Tupac - September 2022

100 Pages·2022·95.2 MB·English

TUPAC SHAKUR
CONTENTS
DRIVING FORCES
Eight months before his
murder, Tupac Shakur
attended the 1996 American
Music Awards in Los Angeles
alongside fellow West Coast
rapper Snoop Dogg.
04. AGAINST ALL ODDS
There has never been another rapper like Tupac
Amaru Shakur, an artist of his time—and ahead of it
16. HIP-HOP IS BORN
The most dominant category of music in America
today began at a party in the Bronx in 1973
26. BIRTH OF A LEGEND
Raised by a drug-addicted single mother, Tupac’s
early life was humble, and also intense
36. 2PACALYPSE NOW
From his first album, it was clear that Tupac had
arrived with something important to say
46. LIVING DANGEROUSLY
At the peak of his fame, Tupac was regularly
surrounded by violence, mayhem and trouble
56. TUPAC ON FILM
His indelible and magnetic performances on-screen
showed how Tupac’s career might have evolved
66. TUPAC AND BIGGIE
The biggest names in hip-hop had much in common,
but it couldn’t prevent one of music’s fiercest feuds
76. ME AGAINST THE WORLD
Tupac’s third album came out when he was still in
prison—and is considered one of his greatest
86. THE END
Tupac’s death was unsurprising—and his legacy is
ultimately unsatisfying
2 THE STORY OF TUPAC SHAKUR
“ Pac proved we ain’t
just a character out of
someone else’s storybook.
To be human is to be
many things at once.”
INTRODUCTION
SELF-CONTRADICTION
Tupac loathed violence,
especially gun violence in
the Black community. But
that did not keep him from
seemingly celebrating it in
his music.
AGAINST ALL ODDS
An artist of his time—and ahead of it
T
upac Shakur is remembered as many Perhaps the best explanation for the powerful,
things. He was, and still is, one of hip- clashing forces in Tupac Shakur’s life is that despite
hop’s most successful and influential being a leader and legend, he was just 25 years old
artists, with more than 75 million when he died. We never got the chance to find out
records sold worldwide. But his story was how he might mature and make peace with the world
also a sad one—his life ended as a victim around him—or himself. This tragedy, of course, is
of violence, which he simultaneously compounded by the fact that society continues to
criticized and glamorized for an entire grapple with most of the issues that Tupac had the
generation of fans. courage to face and the talent to express. That’s why
He was a complex contradiction. so many people still turn to his work today, not as a
Philosophically, he deplored the impact of guns nostalgic escape, but as a release of deep frustration
on Black Americans. He hoped future generations and yearning.
might be spared, but he also fed the hate machine In music, it’s fashionable for fans to say that their
with music and messages that some felt was a heroes are still fresh. More often than not, it’s
celebration. He tried to bring peace and understanding untrue. The rebellion of 1950s rock now sounds
to two factions at war, but also took sides and stodgy to young listeners. The hope of some ’60s
retaliated without mercy. He celebrated women— classics comes off as naive. Tupac Shakur is unique
his mother was his role model—yet he was found as an artist. His message and style—as well as the
guilty of sexual abuse. He was exceedingly bookish, story of his life—is still not dated, despite being
with friends who said he had the heart of a scholar, decades old. Unfortunately, what makes him so
though he never graduated from high school. timeless is tragedy.
4 THE STORY OF TUPAC SHAKUR
THE STORY OF TUPAC SHAKUR 5
INTRODUCTION
SIGN OF THE TIMES MATCHED PAIR
Snoop Dogg (below, left) Janet Jackson (near right)
and Tupac attend the 1996 was an unabashed fan of her
MTV Video Music Awards in co-star in director John
New York City, three days Singleton’s 1993 movie,
before Tupac was killed in a Poetic Justice. The film let
drive-by shooting in Vegas. Tupac show his softer side.
6 THE STORY OF TUPAC SHAKUR
“
He also had another
side to him where he
was fun and silly, and he
used to call me ‘square’
all the time. ”
THE STORY OF TUPAC SHAKUR 7
KISS AND MAKEUP
Tupac was such a crossover
star that he introduced KISS
at the 1996 Grammy Awards.
“These my homeboys,” he
said. “And I seen just about
everything now.”
8