Shakur, Tupac Amaru

Shakur, Tupac Amaru, 1971-1996, African-American rap artist, composer, and actor, b. New York, N.Y., as Lesane Parish Crooks. Tupac’s mother was a member of the Black Panthers, and renamed him Túpac Amaru II when he was an infant, in honor of the last Incan ruler who led a failed revolt against Spanish rule. When he was 13 years old, the family relocated to Baltimore, where he attended the Baltimore School of the Arts. He completed high school in Marin City, California, when the family relocated there in 1988. He began rapping in 1989 using the stage name MC New York, attracting the attention of the manager of the rap group, Digital Underground. He made his recording debut rapping with that group in 1991 under the name of 2Pac; that same year he released his debut solo album, 2Pacalypse Now, with songs like "If My Homie Calls" and "Brenda’s Got a Baby" establishing him as a political voice. His second album, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z…. (1993) represented his commercial breakthrough, with the party anthem "I Get Around" (#11, pop) and "Keep Ya Head Up" addressing women’s empowerment; the rest of the album focused on darker social issues. Later that year, he formed the group Thug Life, which released a single album in 1994. 2Pac’s third album, Me Against the World (1995), is considered his best work; it sold nearly a quarter-million copies in its first week of release, breaking previous records for a rap recording. It included the hits "Dear Mama" (#1 hot rap singles, #9 pop) and "So Many Tears" (#6 rap, #44 pop). After a period in prison in 1995, Tupac released his next album All Eyez on Me a year later (#1 R&B/Hip-Hop Album), with the hits "How Do U Want It" and "California Love" both reaching #1 on the pop charts. His final album, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (1996), a more personal statement that was quickly written and recorded in a week, was released under the new stage name of Makaveli, and also was a #1 rap/hip-hop album. Tupac also acted in several films including Nothing but Trouble (1991; his film debut) and Menace II Society (1993). Tupac was charged with several crimes, including physical and sexual assault, and his life became increasingly embroiled in violent confrontations during the later years of his career. He was shot in New York in 1994 while arriving at a recording session, and then fatally shot in 1996 in Las Vegas while riding in Suge Knight’s limousine, the controversial owner of Death Row Records who had signed Shakur to his label a year earlier; the murder has never been solved. He continues to be a strong influence on socially conscious rappers, and there have been many posthumous releases of his recordings.

See biographies by T. L. McQuillar and F. L. Johnson (2010); oral history by S. Pearce (2021), studies by C. Scott (2002, 3rd ed., 2015), M. E. Dyson (2006), J. Potash and F. Hampton (2008), B. Westhoff (2016); Tupac: Resurrection (2003, doc. film).

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Music: Popular and Jazz