Tupac Shakur

Tupac Shakur

Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971–September 13, 1996) was an American hip hop artist, poet and actor. He is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the best-selling rap/hip-hop artist ever, having sold 67 million albums worldwide (mostly posthumously), including 37 million in the United States alone, and has had 17 Top Ten singles in the U.S.

Most of Shakur's songs are about the hardships of growing up around violence in United States ghettos, poverty, racism, and sometimes his feuds with fellow rappers. Tupac is known for the political, economic, and racial equality messages that pervade his work. His music features extensive use of metaphor and shows a high degree of lyrical structure.

The early years

Tupac Amaru Shakur was born in Manhattan, New York on June 16, 1971. His mother, Afeni, was an active member of the Black Panther Party in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Tupac was born just one month after his mother's acquittal on more than 100 charges of "conspiracy against the United States government and New York landmarks" in the "New York Panther 21" court case. He was named after Tupac Amaru II, an Inca who was sentenced to death by the Spaniards.

Tupac was raised under difficult circumstances. His godfather, Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt, was convicted of murdering a schoolteacher during a 1968 robbery. His stepfather, Mutulu Shakur, was found guilty of the attempted robbery of a Brinks armored car in which two police officers and a guard were killed.

Afeni gave birth to Tupac's half-sister, Sekyiwa Shakur, when he was two years old.

At age 12, Tupac was enrolled in the famous Harlem "127th Street Ensemble". His first major role with this acting troupe was as Travis in the play A Raisin in the Sun.

In 1984, when he was 13, Tupac's family relocated to Baltimore. Tupac became a student at the Baltimore School for the Arts, where he befriended a young Jada Pinkett-Smith. At the School for the Arts, he studied ballet, poetry, jazz, and acting, performing in Shakespearan plays and landing the role of the Mouse King in The Nutcracker.

In June 1988, Afeni moved her family once again, this time to Marin City, California, where Tupac continued to pursue his career in entertainment. In 1990 Tupac became a back-up dancer and roadie for the up-and-coming rap group Digital Underground. In early 1991, he debuted his rap skills on the single "Same Song" from the Digital Underground album This is an EP Release. Also in 1991 he appeared in the video for "Same Song" and made a brief appearance as himself in the movie Nothing But Trouble.

Rise to fame

Album cover for 2Pacalypse Now (1991).

In late 1991, after his rap debut on "Same Song" with the group Digital Underground, Tupac released his first solo album, 2Pacalypse Now. Initially he had trouble marketing his solo debut. Eventually, Interscope Records executives Ted Field and Tom Whalley agreed to distribute the record. Although produced with the help of his Digital Underground crew, the intent of the album was to showcase his individual talent.

Tupac claimed his first album was aimed at the problems facing young black males, but it was publicly criticized for its graphic nature and images of violence by and against police. In one incident, a young man claimed his killing of a Texas trooper was inspired by the album. Former Vice President Dan Quayle even entered the fray by publicly denouncing the album as having "no place in our society".

2Pacalypse Now did not do well on the charts, spawning no number-one hits.

Tupac's second CD, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., was released in 1993 on the Jive label. It was heavily produced by Stretch and the Live Squad, and generated two number one hits: the emotional Keep Ya Head Up and the playful I Get Around, the latter featuring guest appearances by other members of the Digital Underground crew.

In addition to rapping, Tupac also achieved fame as a movie actor. His first major motion-picture appearance was in 1991's Nothing But Trouble, where he made a brief appearance as himself alongside the other members of Digital Underground. His first starring role was in the 1991 movie Juice, in which he was hailed by Rolling Stone's Peter Travers as "the film's most magnetic figure." He went on to star in Poetic Justice (with Janet Jackson), Above the Rim, Gridlock'd (with Tim Roth), Bullet, and Gang Related. He had also been slated to star in the Hughes brothers' Menace II Society but was replaced by Larenz Tate after assaulting the directors. Director John Singleton claimed that he wrote the film Baby Boy with Shakur in mind for the leading role, but was killed before the film was made. It was eventually filmed with Tyrese Gibson in his place and released in 2001, five years after Shakur's death.

Along with Shakur's rise to fame came a series of altercations with the law that further complicated his public image. Before he started his recording career, he had no criminal record. In October 1991, he was stopped by two Oakland police officers for allegedly jaywalking. He claimed that when he cursed at the officers he was choked, beaten, and had his head smashed on the pavement. He subsequently filed a ten million dollar lawsuit against the Oakland Police Department, which was eventually settled for $42,000.

