Tupac is alive! ☂

Today, 13 September, 15 years after the death of Tupac.
This is the best rap artist of all ages!
Tupac is alive in our hearts
He is amazing!
R.I.P ♥

Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), known by his stage names 2Pac (or simply Pac) and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2007,[1] making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world. Rolling Stone Magazine named him the 86th Greatest Artist of All Time.

In addition to his career as a rap artist, he was also an actor. The themes of most of Tupac's songs are the violence and hardship in inner cities, racism, other social problems, and conflicts with other rappers during the East Coast – West Coast hip hop rivalry. Shakur began his career as a roadie and backup dancer for the alternative hip hop group Digital Underground.

On September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot four times in the Las Vegas metropolitan area of Nevada. He was taken to the University Medical Center, where he died 6 days later of respiratory failure and cardiac arrest.

Early life

Tupac Amaru Shakur was born on the East Harlem section of Manhattan in New York City. He was named after Túpac Amaru II, a Peruvian revolutionary who led an indigenous uprising against Spain and was subsequently executed.

His mother, Afeni Shakur, and his father, Billy Garland, were active members of the Black Panther Party in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s; he was born just one month after his mother's acquittal on more than 150 charges of "Conspiracy against the United States government and New York landmarks" in the New York Panther 21 court case.

Although unconfirmed by the Shakur family, several sources (including the official coroner's report) list his birth name as "Lesane Parish Crooks". This name was supposedly entered on the birth certificate because Afeni feared her enemies would attack her son, and disguised his true identity using a different last name. She changed it later, following her separation from Garland and marriage to Mutulu Shakur.

Struggle and incarceration surrounded Shakur from an early age. His godfather, Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt, a high ranking Black Panther, was convicted of murdering a school teacher during a 1968 robbery, although his sentence was later overturned. His stepfather, Mutulu, spent four years at large on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list beginning in 1982. Mutulu was wanted in part for having helped his sister Assata Shakur (also known as Joanne Chesimard) to escape from a penitentiary in New Jersey, where she had been incarcerated for shooting a state trooper to death in 1973. Mutulu was caught in 1986 and imprisoned for the robbery of a Brinks armored truck in which two police officers and a guard were killed. Shakur had a half-sister, Sekyiwa, two years his junior, and an older stepbrother, Mopreme "Komani" Shakur, who appeared on many of his recordings.

At the age of twelve, Shakur enrolled in Harlem's 127th Street Repertory Ensemble and was cast as the Travis Younger character in the play A Raisin in the Sun, which was performed at the Apollo Theater. In 1986, the family relocated to Baltimore, Maryland. After completing his second year at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School he transferred to the Baltimore School for the Arts, where he studied acting, poetry, jazz, and ballet. He performed in Shakespeare plays, and in the role of the Mouse King in The Nutcracker.Shakur, accompanied by one of his friends, Dana "Mouse" Smith, as his beatbox, won most of the many rap competitions that he participated in and was considered to be the best rapper in his school. He was remembered as one of the most popular kids in his school because of his sense of humor, superior rapping skills, and ability to mix in with all crowds. He developed a close friendship with a young Jada Pinkett (later Jada Pinkett Smith) that lasted until his death. In the documentary Tupac: Resurrection, Shakur says, "Jada is my heart. She will be my friend for my whole life," and Pinkett Smith calls him "one of my best friends. He was like a brother. It was beyond friendship for us. The type of relationship we had, you only get that once in a lifetime." A poem written by Shakur titled "Jada" appears in his book, The Rose That Grew From Concrete, which also includes a poem dedicated to Pinkett Smith called "The Tears in Cupid's Eyes". During his time in art school, Shakur began dating the daughter of the director of the Baltimore Communist Party USA.

In June 1988, Shakur and his family moved to Marin City, California, where he attended Tamalpais High School. He began attending the poetry classes of Leila Steinberg in 1989. That same year, Steinberg organized a concert with a former group of Shakur's, Strictly Dope; the concert led to him being signed with Atron Gregory who set him up as a roadie and backup dancer with the young rap group Digital Underground in 1990.

Career

Rapping career

Shakur's professional entertainment career began in the early 1990s, when he debuted his rapping skills in a vocal turn in Digital Underground's "Same Song" from the soundtrack to the 1991 film Nothing but Trouble and also appeared with the group in the film of the same name. The song was later released as the lead song of the Digital Underground EP This is an EP Release, the follow-up to their debut hit album Sex Packets. Shakur appeared in the accompanying music video. After his rap debut, he performed with Digital Underground again on the album Sons of the P. Later, he released his first solo album, 2Pacalypse Now.

2Pacalypse Now did not do as well on the charts as future albums, spawning no top ten hits. His second record, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., was released in 1993.


Thug Life

In late 1993, Shakur formed the group Thug Life with a number of his friends, including Big Syke, Macadoshis, his stepbrother Mopreme Shakur, and Rated R. The group released their only album Thug Life: Volume 1 on September 26, 1994, which went gold. The album featured the single "Pour Out a Little Liquor" produced by Johnny "J" Jackson, who went on to produce a large part of Shakur's album All Eyez on Me. The group usually performed their concerts without Shakur.

Influences

Shakur's music and philosophy is rooted in many American, African-American, and World entities, including the Black Panther Party, Black nationalism, egalitarianism, and liberty. His debut album, 2Pacalypse Now, revealed the socially conscious side of Shakur. On this album, Shakur attacked social injustice, poverty and police brutality on songs "Brenda's Got a Baby", "Trapped" and "Part Time Mutha". His style on this album was highly influenced by the social consciousness and Afrocentrism pervading hip hop in the late 1980s and early 1990s. On this initial release, Shakur helped extend the success of such rap groups as Boogie Down Productions, Public Enemy, X-Clan, and Grandmaster Flash, as he became one of the first major socially conscious rappers from the West Coast.

On his second record, Shakur continued to rap about the social ills facing African-Americans, with songs like "The Streetz R Deathrow" and "Last Wordz". He also showed his compassionate side with the anthem "Keep Ya Head Up", while simultaneously putting his legendary aggressiveness on display with the title track from the album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. he added a salute to his former group Digital Underground by including them on the playful track "I Get Around". Throughout his career, an increasingly aggressive attitude can be seen pervading Shakur's subsequent albums.

The contradictory themes of social inequality and injustice, unbridled aggression, compassion, playfulness, and hope all continued to shape Shakur's work, as witnessed with the release of his incendiary 1995 album Me Against the World. In 1996, Shakur released All Eyez on Me. Many of these tracks are considered by many critics to be classics, including "Ambitionz Az a Ridah", "I Ain't Mad at Cha", "California Love", "Life Goes On" and "Picture Me Rollin'".; All Eyez on Me was a change of style from his earlier works. While still containing socially conscious songs and themes, Shakur's album was heavily influenced by party tracks and tended to have a more "feel good" vibe than his first albums. Shakur described it as a celebration of life, and the record was critically and commercially successful.

Personal life

Shakur was a voracious reader. He was inspired by a wide variety of writers, including William Shakespeare, Niccolò Machiavelli, Donald Goines, Sun Tzu, Kurt Vonnegut, Mikhail Bakunin, Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, and Khalil Gibran. In his book, Dyson describes the experience of visiting the home of Shakur's friend and promoter Leila Steinberg to find "the sea of books" once owned by Shakur.

