe Tupac is a great rapper. Not only a great rapper, but the greatest rapper. Like Snoop Dogg had said, “Tupac was many different things at once.