In October 1993, Shakur came upon two off-duty police officers whom he allegedly perceived as harassing a black motorist on the side of the road in Atlanta, GA. Shakur allegedly got into a fight with and shot both officers (one in the leg, one in the buttocks). He faced serious charges until it was discovered that both officers were intoxicated during the incident and were using weapons stolen from an evidence locker. The charges against Shakur were dismissed.

In late 1993, he formed the group Thug Life with a few of his friends, including Big Syke, Macadoshis, his step-brother Mopreme, and Rated R. The group released their first album Thug Life: Volume 1 on Interscope in 1994 which, despite its hardcore content, still managed to be certified as a gold record. The group subsequently disbanded after Shakur's release from prison.

In December 1993, Shakur was charged with sexually abusing a woman in his hotel room. According to his account (given in a pre-sentencing interview), he was introduced to a female fan at a club called Nell's, who was described to him as wanting to "more than meet [him]". He claimed that she gave him oral sex on the dance floor before he took her back to his hotel room. The next night, she visited him before he was scheduled to perform at a show and gave him a massage in his hotel room. Some friends who were with him that night interrupted the couple, wanting to enjoy the woman's attentions themselves. Shakur claimed to have left the room disgusted and went to take a nap. The girl, disagreeing with his account, accused him of encouraging the three men, pulling her hair, and sodomizing her. Shakur vehemently denied her account, but on February 7, 1995 was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for sexual assault; specifically, his conviction was for "sexual abuse (forcibly touching the buttocks)."

The first shooting

The day before the verdict in his court case was announced, Tupac Shakur was shot five times in an apparent robbery attempt in the lobby of the Quad Recording Studios in Manhattan. He recalled the circumstances shortly afterwards in an interview with Vibe magazine.

On the night of November 30, 1994, Shakur, his manager, and two friends had just arrived at a studio to do some recordings for Booker, when two black men in their thirties, both dressed in army fatigues, robbed Shakur at gunpoint. Their aggression was focused almost exclusively on Shakur, although they did threaten to shoot his friend as well. Shakur later said that he thought no black man would ever shot him for everything he was fighting for. They forced everybody to lie on the floor, but Shakur remained standing, later saying he had frozen. They demanded he hand over his jewelry, which he refused to do. After grabbing at one of the armed men, Tupac was wounded once in the leg, and then grazed along his scrotum by the first gun shot. He fell to the floor, and was shot a further four times, which he later claimed not to have realized; he believed he was being kicked and that his head was being beaten upon the floor. He recalled seeing white light, but never believed he could die. He lay silent, pretending to be dead. He was robbed of the gold jewelry he was wearing, worth over forty thousand dollars.

Upon regaining consciousness, he took the elevator upstairs, where his first words after realizing the severity of his wounds were, "Call my mom and tell her I've been shot." According to a Vibe Magazine interview with Shakur, he left the hospital the day after being admitted because he felt his "life was in danger." He appeared in court the next day in a wheelchair to face his verdict in the sexual assault case. There is a famous picture of Shakur on a stretcher giving the middle finger in what he said was " for bad boy records."

Prison sentence

File:Tupac-mugshot.jpg

Tupac in a police mugshot (March 8, 1995)

Shakur began serving his prison sentence at Clinton Correctional Facility later that February. Soon after, his multi-platinum album, Me Against the World, was released. Shakur has the distinction of being the only artist with an album at number one on the charts while serving a prison sentence. From jail, he married his long-time girlfriend, Keisha Morris in what he later said was for sexual purposes, though the marriage was later annulled. He also had time to pursue reading, delving into the works of Niccolò Machiavelli, which inspired his later use of the name "Makaveli", Sun Tzu's The Art of War and other works of political philosophy. He wrote a screenplay titled Live 2 Tell while incarcerated. He stated that there was a clarity about him, he wasn't drinking, wasn't getting high, he said when he got out of prison he was going to come back more powerful and his enemies would feel his rage.

In September, after almost eight months in prison, Shakur was released on bail largely due to the help of Suge Knight, the head of Death Row Records. Suge posted a $1.4 million bail for Shakur which was signed on a kapkin, and in exchange Shakur was obliged to release three albums through his label. The rapper was unrepentant and grew even more embittered against the authorities, which showed in his music.