Shakur never professed following a particular religion, but his lyrics in singles such as 'Only God Can Judge Me' and poems such as The Rose That Grew from Concrete suggests he believed in God. This means many analysts currently describe him as a deist. He believed in Karma, but rejected a literal afterlife and organized religion.


Legal issues

Even as he garnered attention as a rapper and actor, Shakur gained notoriety for his conflicts with the law:

In October 1991, he filed a $10 million civil suit against the law enforcement of the Oakland Police Department, alleging they brutally beat him for jaywalking.

In 1992, a Texas state trooper was killed by a teenager who was listening to 2Pacalypse Now which included songs about killing police. This caused a swirl of media controversy. Dan Quayle, the Vice President of the United States at the time, demanded that the album be withdrawn from music stores and media across the country; Interscope refused. Shakur claimed his first album was aimed at the problems facing young black males, but it was criticized for its graphic language and images of violence by and against law enforcement. Quayle publicly denounced the album as having "no place in our society."

On August 22, 1992, in Marin City, California, Shakur rapped at an outdoor festival, and stayed for an hour signing autographs and pictures. Some earlier negative remarks made by Shakur about Marin City had caught up and when arguments started, voices got loud; he pulled a Colt Mustang, cocked it, fumbled and it fell. Someone picked up the gun and a bullet discharged. Though nobody in the crowd was shot, about 100 yards away, 6-year-old Qa'id Walker-Teal rode a bicycle at a schoolyard and was hit in the forehead with a bullet that killed him. (Some sources reported that the child was the victim of a stray bullet in a shootout between Shakur's entourage and a rival group.) Shakur and Mopreme left in their car and were stopped by an angry mob, by chance, in front of a sheriff's substation. The police "rescued" them and took the two into custody, who were soon released without charge. In 1995, a wrongful death suit was brought against Shakur by Qa'id's mother. Ballistics tests proved the bullet that killed the boy was not from Shakur's or any members of his entourage's guns. No criminal charges were brought. Shakur's lawyer said that the festival was a "nasty situation," and Shakur was saddened by the death of the boy. Shakur's record company settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount, reportedly between $300,000 and $500,000.

In October 1993, in Atlanta, two brothers and off-duty police officers, Mark and Scott Whitwell, were with their wives celebrating Mrs. Whitwell's recent passing of the state bar examination. As they crossed the street, a car with Shakur inside passed by them or "almost struck them," after which the Whitwells began an altercation with the driver, Shakur and the other passengers, which was then joined by a second passing car. Shakur shot one officer in the buttocks, and the other in the leg, back, or abdomen, according to varying news reports. There were no other injuries, but Mark Whitwell was charged with firing at Shakur's car and later lying to the police during the investigation, and Shakur with the shooting, until prosecutors decided to drop all charges against all parties.

In November 1993, Shakur and others were charged with sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room. According to the complaint, Shakur sodomized the woman and then encouraged his friends to sexually abuse her. Shakur denied the charges. According to Shakur, he had prior relations days earlier with the woman; she performed oral sex on him on a club dance floor and the two later had consensual sex in his hotel room. The complainant claimed sexual assault after her second visit to Shakur's hotel room; she alleged that Shakur and his entourage gang banged her, and she said to Shakur when she left, "Why you let them do this to me?"Shakur claimed that he fell asleep shortly after the woman arrived and later awoke to her accusations and legal threats. In the ensuing trial, Shakur was convicted of sexual abuse. In sentencing Shakur to 1½–4½ years in prison, the judge described the crime as "an act of brutal violence against a helpless woman. After serving part of his sentence, Shakur was released on bail pending appeal. On April 5, 1996, a judge sentenced him to serve 120 days in jail for violating terms of his release on bail.

November 1994 shooting

On the night of November 30, 1994, the day before the verdict in his sexual abuse trial was to be announced, Shakur was shot five times and robbed after entering the lobby of Quad Recording Studios in Manhattan by two armed men in army fatigues. He would later accuse Sean Combs, Andre Harrell, and Biggie Smalls—whom he saw after the shooting—of setting him up. Shakur also suspected his close friend and associate, Randy "Stretch" Walker, of being involved in the attempt. According to the doctors at Bellevue Hospital, where he was admitted immediately following the incident, Shakur had received five bullet wounds; twice in the head, twice in the groin and once through the arm and thigh. He checked out of the hospital, against doctor's orders, three hours after surgery. In the day that followed, Shakur entered the courthouse in a wheelchair and was found guilty of three counts of molestation, but innocent of six others, including sodomy. On February 6, 1995, he was sentenced to one-and-a-half to four-and-a-half years in prison on a sexual assault charge.

A year later on November 30, 1995, Stretch was killed after being shot twice in the back by three men who pulled up alongside his green minivan at 112th Ave. and 209th St. in Queens Village, while he was driving. His minivan smashed into a tree and hit a parked car before flipping over.

On March 27, 2008, the Los Angeles Times issued an apology to Combs for blaming him for having a role in the November 1994 shooting. The article stated that Shakur was led to the studio by Biggie's associates to gun him down to make favor with Biggie. The newspaper relied on forged documents that The Smoking Gun proved to be faked. Combs stated that he was disgusted with the LA Times for printing the story.

On June 15, 2011, an inmate admitted to this shooting and robbery, claiming to have been hired to do so by James Rosemond, owner of Czar Entertainment.

Prison sentence

Shakur began serving his prison sentence at Clinton Correctional Facility on February 14, 1995. Shortly afterwards, he released his multi-platinum album Me Against the World. Shakur became the first artist ever to have an album at number one on the Billboard 200 while serving a prison sentence: the only other artist to have achieved this feat is fellow rapper Lil Wayne, whose album I Am Not a Human Being reached number one in 2010 whilst he was serving a nine-month prison term for criminal possession of a weapon. Me Against the World made its debut on the Billboard 200 and stayed at the top of the charts for four weeks. The album sold 240,000 copies in its first week, setting a record for highest first week sales for a solo male rap artist at the time. While serving his sentence, he married his long-time girlfriend, Keisha Morris, on April 4, 1995; the couple later divorced in 1996. While imprisoned, Shakur read many books by Niccolò Machiavelli, Sun Tzu's The Art of War and other works of political philosophy and strategy.He also wrote a screenplay titled Live 2 Tell while incarcerated, a story about an adolescent who becomes a drug baron.

In October 1995, Shakur's case was on appeal but due to all of his legal fees he could not raise the $1.4 million bail. During his time in jail prisoners were telling Shakur about the illuminati. After serving eleven months of his one-and-a-half year to four-and-a-half year sentence, Shakur was released from the Attica Correctional Facility due in large part to the help and influence of Suge Knight, the CEO of Death Row Records, who posted a $1.4 million bail pending appeal of the conviction in exchange for Shakur to release three albums under the Death Row label.



Death Row Records

Upon his release from Clinton Correctional Facility, Shakur immediately went back to song recording. He began a new group called Outlaw Immortalz. Shakur began recording his first album with Death Row and released the single "California Love" soon after. On February 13, 1996, Shakur released his fourth solo album, All Eyez on Me. This double album was the first and second of his three-album commitment to Death Row Records. It sold over nine million copies. The record was a general departure from the introspective subject matter of Me Against the World, being more oriented toward a thug and gangsta mentality. Shakur continued his recordings despite increasing problems at the Death Row label. Dr. Dre left his post as house producer to form his own label, Aftermath. Shakur continued to produce hundreds of tracks during his time at Death Row, most of which would be released on his posthumous albums R U Still Down? (Remember Me), Still I Rise, Until the End of Time, Better Dayz, Loyal to the Game and Pac's Life. He also began the process of recording an album with the Boot Camp Clik and their label Duck Down Records, both New York–based, entitled One Nation.

