TUPAC SHAKUR Biography - Musicians

 
 

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TUPAC SHAKUR

Name: Tupac Shakur                                                                       
Also known as 2Pac, Makaveli                                                             
Born: 16 June 1971 New York City, New York, United States                                 
Died: 13 September 1996 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States                                 
                                                                                         
Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971 - September 13, 1996), also known by his stage         
names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. In addition to his status as a           
top-selling recording artist, Shakur was a successful film actor and a prominent         
social activist. He is recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records as the           
highest-selling rap artist, with over 75,000,000 albums sold worldwide,                   
including over 50,000,000 in the United States. Most of Shakur's songs are               
about growing up amid violence and hardship in ghettos, racism, problems in               
society and conflicts with other rappers. Shakur's work is known for advocating           
political, economic, social and racial equality, as well as his raw descriptions         
of violence, drug and alcohol abuse and conflicts with the law.                           
                                                                                         
Shakur was initially a roadie and backup dancer for the alternative hip hop               
group Digital Underground. Shakur's debut album, 2Pacalypse Now, gained critical         
recognition and backlash for its controversial lyrics. Shakur became the target           
of lawsuits and experienced other legal problems. Later, he was shot five times           
and robbed in a recording studio lobby in Manhattan, New York City, New York.             
Following the occurrence, Shakur grew suspicious that other figures in the rap           
industry had prior knowledge of the incident and did not warn him; the                   
controversy helped spark the East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry. After                 
serving eleven months of his sentence for sexual abuse, Shakur was released from         
prison on an appeal financed by Marion "Suge" Knight, the CEO of Death Row               
Records. In exchange for Knight's assistance, Shakur agreed to release three             
records under the Death Row label. Shakur's fifth record, the first double-disc           
release in hip hop history All Eyez on Me, counted as two albums.                         
                                                                                         
On September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot four times in a drive-by shooting in Las           
Vegas, Nevada, and died six days later of respiratory failure and cardiac arrest         
at the University Medical Center.