Post-prison

File:TupacShakurAllEyezonMe.jpg

Album cover from All Eyez On Me (1996).

Immediately after his release from prison, Shakur went back to work recording. He began a new group, Tha Outlawz, and with them released the song "Hit 'Em Up", a bitterly scathing lyrical attack on Biggie Smalls (Christopher Wallace) and others associated with him. Though the two had been friends, Wallace's behavior on the night Shakur was shot had left Shakur convinced that Wallace had had some prior knowledge of the attack; Wallace steadfastly denied this, but Shakur remained unconvinced. Shakur took the lyrics of Wallace's song "Who Shot Ya?" as being, in effect, Wallace bragging about his involvement in the attack, and the seeds of the East Coast/West Coast hip-hop war were laid. Wallace and Shakur would remain enemies until Shakur's death.

On February 1996, Shakur released his fourth solo album, All Eyez on Me. The double album was the first and second of his three-album commitment to Death Row Records. It sold over 9 million copies.

From there, Shakur continued his recordings despite the impending troubles at Death Row, as Dr. Dre left his post as house producer and Suge Knight became more involved in illegal activities. Shakur produced hundreds of tracks during this period, most of which would be released on posthumous albums such as Better Dayz and Until the End of Time. 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. The goal of this project was to bring closure to the East-West feud by bringing together what Shakur thought were the best rappers from both coasts. This project remains unreleased, though 2Pac verses from the album have been put on posthumous releases.

The second shooting

File:2Pac2.jpg

Tupac Shakur.

Shakur was shot in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996 after attending the boxing match between Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon. Hours before the shooting, Shakur had been involved in a fight in the lobby of the MGM Grand hotel after the Tyson-Seldon bout. Shakur started the fight when he noticed 21-year-old Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson, a reputed member of the Southside Crips, lingering nearby. Anderson had allegedly beaten up one of Shakur's bodyguards in a shopping mall a few weeks earlier, thus prompting Shakur's provocative actions.

After the fight with Anderson, Shakur left the MGM Hotel, went to the hotel with his fiance, Kidada Jones. Then, he met up with Suge Knight to go to Death Row's Club 662 (now restaurant/club Seven) in Las Vegas. The two drove together in Knight's 1996 black BMW 750i sedan (Images 1,2), part of a larger convoy of cars including some of Shakur's friends, tha Outlawz, and bodyguards. Shakur was not wearing a bulletproof vest that night, even though Death Row had provided him with one. At 11:15 P.M., Knight's car stopped at the intersection of East Flamingo Road and Koval Lane. A white Cadillac was seen pulling up to the passenger side of the car, with someone inside firing twelve rounds into the car as Shakur attempted to climb to safety in the back seat.

Shakur was hit five times, twice in the chest, and in his arm and thigh, while Knight was scratched by a piece of flying glass (while later claiming in an interview he had a bullet stuck in his head). The BMW's two passenger tires were also shot out. According to some sources, Suge Knight asked Shakur if he was okay immediately after the shooting. Seeing blood on the back of Knight's head, Shakur replied, "Me? You were the one shot in the muthafuckin' head."

Knight drove through the busy strip to find the nearest hospital. His car hit a median and caused a third tire to go flat, forcing the car to stop. The police arrived and called in paramedics. Shakur and Knight were taken to the University Medical Center. As the ambulance left the scene, Shakur was heard by paramedics saying "I can't breathe, I can't breathe." On September 13th, the doctor came out and said that Shakur had stopped breathing 3 times and that they had revived him 3 times and that everytime they revived him he just stopped breathing again. Tupac's mother, Afeni asked doctors to "let him go" if it happened again. Tupac Shakur, after being on life support for six days, died on September 13 1996 at 4:03 PM. The official cause of death was respiratory failure and cardiac arrest. After his death, Shakur's body was cremated, and family and friends reportedly spread his ashes in the Pacific Ocean near L.A., saying that Shakur would want to be in his beloved city.