On June 4, 1996, he and Outlawz released the diss track "Hit 'Em Up", a scathing lyrical assault on Biggie and others associated with him. In the track, Shakur claimed to have had sexual intercourse with Faith Evans, Biggie's wife at the time, and attacks Bad Boy's street credibility. Though no hard evidence suggests so, Shakur was convinced that some members associated with Bad Boy had known about the '94 attack on him beforehand due to their behavior that night and what his sources told him. Shakur aligned himself with Suge, Death Row's CEO, who was already bitter toward Combs over a 1995 incident at the Platinum Club in Atlanta, Georgia, which culminated in the death of Suge's friend and bodyguard, Jake Robles; Suge was adamant in voicing his suspicions of Combs' involvement. Shakur's signing with Suge and Death Row added fuel to building an East Coast-West Coast conflict. Both sides remained bitter enemies until Shakur's death. On July 4, 1996, he performed live at the House of Blues with Outlawz, Tha Dogg Pound, and Snoop Doggy Dogg also headlining. This was Shakur's very last live performance.

While incarcerated in Clinton Correctional Facility, Shakur read and studied Niccolò Machiavelli and other published works, which inspired his pseudonym "Makaveli" under which he released the album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. The album presents a stark contrast to previous works. Throughout the album, Shakur continues to focus on the themes of pain and aggression, making this album one of the emotionally darker works of his career. Shakur wrote and recorded all the lyrics in only three days and the production took another four days, combining for a total of seven days to complete the album (hence the name). The album title has the word killuminati because Tupac wanted to kill the illuminati with his songs (hence the name).

Outlawz

On forming the Outlawz, Tupac gave each of them a name of a dictator/military leader or an enemy of America.
Yaki Kadafi, after Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi
Hussein Fatal, after Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein
Mussolini (formerly Big Syke), after Italian dictator Benito Mussolini
Komani (Shakur's half brother Mopreme), after Iranian Islamic Revolution leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
Kastro, after Cuban leader Fidel Castro
E.D.I. Mean, after Ugandan dictator Idi Amin
Napoleon, after French strategist Napoleon Bonaparte

For himself, Tupac created the alias "Makaveli" from Renaissance Italian philosopher and strategist Niccolo Machiavelli, whose writings inspired Shakur in prison, but who also preached that a leader could eliminate his enemies by all means necessary.

He mentioned Makaveli Records a few times before his death. This was supposed to be a music label for up and coming artists that Shakur had an interest in developing or potentially signing, and his own future projects would have also been published through it as well.



September 1996 shooting and death


On the night of September 7, 1996, Shakur attended the Mike Tyson–Bruce Seldon boxing match at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. After leaving the match, one of Suge's associates spotted 21-year-old Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson, a member of the Southside Crips, in the MGM Grand lobby and informed Shakur, who then attacked Anderson. Shakur's entourage, as well as Suge and his followers, assisted in assaulting Anderson. The fight was captured on the hotel's video surveillance. Earlier that year, Anderson and a group of Crips had robbed a member of Death Row's entourage in a Foot Locker store, precipitating Shakur's attack. After the brawl, Shakur went to rendezvous with Suge to go to Death Row-owned Club 662 (now known as restaurant/club Seven). He rode in Suge's 1996 black BMW 750iL sedan as part of a larger convoy including many in Shakur's entourage.

At 10:55 pm, while paused at a red light, Shakur rolled down his window and a photographer took his photograph. At around 11:00–11:05 pm, they were halted on Las Vegas Blvd. by Metro bicycle police for playing the car stereo too loud and not having license plates. The plates were then found in the trunk of Suge's car; they were released without being fined a few minutes later. At about 11:10 pm, while stopped at a red light at Flamingo Road near the intersection of Koval Lane in front of the Maxim Hotel, a vehicle occupied by two women pulled up on their left side. Shakur, who was standing up through the sunroof, exchanged words with the two women, and invited them to go to Club 662. At approximately 11:15 pm, a white, four-door, late-model Cadillac with an unknown number of occupants pulled up to the sedan's right side, rolled down one of the windows, and rapidly fired a volley of gunshots at Shakur; bullets hit him in the chest, pelvis, and his right hand and thigh. One of the rounds apparently ricocheted into Shakur's right lung. Suge was hit in the head by fragmentation, though it is thought that a bullet grazed him. According to Suge, a bullet from the gunfire had been lodged in his skull, but medical reports later contradicted this statement.

At the time of the drive-by Shakur's bodyguard was following behind in a vehicle belonging to Kidada Jones, Shakur's then-fiancée. The bodyguard, Frank Alexander, stated that when he was about to ride along with the rapper in Suge's car, Shakur asked him to drive Kidada Jones' car instead just in case they were too drunk and needed additional vehicles from Club 662 back to the hotel. Shortly after the assault, the bodyguard reported in his documentary, Before I Wake, that one of the convoy's cars drove off after the assailant but he never heard back from the occupants.

After arriving on the scene, police and paramedics took Suge and a mortally wounded Shakur to the University Medical Center. According to an interview with one of Shakur's closest friends the music video director Gobi, while at the hospital, he received news from a Death Row marketing employee that the shooters had called the record label and were sending death threats aimed at Shakur, claiming that they were going there to "finish him off". Upon hearing this, Gobi immediately alerted the Las Vegas police, but the police claimed they were understaffed and no one could be sent. Nonetheless, the shooters never arrived. At the hospital, Shakur was in and out of consciousness, was heavily sedated, breathed through a ventilator and respirator, was placed on life support machines, and was ultimately put under a barbiturate-induced coma after repeatedly trying to get out of the bed.

Despite having been resuscitated in a trauma center and surviving a multitude of surgeries (as well as the removal of a failed right lung), Shakur had gotten through the critical phase of the medical therapy and was given a 50% chance of pulling through.Gobi left the medical center after being informed that Shakur made a 13% recovery on the sixth night. While in the critical care unit on the afternoon of September 13, 1996, Shakur died of internal bleeding; doctors attempted to revive him but could not impede his hemorrhaging. His mother, Afeni, made the decision to tell the doctors to stop.He was pronounced dead at 4:03 pm (PDT) The official cause of death was noted as respiratory failure and cardiopulmonary arrest in connection with multiple gunshot wounds. Shakur's body was cremated and some of his ashes were later mixed with marijuana and smoked by members of the Outlawz.

Murder case

Due largely to a perceived lack of progress by law enforcement in the investigation of Shakur's murder, many independent investigations and theories emerged. Because of the acrimony between Shakur and Biggie (who was murdered in March 1997), there was speculation from the outset about the possibility of Biggie's involvement. Biggie, as well as his family, relatives, and associates, vehemently denied all such accusations. In 2002, the LA Times published a story by Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Chuck Philips, who claimed to have uncovered evidence implicating Biggie, in addition to Anderson and the Southside Crips, in the attack. Philips quoted unnamed gang-member sources who claimed Biggie had ties to the Crips, often hiring them for security during West Coast appearances, and that Biggie colluded with the Crips to murder Shakur. In 2008, after The Smoking Gun reported that the documents relied upon by Philips for his story were fraudulent, the LA Times printed an official front-page retraction of Philips' story. Less than five months later, Philips accepted a buyout and left the LA Times.

