Name: Tupac Amaru Shakur
Born: June 16, 1971, in Brooklyn, New York
Died: September 13, 1996 (25), in Las Vegas, Nevada
Married
Fan Club:
2PAC FAN CLUB
P. O. BOX 2694
DECATUR, GA 30031
Tupac was born on June 16, 1971 in Brooklyn, NY, when his mother, Afeni Shakur, a member of the Black Panther Party, was in jail on charges of conspiring to bomb several public areas in New York City. Tupac was named after an inca chief named Tupac Amaru, which means ²shining serpent², Shakur is arabic for ²thankful to God².
The first years of his life Tupacıs family moved a between the Bronx and Harlem and at times they lived in shelters.
In September, 1983, the 12-year-old Tupac joined a Harlem theatre group and in hs first performance he played Travis in ²A Raisin in the Sun².
After that, in 1986, Tupacıs family moved to Baltimore, MD, where he attended The Baltimore School for the Performing Arts, where he shows a great talent and potential and makes a lasting impression on his teachers. In Baltimore Tupac also starts writing his first rap lyrics and performs under the name MC New York.
Unfortunately for Tupac he had to quit the school at Baltimore and move along with his family to Marin City, CA, in June, 1988. There he started hanging around with ²the wrong crowd² and soon got involved with criminals and started selling drugs, starting on the road which later on lead to his own death... In September the same year Tupacıs stepfather, Mutulu Shakur is sentenced to 60 years in prison for his involvement in a 1981 armored-car robbery.
In 1990 Tupac starts his way up the top of todayıs rap music. He joined the rap group Digital Underground as a dancer and rapper, and in January 3, 1991 he made his recording debut on Digital Undergroundıs ²This is an EP Release².
On November 12, 1991, Tupacıs first solo album, 2Pacalypse Now, is released, from which he took the successful singles ²Trapped² and ²Brendaıs Got A Baby², which launched his career like a rocket. He also appeared as a member of Digital Underground on the track ²Same Song² from ²This is an EP Release² and on the album ²Sons of the P². Shortly after the release of Tupacıs solo album, he files a $10 million lawsuit against the Oakland police for alleged brutality following the arrest for jaywalking. His talents also gave him a role in the motion picture ²Juice².
On January17, 1992 he made his big screen debut in the Earnest Dickerson film ²Juice², earning praise for his portrayal of Bishop and is probably best remembered for the line ²I am crazy. And donıt give a fuck!²
In April, 1992 Ronald Ray Howard,19, shoots a Texas trooper and Howardıs attorney claims that Howard was incited by 2Pacalypse Now, which was in his tapedeck, to kill.
On August 22, 1992, Tupac had an altercation with some old acquaintances in Marin City, which results in the death of a 6-year-old bystander and the arrest of Tupacıs half brother, Maurice Harding, but he was released due to lack of evidence.
In September, 1992, Vice President Dan Quayle denounces 2Pacalypse Now by saying that it ²has no place in our society².
In February, 1993, Tupac released his second album, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z, which was an even bigger success than his first, and eventually sold platinum.
On March 13, 1993 Tupac got into an fight with a limo driver in Hollywood, who accused Tupac of using drugs in the car. Tupac got arrested but the charges were dropped. On April, 1993, Tupac is arrested again, this time for taking a swing with a baseball bat at a local rapper during a concert, Tupac got sentenced to 10 days in prison.
On July 23, 1993, John Singletonıs ²Poetic Justice² was released where Tupac appeared along with Janet jackson. The role showed the world that music may not have been Tupacıs #1 attribute.
On October 31, 1993, Tupac got arrested again, this time for allegedly shooting 2 off-duty Atlanta police officers who were harassing a black motorist, but the charges were eventually dropped.
On november 18, 1993 a 19-year-old woman accused Tupac for sexual harassment.
On March 10, 1994 Tupac got arrested once again for punching out director Allen Hughes after he got dropped from the motion picture ²Menace II Society² and was sentenced to 15 days in prison.
On March 23, 1994, Tupac appears in the movie ²Above the Rim², where he played a troubled drug dealer. The soundtrack, which featured the song ²Pour Out a Little Liquor², recorded by Tupacıs group, Thug Life, sold 2 million copies.
On September 7, 1994, 2 Milwaukee tenns murdered a police officer and citeded Tupacıs ²Souljahıs Story² as their inspiration.
On November 30, 1994, Tupac was shot 5 times and robbed of jewels for about $40,000 in the lobby of Times Square recording studio. Tupac checked himself out of the hospital less than 3 hours after surgery, the case still remains unsolved. All this happened while he was on trial for sex and weapon charges, just hours before he was found guilty. The day after he was acquitted of sodomy and weapons charges but was found guilty of sexual abuse.
On February 14, 1995, Tupac was sentenced up to 4 and a half years immediately began serving his time in New Yorkıs Rikers Island penitentiary.
On April 1, 1995, Tupacıs third album, Me against the World, debuted at No.1 on Billboardıs pop chart and fueled by the single ²Dear Mama² the album went double platinum in 7 months.
In October 1995 Death Row Recordıs CEO Marion ²Suge² Knight posted $1.4 million in bail to get Tupac out of jail, who immediately flied to L.A to sign with Death Row and start recording his fourth solo album, All Eyez On Me.
In February 1996 the fact that Tupac had been sleeping with Biggieıs wife, Faith Evans, went public. Faith denies the stories.
On February 13, 1996, Tupacıs Death Row debut, All Eyez On Me, rapıs first double CD was released.
On March 29, 1996, Death Row employees and Bad Boy employees face off at the Soul Train awards in Los Angeles, words were exchanged and a gun was pulled.
On April 25, 1996, All Eyez On Me went quintuple platinum.
In May 1996 Tupac and Snoop released ²2 of Americaz Most Wanted², in the video, caricatures of Biggie and Puffy were punished for setting up Tupac.
On June 4, 1996, Death Row released Tupacıs ²Hit Em Up², which was a brutal diatribe against Biggie, Bad Boy, Mobb Deep, and others.
On September 4, 1996, Tupac returned to New York for the MTV Music Video Awards and got into a scuffle.
On September 7, 1996, Tupac and Suge Knight left the Mike Tyson - Bruce Seldon fight in Las Vegas in Sugeıs car. A white Cadillac with four people inside pulled alongside at an intersection and one person opened fire. Tupac was hit 4 times while Suge escaped with minor injuries. Tupac was brought to the University Medical Center.
On Friday, September 13, 1996, Tupac died after 6 days in critical condition. Tupac Shakur was pronounced dead at 4.03 pm, his body was later cremated. He was only 25.
Since Tupac's death, he has released an album called "R U Still Down......Remember Me", which contains hits such as "I Wonder If Heaven Got A Ghetto" and "Hellrazor". Tupac's mother, Afeni Shakur, has also launched an enterprise which sells Tupac merchandise like t-shirts, bandannas, beanies etc.. The Tupac Shakur Fan Club is located at www.tupacshakur.com.
"No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution."