Although no one has ever been formally charged, nor publicly identified by the police as a suspect, police sources have indicated that the authorities believe that Anderson (who has since been murdered) and his fellow Southside Crips were behind the shooting, with their immediate motivation being Shakur's involvement in attacking Anderson earlier that night. (Anderson's family has denied that he was involved and further denied that he was even a member of the Crips. Anderson was interviewed in connection with the crime by police prior to his death, but never taken into custody nor charged.) Officers in the Compton Gang Unit claimed that the Crips were bragging about the killing soon after returning to Compton and officers further indicated that they were disappointed with the lack of initiative shown by Las Vegas police in pursuing the killing.

In 2002, an investigation by Chuck Phillips of the Los Angeles Times, while not naming its gang-member sources, stated that Christopher Wallace (the Notorious B.I.G.) was also in Las Vegas that night and that he met with the Southside Crips who requested that he pay them $1 million in exchange for Shakur's death. The article claimed that Wallace had ties to the Crips and that he often hired them for security during west coast appearances, and that he gave the gang members one of his own guns for use in the attack on Shakur. So that Wallace could have the satisfaction of knowing that he had supplied the gun that took his enemy's life, the article claimed, Wallace agreed to pay the requested bounty on the condition that the Crips use that gun.

Because of the acrimony between Wallace and Shakur, general speculation about the possibility of Wallace's involvement in the murder had been commonplace from the outset, with Wallace always vehemently denying any involvment. By the time the newspaper article made these specific allegations, however, Wallace himself had been murdered. On Wallace's behalf, his family and associates have claimed that he was not in Las Vegas on that night and repeated the denial that he had anything to do with the incident. A few days after the article ran, they turned over to MTV documentation which seemed to indicate that indeed Wallace had reserved time that night in a recording studio in New York owned by Sean Combs (Puff Daddy). Additionally, they turned over a digital audio tape supposedly from that recording session which was date-stamped as being from September 7/September 8, 1996. Both manager Wayne Barrow and rapper James Lloyd (Lil' Cease) have publicly stated that they were personally with Wallace at that recording session. Lloyd has stated that after the session, they returned to Wallace's home in New Jersey, which is where they watched the boxing match together. Lloyd also denied the article's claim that Bad Boy Records had a practice of hiring Crips for security.

Outside sources have verified that the portion of Phillips' article identifying Anderson and the Southside Crips as the murderers is indeed the prevailing theory among law enforcement. However, beyond the anonymous gang sources cited in that article, no other evidence has come to light which would support the article's linking of Wallace to the crime, and it is not believed that law enforcement personnel in general lend much credence to this portion of the theory.

The high profile nature of the killing and ensuing gang violence caught the attention of British filmmaker Nick Broomfield who made the documentary Biggie & Tupac, which examines the lack of progress in the case by speaking to those close to Wallace, Shakur, and the investigation.

Shakur's close childhood friend—and a member of the Outlawz—Yafeu "Yaki Kadafi" Fula, was in the convoy when the shooting happened and told police he might be able to identify the assailants. He, too, was killed shortly thereafter in New Jersey. In 2000, hip hop magazine The Source ran an interview with another Outlaw, Napoleon. In the article Napoleon claimed his cousin had accidentally shot Fula in the head while intoxicated. Fula's mother, however, maintains her son was murdered over money and Napoleon's cousin made up the accidental shooting story. Many believe that Suge Knight, co-founder of Death Row Records was involved in the late Tupac's death, but no evidence has come up to support this theory.

The video for the single "I Ain't Mad at Cha", shot a month before his death, showed Tupac being shot and killed and later in heaven jamming with mostly other deceased African-American musicans such as, Billie Holiday, Donny Hathaway, Jimi Hendrix, Louis Armstrong, Marvin Gaye, Miles Davis, Nat King Cole, Redd Foxx, Robert Johnson, and Sammy Davis Jr.

The cover of Makaveli: The Don Killuminati: 7 Day Theory (1996).

Shakur's last album created while alive was The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. Released two months after his death, this album was portentous and carried a dark vibe from beginning to end. Radio-friendly tracks included "2 live and die in L.A", "Toss it up" and "Krazy".

The entire album was recorded in a seven day timespan, hence the subtitle. Along with hundreds of other theories that sprang up after his death and the release of the album, it was believed for quite a while that within the first few seconds of the album, you could hear someone saying "Suge shot me," or "Suge shot 'em." However, in many independent investigations, including one conducted by MTV, it is believed that the actual quotation is "Shouldn't have shot him."

Labelled as being by "Makaveli" - a pseudonym inspired by Italian philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli - and depicting on its cover a crucified Shakur, the album has sold over five million copies.