In support of their claims, Biggie's family submitted documentation to MTV suggesting that he was working in a New York recording studio the night of the drive-by shooting. His manager Wayne Barrow and fellow rapper James "Lil' Cease" Lloyd made public announcements denying Biggie's partaking in the crime and claimed further that they were both with him in the recording studio during the night of the event.

The high profile nature of the killing and ensuing gang violence caught the attention of English filmmaker Nick Broomfield, who made the documentary film Biggie & Tupac which examines the lack of progress in the case by speaking to those close to the two slain rappers and the investigation. Shakur's close childhood friend and member of Outlawz, Yafeu "Yaki Kadafi" Fula, was in the convoy when the drive-by occurred and indicated to police that he might be able to identify the assailants, however, he was shot and killed shortly thereafter in a housing project in Irvington.

A DVD titled Tupac: Assassination was released on October 23, 2007, more than eleven years after Shakur's murder. It explores aspects surrounding the event and provides fresh insights into the cold case with new details about the environment.

Legacy


At a Mobb Deep concert following the death of the famed icon and release of The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, Cormega recalled in an interview that the fans were all shouting "Makaveli," and emphasized the influence of The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory and of Shakur himself even in New York at the height of the media-dubbed 'intercoastal rivalry'. Tupac Shakur was also one of the few rappers that were paid a tribute during the Up in Smoke Tour that featured many west coast hip-hop artists.

Shakur is held in high esteem by other MCs – in the book How to Rap, Bishop Lamont notes that Shakur “mastered every element, every aspect” of rapping and Fredro Starr of Onyx says Shakur, "was a master of the flow." "Every rapper who grew up in the Nineties owes something to Tupac," wrote 50 Cent. "He didn't sound like anyone who came before him." About.com for their part named Shakur the most influential rapper ever.

To preserve Shakur's legacy, his mother founded the Shakur Family Foundation (later re-named the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation or TASF) in 1997. The TASF's stated mission is to "provide training and support for students who aspire to enhance their creative talents." The TASF sponsors essay contests, charity events, a performing arts day camp for teenagers and undergraduate scholarships. The Foundation officially opened the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts (TASCA) in Stone Mountain, Georgia, on June 11, 2005. On November 14, 2003, a documentary about Shakur entitled Tupac: Resurrection was released under the supervision of his mother and narrated entirely in his voice. It was nominated for Best Documentary in the 2005 Academy Awards. Proceeds will go to a charity set up by Shakur's mother Afeni. On April 17, 2003, Harvard University co-sponsored an academic symposium entitled "All Eyez on Me: Tupac Shakur and the Search for the Modern Folk Hero." The speakers discussed a wide range of topics dealing with Shakur's impact on everything from entertainment to sociology.

Many of the speakers discussed Shakur's status and public persona, including State University of New York at Buffalo English professor Mark Anthony Neal who gave the talk "Thug Nigga Intellectual: Tupac as Celebrity Gramscian" in which he argued that Shakur was an example of the "organic intellectual" expressing the concerns of a larger group. Professor Neal has also indicated in his writings that the death of Shakur has left a "leadership void amongst hip-hop artists." Neal further describes him as a "walking contradiction", a status that allowed him to "make being an intellectual accessible to ordinary people."

Professor of Communications Murray Forman, of Northeastern University, spoke of the mythical status about Shakur's life and death. He addressed the symbolism and mythology surrounding Shakur's death in his talk entitled "Tupac Shakur: O.G. (Ostensibly Gone)". Among his findings were that Shakur's fans have "succeeded in resurrecting Tupac as an ethereal life force." In "From Thug Life to Legend: Realization of a Black Folk Hero", Professor of Music at Northeastern University, Emmett Price, compared Shakur's public image to that of the trickster-figures of African-American folklore which gave rise to the urban "bad-man" persona of the post-slavery period. He ultimately described Shakur as a "prolific artist" who was "driven by a terrible sense of urgency" in a quest to "unify mind, body, and spirit".

Michael Eric Dyson, University of Pennsylvania Avalon Professor of Humanities and African American Studies and author of the book Holler If You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur indicated that Shakur "spoke with brilliance and insight as someone who bears witness to the pain of those who would never have his platform. He told the truth, even as he struggled with the fragments of his identity." At one Harvard Conference the theme was Shakur's impact on entertainment, race relations, politics and the "hero/martyr". In late 1997, the University of California, Berkeley offered a student-led course entitled "History 98: Poetry and History of Tupac Shakur."

In late 2003, the Makaveli Branded Clothing line was launched by Afeni. In 2005, Death Row released Tupac: Live at the House of Blues. The DVD was the final recorded performance of Shakur's career, which took place on July 4, 1996, and features a plethora of Death Row artists. In August 2006, Tupac Shakur Legacy was released. The interactive biography was written by Jamal Joseph. It features unseen family photographs, intimate stories, and over 20 removable reproductions of his handwritten song lyrics, contracts, scripts, poetry, and other personal papers. Shakur's sixth posthumous studio album, Pac's Life, was released on November 21, 2006. It commemorates the 10th anniversary of Shakur's death. He is still considered one of the most popular artists in the music industry as of 2006.

According to Forbes, in 2008 Shakur's estate made $15 million. In 2002, they recognized him as a Top Earning Dead celebrity coming in on number ten on their list.

Library of Congress

Shakur's hit song "Dear Mama" is one of 25 songs that was added to the National Recording Registry in 2010. The Library of Congress has called "Dear Mama" "a moving and eloquent homage to both the murdered rapper's own mother and all mothers struggling to maintain a family in the face of addiction, poverty and societal indifference." This honor comes seven days after his birthday, where the rapper would have been 39. Shakur is the third rapper to enter the library, behind Grandmaster Flash and Public Enemy.

Honors

In a 2005 Rolling Stones Magazine Vote, Tupac was named No.6 of the '100 immortal artists of all time' behind the likes of Elvis and Lennon.
MTV ranked him at No.2 on their list of The Greatest MCs of All Time.
Shakur was inducted into the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame in 2002.
Ranked No.3 on VH1's 50 Greatest Hip Hop Artists.
In 2003, MTV's "22 Greatest MCs" countdown listed Shakur as the "Number 1 MC", as voted by the viewers.
In 2004, at the VH1 Hip Hop Honors Shakur was honored along with DJ Hollywood, Kool DJ Herc, KRS-One, Public Enemy, Run-D.M.C., Rock Steady Crew, and Sugarhill Gang.
A Vibe magazine poll in 2004 rated Shakur "the greatest rapper of all time" as voted by fans
At the First Annual Turks & Caicos International Film Festival held on Tuesday, October 17, 2006, Shakur was honored for his undeniable voice and talent and as a performer who crossed racial, ethnic, cultural and medium lines; his mother accepted the award on his behalf.
In 2008, The National Association Of Recording Merchandisers in conjunction with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame recognized him as a very influential artist and has added him in their Definitive 200 list.
On Wednesday, June 23, 2010, Shakur was inducted to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry.
The seat of the Catholic Church released a list of 12 songs onto the social networking Web site's streaming music service. Among the artists included are Mozart, Muse and Dame Shirley Bassey; the list also includes Shakur's song "Changes", which was released two years after his shooting death on a greatest hits album in 1998.
His double album, All Eyez on Me, is one of the highest-selling rap albums of all time, with over 5 million copies of the album sold in the United States alone by April 1996; it was eventually certified 9x platinum in June 1998 by the RIAA

