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Shakur, Tupac
Identification Rap artist and actor
Born June 16, 1971; New York, New York
Died September 13, 1996; Las Vegas, Nevada
Continuing the tradition of socially conscious rap, Shakur
wrote songs about the oppression of African Americans in
American society. His music paved the way for the rise and
notoriety of gangsta rap in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.
Shakur was a son of a Black Panther Party member,
Afeni Shakur, who remained a strong influence on
his life. He grew up in an impoverished community,
and this experience later became the basis of many
of his songs. Shakur began his career in the enter-
tainment business when he was hired as a backup
dancer and roadie for the rap group Digital Under-
ground in 1990. His first solo album,2Pacalypse Now,
was released in 1991 and followed by four albums,
Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. (1993),Thug Life(1994),
Me Against the World (1995), andAll Eyez on Me
(1996). He also starred in three movies,Juice(1992),
Poetic Justice (1993), and Above the Rim (1994).
Shakur was known for his voracious reading, which
influenced his songwriting. His encounter with the
work of Renaissance writer Niccolò Machiavelli re-
sulted in his pseudonym Makaveli and the albumThe
Don Killuminati: The Seven Day Theor y(1996), his last
work.
At the age of twenty-five, Shakur was killed in a
drive-by shooting in Las Vegas. Some say his murder
was related to the rivalry between Los Angeles-based
Death Row Records, Shakur’s label, and New York-
based Bad Boy Records, which had signed the com-
mercially successful Christopher “Notorious B.I.G.”
Wallace, who became Shakur’s rap rival. Wallace was
murdered six months after Shakur. Both homicides
remain unsolved.The Nineties in America Shakur, Tupac 765
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