His plans at time of death

File:Tupacstatue.jpg

Tupac Amaru Shakur Peace Garden Courtesy: whileseated.org

Shakur indicated after getting out of jail that he had future plans, including mostly getting out of the rap scene by releasing high-quality, deep albums only once every five years or so. Shakur also desired to give back more to the community, suggesting a Little League to encourage young black kids to keep on the right path. He ran an earlier project called "The Underground Railroad" that aimed to keep youths off drugs by getting them involved in music. His mother Afeni opened the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts in June 2005, to carry on his work, by helping youths accomplish their goals. Afeni Shakur has also indicated in several interviews that the final album of original music will be released in 2006.

Shakur had also mentioned that he was going to start his own movie production company entitled "Euphanasia", and was listed as an employee of this company at his time of death. He was also going to create a record label entitled "Makaveli Records" that would be home to both him and the Outlawz, and stated intent to sign the Wu-Tang Clan and Big Daddy Kane, among others. The Makaveli Records logo is shown on the back cover of The 7 Day Theory.

Tupac had always stated that he would like to be involved in politics. A lot of his music can be classified as 'political rap' and expressed concern about the way the United States was being run.

After his death

File:2Pac3.jpg

Tupac Shakur.

More of Shakur's recordings have been released posthumously. Rights to his music are now owned by Amaru Entertainment, which is controlled by his mother Afeni, and artist royalties are assigned to the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation (TASF), which has used the revenue to build the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts in Stone Mountain, Georgia. His mother has stated that getting Tupac into a Harlem arts program as a teenager saved him from drugs, and the new center will have a similar philosophy. She launched the clothing line "Makaveli Branded" in 2003, with proceeds going to the center. In 2005 the chart-topping single Ghetto Gospel was released, featuring an Elton John sample. The song was part of Loyal to the Game album produced by the rapper/producer Eminem. Tupac is also the writer of the screenplay of the upcoming announced film Live 2 Tell debuting in theatres sometime in 2006. He wrote the film project during his jail sentence in 1995. The script is about a drug dealer getting powerful enough to take over the business, but after becoming kingpin, decides to give it all up for love.

On November 2, 2005, U.S. Representative Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) introduced House Resolution H.R. 4210, the "Tupac Amaru Shakur Records Collection Act of 2005". This Bill was designed to "provide for the expeditious disclosure of records relevant to the life and death of Tupac Amaru Shakur." The Bill calls for the National Archives to create a collection of records related to the life and death of Tupac. The Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts, of Stone Mountain, GA, would house a second copy of the records collection. According to Congresswoman McKinney's official website, the Bill is modeled on the "MLK legislation [H.R. 2554]" to preserve and make available records pertaining to the life and death of Martin Luther King, Jr., which she introduced previously.

Legacy

To preserve Tupac's legacy, Afeni Shakur 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.

Perhaps the greatest tribute to Tupac's legacy is not the impact he had in the entertainment industry, but rather the far-reaching and continuing impact of his life and work in areas far-removed from popular culture. In the area of academia, Tupac's life and works have been analyzed by students and professors of the highest pedigree.

On April 17, 2003, Harvard University held an academic symposium entitled "All Eyez on Me: Tupac Shakur and the Search for the Modern Folk Hero." The speakers were highly regarded academics and authors, who discussed a wide range of topics dealing with Tupac's impact on everything from entertainment to sociology. Among the findings presented (as reported by staff writer Ken Gewertz of the Harvard Gazette, in the May 1, 2003 edition):

Mark Anthony Neal, English professor from the State University of New York and author of four books. In his talk, "Thug Nigga Intellectual: Tupac as Celebrity Gramscian," he argued that Shakur was an example of the "organic intellectual" expressing the concerns of his group, a concept articulated by Antonio Gramsci, the Marxist political theorist.

In his talk entitled "Tupac Shakur: O.G. (Ostensibly Gone)", Northeastern University professor of communications studies Murray Forman, discussed theories that Tupac was still alive somewhere in the world. According to Forman "His (Tupac's) fans have succeeded in resurrecting Tupac as an ethereal life force."

From the University of Oslo, Knut Aukrust, professor of culture studies and visiting scholar in the Department of Folklore at Harvard, gave a speech entitled "Tired Of Hearin' These Voices In My Head: Bakhtin's MC Battle" in which he spoke of the mythology and symbolism of Tupac's work and life.