Discography

Studio albums 
1991    2Pacalypse Now
1993    Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z.
1994    Thug Life: Volume 1 (with Thug Life)
1995    Me Against the World
1996    All Eyez on Me
1996    The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory

Posthumous albums
1997    R U Still Down? (Remember Me)
1998    Greatest Hits
1999    Still I Rise (with the Outlawz)
2001    Until the End of Time
2002    Better Dayz
2003    Tupac Resurrection
2004    Loyal to the Game
2006    Pac's Life


Film
Acting career

In addition to rapping and hip hop music, Shakur acted in films. He made his first film appearance in the motion picture Nothing But Trouble, as part of a cameo by the Digital Underground. His first starring role was in the film Juice. In this story, he played the character Bishop, a trigger happy teen, for which he was hailed by Rolling Stone's Peter Travers as "the film's most magnetic figure." He went on to star with Janet Jackson in Poetic Justice (for which he was nominated outstanding actor in 1994, but did not win) and with Duane Martin in Above the Rim. After his death, three of Shakur's completed films, Bullet, Gridlock'd and Gang Related, were released.

He had also been slated to star in the Hughes brothers' film Menace II Society but was replaced by Larenz Tate after assaulting Allen Hughes as a result of a quarrel. Director John Singleton mentioned that he wrote the script for Baby Boy with Shakur in mind for the leading role. It was eventually filmed with Tyrese Gibson in his place and released in 2001, five years after Shakur's death. The film features a mural of Shakur in the protagonist's bedroom as well as featuring the song "Hail Mary" in the film's score.

Filmography
1991 Nothing But Trouble Himself (Brief appearance)
1992 Juice Bishop First starring role
1992 Drexell's Class Himself Season 1: "Cruisin'"
1993 A Different World Piccolo Season 6: "Homie, Don't You Know Me?"
1993 Poetic Justice Lucky Co-starred with Janet Jackson
1993 In Living Color Himself Season 5: "Ike Turner and Hooch"
1994 Above the Rim Birdie Co-starred with Duane Martin
1995 Murder Was the Case: The Movie Himself (Uncredited)
1996 Bullet Tank Released one month after Shakur's death
1997 Gridlock'd Ezekiel 'Spoon' Whitmore Released several months after Shakur's death
1997 Gang Related Detective Rodríguez Shakur's last performance in a film
2003 Tupac: Resurrection Himself Official documentary film
2009 Notorious Himself (archive footage) Portrayed by Anthony Mackie
2011/2012 Tupac Himself (archive footage) The official biographical motion picture of Tupac Shakur.
The film is currently being filmed.
20?? Live 2 Tell Screenwriter (Written in 1995)

Documentaries

Shakur's life has been recognized in big and small documentaries each trying capture the many different events during his short lifetime, most notably the Academy Award–nominated Tupac: Resurrection, released in 2003.
1997: Tupac Shakur: Thug Immortal
1997: Tupac Shakur: Words Never Die (TV)
2001: Tupac Shakur: Before I Wake...
2001: Welcome to Deathrow
2002: Tupac Shakur: Thug Angel
2002: Biggie & Tupac
2002: Tha Westside
2003: 2Pac 4 Ever
2003: Tupac: Resurrection
2004: Tupac vs.
2004: Tupac: The Hip Hop Genius (TV)
2006: So Many Years, So Many Tears
2007: Tupac: Assassination
2009: Tupac: Assassination II: Reckoning


 Official website


Quotes from Speeches
First, I wanna say 'Peace to my mother. She's not here but I gotta give a 'peace out' to her because I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my mother.

second -Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Atlanta, 1992
It's not going to stop until "we" stop it. And it's not just white man that's doing this to Brenda. It's not just white man that's keeping us trapped. It's "black." And we have to find the new African in everybody... But before we can be African, we gotta be black first.

-Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Atlanta, 1992
What I want you to take seriously is what we have to do for the youth.

-Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Atlanta, 1992
You grew up, we grew up B.C. Before crack. That's just saying it all. You understand? You don't have parents... You have young kids, fourteen, coming home and their mama is smoking out, going to their best friend to get the product.

-Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Atlanta, 1992.
It's not just about you taking care of "your" child. It's about you taking care of these children.

-Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Atlanta, 1992 First, wanna say 'Peace to my mother. She's not here but I gotta give a 'peace out' to her because I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my mother. And I look in the front of this thing and it says start from within to rebuild our original greatness. Right? Ok well that’s what my mother did. You know what im sayin. And im listen about freedom fighters and strugglers. Well you got to understand when it was 'in' to have a gun and be in the streets, my mother gave that up to be in a house and wash the dishes and feed us. You know what im sayin? And put the thoughts in our brain. We didn’t get any of that history from all of those soldiers that we lost. We got none of that. They all went to jail if you can remember that. They all went to penetentiaries. We didnt see none of that knowledge. If it was not for my mother that stayed home and didn’t go out and do all that. Then I wouldn’t have shit. Excuse my language. But I wouldn’t have been no were. So what I want to do hopefully is. I want to be.. not I want to be I am Tupac Shakur. I have to be a reminder that we cant chill out. No it not time cool out in banquets. its still on. Its on just like it was on when u were young and u wana say fuck dat. Just like u said fuck dat back then. So how come now that im 20 years old and ready to start some shit everybody telling me to calm down. don’t cursem go to school go to college. Well fuck dat. We have had colleges for awhile now. U know what im sayin? Their still Brenda’s out there and niggas are still trapped. You know what im sayin? And it gets me.. irked. U know what im sayin? Cuz I understand that its not going to stop. U know what im sayin? It's not going to stop until we stop it. And it's not just white man that's doing this to Brenda. It's not just white man that's keeping us trapped. It's "black." And we have to find the new African in everybody, in all of us... Cuz if we keep runnin around lookin for black and who got the most colors on or who got the baddest dashiki we still gonna excuse my language we still gonna get fucked. Because it hurts me my mother right now is going though um you know, she has to get clean. This is somebody I watched travel the whole country. U know what im sayin? During the time when our women were scared to speck up. But a black panther she spoke at Harvard, Yale, everywhere and now. I see my mother as whats really going on. U know what im sayin? I don’t see no big parade around my mother now. She got a dozen fuckin awards. And I don’t see nobody there. U understand what im sayin? So out of this I take that lightly I take all this lightly. What I want you to take seriously, is what we have to do for the youth. Because we coming up in a totally different world. This is not the same world that you had this is not 6th street its not. You grew up, we grew up B.C. Before crack. That's just saying it all. You understand? We did not grow up without parents. You had parents that told you this and that and told you what went on back in the day. You have young kids, fourteen, coming home and their mama is smoking out, going to their best friend to get the product. U understand what im sayin? So that means It's not just about you taking care of "your" child. It's about you taking care of "these children." It hurts that i gotta, um, it bothers me, not hurts, that i have to sidestep my youth to stand up and do some shit that somebody else suppose to be doin. U understand what im sayin? There's too many men out here for me to be doing this, cuz it aint my turn yet. Im suppose to be followin behind him gettin the knowledge. I dont even got a chance to get the fuckin knowledge. I cant go to college. There's too much problems out here. I don't got the money. Nobody do. U understand what im sayin? So what im sayin is it's not as easy as we mappin it out to be. We gotta stay real. Before we can be new african we gotta be black first. You understand, we gotta get our brothers from the streets like Harriett Tubman did. Why cant we look at that and see exactly what she was doing? Like Malcolm did, the real Malcolm, before the nation of Islam. You gotta remember, this was a pimp. You know what im sayin, we forgot about all that. In our strive to be enlightened we forgot about all our brothers in the street, about all our dope dealers, our pushers and our pimps, and thats whos teachin the new generation, cuz y'all not doin it, I'm sorry. But it's the pimps and pushers who's teachin us. So if you got a problem with how we was raised, its coz they was the only ones who could do it. They the only ones who did it, cuz everybody else wanted to go to college and you know, yeah everything's changed, they was the ones tellin you 'the white man aint shit, there you go, check this out young blood, you take this product, you switch it, you get money and thats how u beat the white man, you get money, you get the hell up out of here. nobody else did that. So i dont wanna hear shit about nobody tellin me who i cant love and respect until you start doin what they did. To me, this is Mecca. This is the black family. You know what im sayin? But what makes it that much sadder, what makes me wanna cry, is that when i leave this place, so does Mecca. You understand what im sayin? We goin back to the real deal. Right out there, you gon' see the same sisters and Brenda, they're right out there, and y'all gon' get in your cars and drive the fuck home."


