All eyes on Tupac

Tupac Shakur was born on June 16, 1971 in East Harlem (New York) and died on September 13, 1996. He was only 25 years old when he was assassinated, but became a legend in music history thanks to his charisma, his image, and obviously his talent. I invite you to briefly retrace his journey, between controversy and large-scale success.

Tupac’s parents (Afeni Shakur, his mother, and Billy Garland, his father) were both Black Panthers in the 60s and early 70s. Tupac grew up with his mother and stepfather Mutulu Shakur who was also a Black Panther. His parents’ commitment and their ideals have greatly influenced him in his life and his career.

He started in rap in Baltimore where he became known as MC New York in 1991. The same year he launched his first album called 2Pacalypse Now which will be certified gold record in 1995. He published his second album (Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z.) in 1993 which will be certified platinum record.

At the same time, between 1991 and 1994, Tupac combined legal disputes. In 1993 a fan accused him of rape, which he always denied. At the trial he was found guilty of sexual abuse and was sentenced to one and a half years in prison. He began serving his sentence in 1995 in Dannemora prison. During his sentence, he released an album called Me Against the World. This album immediately became number one on the Billboard 200 and remained leader for 5 weeks. Tupac was the first to achieve this performance.

Tupac got out of prison thanks to Suge Knight, director of Death Row label, who paid his bail. In return Tupac commited to the label to record three albums. During his collaboration with Death Row, Tupac recorded hundreds of songs including the one he shared with Dr Dre, California Love considered as one of the greatest classics in rap history.

At that time his rivalry with Biggie and the label Bad Boys Records led to violent clashes like this evening of September 7, 1996 when Tupac and a team of his label fought in a Las Vegas casino with a member of the Crips gang. A few hours later, he was shot while he was in car with Suge Knight. One of the bullets he received lodged in his right lung. He was immediately sent to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, and died a few days later on September 13, 1996 due to his injuries.

Even today the circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear. What is certain is that Tupac has marked the history of music. And for good reason, at only 25 years old, he has accumulated a large number of works that have broken all records. His tumultuous life and his undeniable talent unleashed the crowds during his lifetime, and still fascinate even 24 years after his death.

Sources : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupac_Shakur

Valentin Colas