Several other academics spoke including professor of music Emmet Price of Northeastern University, who spoke of Tupac's public image as the personification of "trickster figures" rooted deeply in African-American folklore.

Greg Dimitriadis of the University of Buffalo's Graduate School of Education spoke about interviewing young fans of Shakur and the reactions he received, ranging from blind faith that Shakur is still alive to feelings of anger and abandonment.

Ethnomusicologist Cheryl Keyes, from the University of California, Los Angeles, spoke about Shakur's hero status and troubled life.

Michael Eric Dyson, keynote speaker, Avalon Professor in the Humanities and African American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania also spoke to Tupac's troubled life and his ability to rise above it and present himself as a hero to the common man.

Awards

Tupac was inducted into the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame in 2002.

In 2003, MTV's "22 Greatest MCs" countdown listed Tupac as the "number 1 MC", as voted by the viewers.

In 2004, a VIBE magazine poll rated Tupac "the greatest rapper of all time" as voted by fans.

In 2005, Top Soundtrack Song of the Year: "Runnin' (Dying To Live)" From TUPAC: RESURRECTION by Tupac featuring The Notorious B.I.G. at the 18th Annual ASCAP Rhythm and Soul Music Awards

Also in 2005, MTV listed Tupac's "The Don Kiluminati: The 7 Day Theory" (released under the pseudonym "Makaveli") as one of the "Top 10 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time."

Documentary

On November 14 2003, a documentary about the rapper entitled Tupac: Resurrection, was released under the supervision of Afeni Shakur and narrated entirely in Tupac's voice. The movie was nominated for "Best Documentary" in the 2005 Academy Awards. Proceeds will go to a charity set up by Afeni.

Discography

Released while living:

• 
  2Pacalypse Now
  (November 12, 1991) (Gold U.S.)
• Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. (February 16, 1993) (Platinum U.S.)
  Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z.
  (February 16, 1993) (Platinum U.S.)
• Thug Life: Thug Life Vol. 1 (September 26, 1994) (with Thug Life) (Gold U.S.)
  Thug Life: Thug Life Vol. 1
  (September 26, 1994)
  (with Thug Life)
  (Gold U.S.)
• Me Against the World (February 27, 1995) US #1 (2x Platinum U.S.)
  Me Against the World
  (February 27, 1995)
  US #1 (2x Platinum U.S.)
• All Eyez on Me (February 13, 1996) US #1 (9x Platinum) U.S.)
  All Eyez on Me
  (February 13, 1996)
  US #1 (9x Platinum) U.S.)

Released (officially) posthumously:

• 
  Makaveli: The Don Killuminati: 7 Day Theory
  (November 5, 1996)
  US #1(5x Platinum U.S.)
• R U Still Down? (Remember Me) (November 25, 1997) (4x Platinum U.S.)
  R U Still Down? (Remember Me)
  (November 25, 1997)
  (4x Platinum U.S.)
• 
  2Pac's Greatest Hits
  (November 24, 1998), 1994)
  (9x Platinum U.S.)
• 
  Still I Rise
  (December 14, 1999)
  (with Tha Outlawz)
  (2x Platinum U.S.)
• The Rose that Grew from Concrete (October 17, 2000)
  The Rose that Grew from Concrete
  (October 17, 2000)
  
• 
  Until the End of Time
  (March 27, 2001)
  UK #31 (4x Platinum U.S.)
• 
  Better Dayz
  (November 26, 2002)
  (3x Platinum U.S.)
• Tupac: Resurrection (OST) (November 11, 2003) (Platinum U.S.)
  Tupac: Resurrection (OST)
  (November 11, 2003)
  (Platinum U.S.)
• Nu-Mixx Klazzics (October 7, 2003)
  Nu-Mixx Klazzics
  (October 7, 2003)
• 2Pac Live (August 6, 2004)
  2Pac Live
  (August 6, 2004)
• Loyal to the Game (December 14, 2004) US #1, UK #20 (Platinum U.S.)
  Loyal to the Game
  (December 14, 2004)
  US #1, UK #20 (Platinum U.S.)
• 
  The Rose, Vol. 2
  (September 20, 2005)
• Live at the House Of Blues (October 3, 2005) (With Tha Dogg Pound)
  Live at the House Of Blues
  (October 3, 2005)
  (With Tha Dogg Pound)