Quotes from Interviews
Everybody's at war with different things… I'm at war with my own heart sometimes.

—Vibe magazine interview (February 1996)
All good niggas, all the niggas who change the world, die in violence. They don't die in regular ways.

—'Details magazine interview (Spring 1996)
It's not like I idolize this one guy Machiavelli. I idolize that type of thinking where you do whatever's gonna make you achieve your goal.

—Vibe magazine (September 1996)
This new Makaveli album I got comin' out, I'm takin' on niggas. It's like, my dopest album ever.

—'Vibe magazine (September 1996)
I am the future of black America.

—Vibe magazine (September 1996)
Fuck it, I feel like I shine.

—Vibe magazine (September 1996)
On the whole, I don't have any friends. Friends come and go; I've lost my trust factor. I believe I have people who think they're my friend. And I believe that there are people probably in their heart who are friends toward me or are friends to me. But they're not my friends, because what I learned is that fear is stronger than love.

—'Vibe magazine (June 1996)
It says "I really got my ass beat. I really don't like police. -Policeman questioning Tupac
It doesn't say that. Where are you at? Right there... oh. I didn't say that. That's not what it says. -Tupac
Okay. -Policeman
It says, 'I'm a victim for real. Everything I talk is for real. I really got my ass beat. I really don't like them... I really don't like crooked police.

-Interrogation in prison (1995)
To dance with the naked [blow-up] doll, that was me! That's what I mean by I'm real, I'm truly hardcore, because I needed the money and I had to work. So if he told me that for me to get paid I had to go out there in bikini briefs and hop on top of this [blow-up] doll and that's how I gotta get paid, and I was homeless at the time, that's what I had to do. But What I did was not let him pimp me, you know what I'm saying. It wasn't like I just did that because that was my order. As soon as I got the check's to say what was on my mind, I said what was on my mind. And we have a platinum record now, you know what I'm saying.

-MTV Interview (1994)
You have to work from one point to go to another. So I admire work ethic, I think it should be re-inforced through out our neigbourhoods, that everybody should work hard, practice makes perfect, you have to be diligent with what you want, you have to apply your self, you have to motivate your self. You have to do for-self by your self, and then you can do things for other people. But that's what I had to do, I had to do for-self.

-MTV Interview (1994)
I want, when they see me, They know that everyday when I'm breathing is for us to go further. Everytime I speak I want the truth to come out. Everytime I speak I want a shiver. I don't want them to be like they know what I'm gonna say because it's polite. Im not saying I'm gonna rule the world or I'm gonna change the world, but I guarantee you that I will spark the brain that will change the world. And that's our job, It's to spark somebody else whatching us. We might not be the one's, but let's not be selfish and because we not gonna change the world let's not talk about how we should change it. I don't know how to change it, but I know if I keep talking about how dirty it is out here, somebody's gonna clean it up.

-MTV Interview (1994)
I gotta big mouth, I can't help it, I talk from my heart, I'm real you know what im sayin whatever comes comes. But my controverse problems, It's not my fault, I try to find my way in the world you know, I try to be somebody instead of just, make money off of everybody. You know what im saying, so I go down paths that haven't been traveled before and I usually mess up, but I learn, you know what I'm saying, I come back stronger, I'm not talking ignorant, you know what I'm saying. So obviously put thought into what I do. So I think my mouth, my controverse, I have not been out of the paper since I joined Digital Underground, I've been in all, you know what I'm saying, my name has not been not uttered, you know what I'm saying, and that's good for me because I don't wanna be forgotten. If I'm forgotten then that means I'm comfortable and that means I think everything is okay.

-MTV Interview (1994)


It's like a battle tryin to find the right words to say at the right time.

-Ed Gordon Interview (1994)
It's a constant man-ego-check going on in the streets, in this world.

-Ed Gordon Interview (1994)
I believe honestly that I can talk. I believe that I have the ability to reason, I have logic, I have compassion, I have understanding. If we talk there's no problem you know what I'm saying. But that's not what happened. People used what they heard in media and that's how they come at me, and then you know we got a clash.

-Ed Gordon Interview (1994)
If your not cheering for me, for what I'm doing, don't cheer for me. Don't cheer cause you think I'm cute, you know what I'm saying, screw that. Cheer for me for what I'm doing, for what I stand for, and when I go to jail you should cheer louder.

-Ed Gordon Interview (1994)
I have no patience for anybody that doubts me, non at all.

-Ed Gordon Interview (1994)
I'm not thuggin' for me, I'm thuggin' for my family, I pay all the bills, I feed my whole family, wrong or right, I do and I can't stop.

-Ed Gordon Interview (1994)
The main thing for us to remember is that, the same crime element that white people are scared of, black people are scared of. The same crime element that white people fear, black people fear. So we defend our self from the same crime element that they are scared of, you know what I'm saying, while they are waiting for legislations to pass and everything, we're next door to the killer, we're next door to him you know. Because we up in the projects where it's 80 niggaz in the building. All them killers that they letting out, they're right there in that building. Just because we're black we get along with the killers or something? We get along with rapist's because we're black and from the same hood? What is that? We need protection too.

-Ed Gordon Interview (1994)
I made a metamorphose, I'm a new person today, because I used to strongly and honestly, honestly! I feel like I can represent my generation so much because I honestly did not care whether I lived or died. But now I can not die, with people thinking I'm a rapist or a criminal, I can not leave until this shit is straight, you know I'm not suicidal. I can't go until ya'll really know what time it is. And then after that, BOOM!, It's all over and we can see how this shit fall, but that's how it is, and the reason being is because if I can't live free, if I can't live with the same respect as the next man, I don't wanna be here, because god has cursed me to see what life should be like, If God wanted me to be this person and be happy here, he wouldn't let me feel so oppressed, he wouldn't let me feel so trampled on, you know what I'm saying, he wouldn't let me think the things I think. So I feel I'm doing Gods work, you know what I'm saying just because I don't have nothing to pass around for people to put money in a bucket don't mean I ain't doing Gods work.

-Ed Gordon Interview (1994)
The only way I've been practicing my whole life, to live my life is to be responsible for what I do. I don't know how to be responsible for what every black male did, I don't know. And yes, I am gonna say that I'm a thug, that's because I came from the gutter and I'm still here.

I'm not saying I'm a thug because I wanna rob you or rape people and things. I'm a business man, I mean you know I'm a business man because you find me at my places of buisness.

-Interview outside of court (1994)
It's not my liking for guns, what about the N.R.A? We all have the rights to bare arms, I have that, I have that same right as you do. Just because I'm black doesn't mean I shouldn't have a gun. I legally own guns.

-Interview outside of court (1994)
Basically It's a hypocritical view, because what your saying is it's okay for us to live in the dirt, in the gutter, in less than human conditions, but it's not okay for us to tell people that we are living in these conditions.

-Interview inside of Deathrow office (1996)
I've always been an actor, the reason I've been successful in the rapgame I think is that I treat my albums like movies, and I treat writing it like I'm a character writing a story, you know, for each album whatever I'm going through, whatever stages I'm going through, and I do it vividly with vivid pitcures, with action and description, and an beginning and with an end, and conflict, and you know, redemption, things like that. So I feel like I always been an actor and acting is my first love.

-Interview on the set "Gridlock'd" (1996)
If you thought about it I'm hardly the villian, I'm hardly the one you should be scared of. It's the guy who can't talk, it's the guy without a job, it's the one with scares in his face, not the one clean cut, you know what I mean you should worry about a lot of other things, but not me.

-Interview on the set "Gridlock'd" (1996)


I can't explain why I shine and no one else shines. I think everybody shines in different things.

-Interview on the set "Bullet" (1996)
The reason I sell 6 million records, the reason I could go to jail and come out without a scratch, the reason I can walk around, the reason I am who I am today is because I can look directly in to my face and find my soul, it's there, it's not sold, i didn't sell it, it's still within me, I still feel it, my heart is still connected to my body.

-Interview on the set "Bullet" (1996)


I know how it's gonna be when I die, it's gonna be no noise, you ain't gonna hear people screamin, I'mma fade out.

-MTV Interview, by Tabitha Soren (1995)
Marlon Brando is not a gangsta' actor, he's an actor. Axl Rose and them are not gangsta' rock n rollers, they're rock n rollers right. So I'm a rapper, this is what I do, I'm an artist.

-MTV Interview, by Tabitha Soren (1995)
I think being humble is sexy.

-MTV Interview, by Tabitha Soren (1995)
I think that I'm really, I was a reactionary, and now I don't do that any more. Same person but I don't react, before I reacted, I didn't like the cameras, I spitt.

-MTV Interview, by Tabitha Soren (1995)
I'm known as a survivor now, I hope so, for the jail thing, bullets and everything, controversies and everything, I hope so. And I wanna be in the future known as somebody.. You know I want people to be talking about me like you know: " remember when he was real bad, remember when Tupac was real bad". You know what I mean, they do that about a lot of actors now, like John Travolta I read stories like "remember you were wild". And all these other people, and now they're like sweet hearts. We all should get that chance, I just want my chance.

-MTV Interview, by Tabitha Soren (1995)


Jail is big buisness, believe me I'm in jail I see the big buisness. You can feed a whole town off one jail, this jail is in the middle of a town that feeds everybody. Everybody works here, this is the main income. So if there were no criminals, nobody would work.

-Interview in jail (1995)
The guns are turning away from Europe and Russia and Iran and Iraq and there turning to us.

-Interview in jail (1995)
America is the biggest gang in the world.

-Interview in jail (1995)
Prison kills your spirit, straight up, it kills your spirit, there is no creativity, there's non of that.

-Interview in jail (1995)
Now if we do wanna live the thug life and the gangsta' life and all that, OK, so stop being cowards and let's have a revolution. But we don't wanna do that, dudes just wanna live "character", they wanna be "cartoons", but if they really wanted to do something, they was that tuff, alright, let's start our own country, let's start a revolution, let's get outta' here, let's do something. But they don't wanna do that, they wanna pimp our communities and portray this image that they know we all can't survive and make, and that's what I saw.

-Interview in jail (1995)
No matter what these people say about me, my music does not glorifie any image, my music is spiritual if you listen to it. It's all about emotion, it's all about life.

-Interview in jail (1995)
Watch people, because you can fake for a long time, but one day you're gonna show your self to be a fony.

-Interview in jail (1995)
Measure a man by his actions fully, from the beginning to the end. Don't take a piece out of my life or a song out of my music and say this is what I'm about, because you know better than that.

-Interview in jail (1995)
I don't feel like what I did was so evil, I just feel like the way I was living and my mentality was a part of my progression to be a man.

-Interview in jail (1995)
Don't support the fonys, support the real.

-Interview in jail (1995)
Listen to the words people say in their lyrics, and tell me, if that's some real shit, if that's real to you, you know what I mean. Listen to what they sayin', don't just bob your head to the beat, peep the game, and listen to what Im saying. Hold us accountable for it.

-Interview in jail (1995)
Trust nobody, TRUST NO BODY.

-Interview in jail (1995)
Fear is stronger than love, remember that. Fear is stronger than love, all that love I gave didn't mean nothing when it came to fear.

-Interview in jail (1995)
The only thing that can kill me is death, that's the only thing that can ever stop me, is death, and even then my music will live forever.

-Interview in jail (1995)


Tupac: Resurrection
Some people say I was a thug and a gangsta. Other people remember me as a poet and a born leader. But I'm saying to you measure a man by his actions fully, through his whole life, from the beginning to the end.
Remember, this country had a man named J. Edgar Hoover, whose job it was to destroy the credibility of any black man coming up.
My mother was pregnant with me while she was in prison. She was her own attorney, never been to law school. She was facing 300 and something odd years. One black woman, pregnant, beat the case. That just goes to show you the strength of a black woman and the strength of the oppressed.
When I was a little baby, I remember that one moment of calm peace, and three minutes after that, it was on.
But in my homeboys' high school, it's not like that. They don't have trips to go see this Broadway play, they don't read things we read. They didn't know when I was like: "Yo, Shakespeare's dope."
The same crime element that white people are scared of black people are scared of. While they waiting for legislation to pass, we next door to the killer. All them killers they let out, they're in that building. Just because we black, we get along with the killers? What is that? We need protection too.
You have to be logical. You know? If I know that in this hotel room they have food every day, and I'm knocking on the door every day to eat, and they open the door, let me see the party, let me see them throwing salami all over, I mean, just throwing food around, but they're telling me there's no food.
Every day, I'm standing outside trying to sing my way in:

We are hungry, please let us in We are hungry, please let us in

After about a week that song is gonna change to: We hungry, we need some food

After two, three weeks, it's like: Give me the food Or I'm breaking down the door

After a year you're just like: I'm picking the lock Coming through the door blasting

It's like, you hungry, you reached your level. We asked ten years ago. We was asking with the Panthers. We was asking with them, the Civil Rights Movement. We was asking. Those people that asked are dead and in jail. So now what do you think we're gonna do? Ask?
No, you don't wanna get me started. Jell-O with hair all in the mold. I'd be like, "Damn, man, how are you gonna mess up Jell-O?" Jell-O is so wholesome and family-like. It just ruins it for me. To have a hair in there, yeah. I mean, I'm like, "Come on, Bill Cosby pumps this, man!"
And you can't go, "There's a hair in my Jell-O. I'd like to send this back. Can I see the cook, please?" The cook is a big dude named Bubba Joe.
I got shot. I always felt like I'd be shot. Somebody was trying to do me some harm because a lot of people don't like me. But I didn't think it was gonna happen at that particular moment.
Niggers was the ones with the rope, hanging off trees; Niggas are the ones with gold ropes, hanging out at clubs.
Measure a man by his actions fully, through his whole life, from the beginning to the end.
Coming to grips with my past, it was hard. I don't feel like what I did was so evil, I just feel like the way I was living, and my mentality, was part of my progression to be a man.
I'm not saying I'm gonna change the world, but I guarantee that I will spark the brain that will change the world.
You grow, we all grow, we're made to grow. You either evolve or disappear.
Keep ya head up. Do what you gotta do. And then, inside of you, I will be reborn.
 