Singles

Released while living:

• "Brenda's Got a Baby" (1991) #11 US Charts
• "Trapped" (1992)
• "If My Homie Calls" (1992)
• "Holla If You Hear Me" (1993)
• "Keep Ya Head Up" (1993) certified Platinum
• "I Get Around" (1993) certified Gold #13 US Charts
• "Papa'z Song" (1993)
• "Cradle To The Grave" (with Thug Life) (1994)
• "Pour Out a Little Liquor (1994)
• "Dear Mama" (1995) certified Platinum #2 US Charts
• "So Many Tears" (1995)
• "Temptations" (1995)
• "California Love" (featuring Dr. Dre) (1996) (double A-side with "How Do U Want It" in the US) #1 US Pop Charts certified Double Platinum
• "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted" (featuring Snoop Dogg)
• "How Do U Want It" (featuring K-Ci and JoJo) (1996) #1 US Pop Charts #17 UK Pop Charts
• "Hit 'em up" (1996)

Released posthumously:

• "I Ain't Mad At Cha" (featuring Danny Boy) (1996) #4 US Charts #13 UK Pop Charts
• "Toss It Up" (as Makaveli) (featuring Danny Boy, K-Ci and JoJo & Aaron Hall) (1996)
• "To Live & Die In LA" (as Makaveli) (1997) #9 US Charts
• "Hail Mary" (as Makaveli) (1997)
• "Wanted Dead or Alive" (with Snoop Dogg) (1997)
• "I Wonder If Heaven Got A Ghetto" (1997) #21 UK Charts
• "Do For Love" (1997) certified Platinum #2 US Charts #12 UK Charts
• "Runnin" (1998) ft. Notorious B.I.G. #15 UK Charts
• "Changes" (1998) #3 US Charts #2 UK Charts
• "All About U (Remix)" (featuring Dru Down, Nate Dogg & Snoop Dogg) (1998)
• "Baby Don't Cry" (1999) #19 US Charts
• "Until The End Of Time" (2001) #9 US Charts
• "Letter 2 My Unborn" (2001) #10 US Charts
• "Thugz Mansion" (featuring Anthony Hamilton) (2003)
• "Still Ballin'" (featuring Trick Daddy) (2003)
• "Runnin' (Dying To Live)" (with The Notorious B.I.G.) (2003) #14 US Charts #17 UK Charts
• "Ghost"(2003)
• "The Realest Killaz" (featuring 50 Cent (2003)
• "Thugs Get Lonely Too" (featuring Nate Dogg) (2004)
• "Ghetto Gospel" (featuring Elton John) (2005) #1 UK Charts #1 AUS Charts #3 Austria

Notable features

• "Same Song" Digital Underground featuring 2Pac (1991) (first popular recording featuring Tupac)
• "R U Still Down?" Jon B featuring 2Pac (1997)
• "Smile" Scarface featuring 2pac & Jonny P (1997)
• "Thug Luv" Bone Thugs-N-Harmony featuring 2pac (1997)

Filmography

During life

• Nothing But Trouble (1991), (brief appearance as self), directed by Dan Aykroyd
• Juice (film) (1992)
• Poetic Justice (1993)
• Above the Rim (1994)
• "Whatta Man" (1994), Music video, won Best Dance Video, Best R&B Video and Best Choreography at the 11th annual MTV Video Music Awards
• Bullet (film) (1996)
• Gridlock'd (1997)
• Gang Related (film) (1997)

Posthumous

• Tupac Shakur: Thug Angel: The Life of an Outlaw (2001) documentary
• Biggie & Tupac (2002) documentary
• Tupac: Resurrection (2003)
• Live 2 Tell (2006) as screenwriter (currently in pre-production)

Poetry

• The Rose That Grew From Concrete (1999) ISBN 0671028448
• Inside a Thugs Heart (2004) ISBN 0758207891

See also

• Túpac Amaru
• Túpac Amaru II
• Tupac Inca Yupanqui
• Assata Shakur (Tupac's aunt in exile in Cuba)
• Afeni Shakur (Tupac's mother)
• The Notorious B.I.G.
• Best selling music artists
• Seven Day Theory

External links

• 2Pac Legacy (Official website)
• Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation for the Arts