Sourced Lyrics
The real tragedy is that there are some ignorant brothers out here. That's why I'm not on this all-White or all Black shit. I'm on this all-real or all fake shit with people, whatever color you are. Because niggaz will do you. I mean, there's some [foul] niggaz out there [in the streets]; the same niggaz that did Malcolm X, the same niggaz that did Jesus Christ- every brother ain't a brother. They will do you. So just because it's Black, don't mean it's cool. And just because it's White don't mean it's evil. (From Interview with Tupac)


Unsourced
When I speak, I want my words to mean something. I want my words to make people shiver.

—Interview (1994)
Can't nobody touch me right now. Maybe next month all of this will be over, but this month I'm takin' every moving target out.

—'two weeks before his death
Everybody that was involved knows what happened [...] and everything is there. [...] Just read everything over, and read my reply, read their reply, read what people say, watch people, cuz you can fake for a long time but one day you gonna show yourself to be a phony [...] think back, think of all the people that you've seen me put on stage, think of all the people I've put on, that I got into this game, that I show how to do this, and think about what they're saying now. That's not keeping it real.

—'in prison, 1995, on who shot him up
I believe that everything that you do bad comes back to you. So everything that I do that's bad, I'm going to suffer from it. But in my mind, I believe what I'm doing is right. So I feel like I'm going to heaven.
I feel like our future is our confidence and self-esteem..
I swear, if they hadn't tried to ruin me, I never would have ended up being a rapper. I probably would have been a preacher or something.
I think the old should go through school again. I think that rich people should live like poor people, and poor people should live like rich people, and change every week.

(Tupac Ressurrection)
I'm not saying I'm gonna change the world, but I guarantee that I will spark the brain that will change the world.

(Tupac Ressurection)
I'm one-hundred percent original, and that's what got me here. My rap music is more understandable, slower. It tells a story. You can write a book on each of my thoughts.
If I could patent "being real", I think I could own that.
If it don't make dollars it don't make sense.
In my death, people will understand what I was talking about.
June 16, 1971, mama gave birth to a Hell raising heavenly son.

(Cradle to the Grave, Thug Life Album)
My first words was thug for life and papa pass the mack.

(Cradle to the Grave, Thug Life Album)
My Mama used to tell me if you can't find something to live for, you best find something to die for.

(Some 2 Die 4, Stricly 4 my N.I.G.G.A.Z)
Reality is wrong. Dreams are for real.
The only thing that comes to a sleeping man is dreams.
The reason why I could get into acting was because it takes nothing to get out of who I am and go into somebody else.
We look at death from the selfish side, like: "That guy died. Oh, it's so sad." Why is it sad? He's away from all of this bad stuff that's here on Earth. I mean, at the worst, he's just somewhere quiet, no nothing. At best, he's an angel… or he's a spirit somewhere. What is so bad about that?

(Tupac Ressurection)
We talk a lot about Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., but it's time to be like them, as strong as them. They were mortal men like us and everyone of us can be like them. I don't want to be a role model. I just want to be someone who says, this is who I am, this is what I do. I say what's on my mind.
What is fame? Everybody knows your name: never again are you alone.

(The Rose that grew from the Concrete book)
Wars come and go, but my soldiers stay eternal.
The only crime I been convicted of is fighting; getting into a fight with my fears.
Dont get it twisted this is not my real life, this is not how my real life is suppose to be.
Look, I am selling records. This is what I do for a living. I am selling records. I never thought it was going to be a matter of life and death.
I'm not saying I'm gonna rule the world but if I keep talking about how dirty it is, someone will have to clean it up.
I live the life of a thug, Live it and Die for it!
But my nigga from the other side of the globe knows all my theories, i dedicate all this drama to you (Oumar Camara a.k.a Paparesta)
T.H.U.G.L.I.F.E stands for The Hate U Give Lil Infants Fucks Everybody
M.O.B. stands for Money Over Bitches, Member of Blood, or The Mob.

(M.O.B, Until The End of Time)
N.I.G.G.A stands for Never Ignorant about Getting Goals Accomplished or No Ignorance Got Goals Accomplished

(Words of Wisdom, 2pacalypse Now!)
During your life, never stop dreaming. No one can take away your dreams.
Everybody against me. Why? Why me? I have not brought violence to you. I have not brought Thug Life to America. I didn't create Thug Life. I diagnosed it.
I think I'm a natural-born leader. I know how to bow down to authority if it's authority that I respect.
I don’t see myself being special; I just see myself having more responsibilities than the next man. People look to me to do things for them, to have answers.
I know what good morals are, but you're supposed to disregard good morals when you're living in a crazy, bad world. If you're in hell, how can you live like an angel? You're surrounded by devils,trying to be an angel? That's like suicide.
It seems like every time you come up something happens to bring you back down.
No matter what these people say about me, my music doesn't glorify any image. My music is spiritual when you listen to it. It's all about emotion, I tell my innermost, darkest secrets.
All I’m trying to do is survive and make good out of the dirty, nasty, unbelievable lifestyle that they gave me.
Out of anger comes controversy, out of controversy comes conversation, out of conversation comes action.
Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside while still alive. Never surrender.
You can spend minutes, hours, days, weeks, or even months over-analyzing a situation; trying to put the pieces together, justifying what could've, would've happened... or you can just leave the pieces on the floor and move the fuck on.

(Someone else will have to move my unsourced edits to the right place)
 

Discography
2Pacalypse Now (1991)
Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z (1993)
Thug Life: Thug Life Vol. 1 (1994)
Me Against the World (1995)
All Eyez on Me (1996)
Makaveli: The Don Killuminati: 7 Day Theory (1996)
R U Still Down? (1997)
2Pac's Greatest Hits (1998)
Still I Rise (2Pac + Outlawz) (1999)
The Lost Tapes (1989/released 2000)
The Rose that Grew from Concrete (2000)
Until the End of Time (2001)
Better Dayz (2002)
Tupac Resurrection (2003)
Nu-Mixx Klazzics (2003)
2Pac Live (2004)
Loyal to the Game (2004)
The Rose Vol. 2 (2005)
Live At The House Of Blues (with Outlawz, Dogg Pound, Snoop Dogg, K-Ci & JoJo) (2005)
Pac's Life (2006)
Greatest Hits Vol 1:Thug and Vol 2:Life (2007)
Pac's Life 2 (2010)

Forever ♥