Thursday, July 15, 2010
9:06 PM | 
Posted by
Sunil Bhaskar |
Tupac Shakur: Don Killuminati
"i know i can't change the world myself, but i will spark the mind that changes the world."- Tupac Shakur
Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996),also known as 2Pac,Pac & also Makaveli was an American Artist who was a rapper,actor & also a producer.He has sold over more than 75 Million Albums worldwide making him best-selling music artists in the world and was ranked @ 86 as the greatest Artists of all time.He underwent a great deal of pain & suffering in his childhood & thats why majority of his songs are aimed @ the problems faced by the African-Americans,Ghetto and more.He was a great rapper & is and will always be my favorite Hip-hop Artist.I take immense pleasure in writing a Biography for this never say die legend for people to understand who he really was & respect his Legacy.May you RIP Pac.
Teenage Life:
"I don know who ur daddy is"- Those were the words that came out of Afeni Shakur, mother of Tupac Amaru Shakur when asked about who his father was. It wasnt that she was a bad women, its just that those were dark days for the Blacks as they were facing the music of Discrimination which was at peak. His step father, Mutulu Shakur was imprisoned for stealing an armoured car and was sentenced to sixty years of life imprisonment. They belonged to a sect called "Black Panther" who were fighting for the prejudice agaainst African-Americans. With no fatherly figure to guide him or support him, he quoted:
“How can I be a man if there's no role model? Strivin to save my soul I stay cold drinkin a forty bottle”, the only role models that he had were pimps and hustlers, and this is where he adopted the thug image.
He moved on to Baltimore at a young age itself. He was found saying that:
"Those were the best days of his life".
He enrolled himself in the Baltimore school of arts. Teachers still recall him and called him a Prodigy A complete Bibliophile, scanning through entire encyclopedias and also in religion(eastern). He was turning himself into a tough guy hiding his real skills beneath him. Rap was induced in him due to the fatal shooting of one of his friends and was called "MC New York". The song was based on Gunzzz and that was the first indication of a budding artitst within him- recalled his buddy.
The entire Shakur family moved the whole family to Marin City, West Coast by the drug-addicted Afeni. Tupac moved out and started to stay with his buddies and started Hustlin drugs. But things were not going his way as he was robbed of his money by the pimps and dealers and told him to stay out of this field as this wasnt his game and pursue his career in music. But they also said if he ever needed money they would supply for him.
“They were like my sponsors”.- Tupac
EntryInto Rap Game-Birth of Strictly Dope:
Tupac along with Ray Luv, and a mutual buddy DJ Dize formed his rap group and named it Strictly Dope. The tracks were later released in 2001 under the title:"Tupac Shakur: The Lost Tapes”. He was such a performer that his skills spread like wild fire and finally reached the ears of Shock G who was willing to audition him for Digital Underground.
The First Step to Super Stardom-Digital Underground:1990
He was a so multi-faced that he had the tendency to adapt himself and change his manner: Sometimes as a Diva where as at times as a violent personality. He was recruited into Digital Underground as a roadie and dancer. He got his first break as he was chosen for the "Nothing But Trouble” movie soundtrack, “Same Song”
“Get some fame, people change, wanna live they life high same song, can't go wrong, if I play the nice guy”.
Entry Into Solo Debut-2Pacalypse Now:
Was a year of topsy-turvy for 2pac. He launched his first solo album:2Pacalypse Now, whose distribution rights were claimed by Interscope records: by 2 executives namely Ted Field and Tom Whalley. This album was also buttressed by Digital Underground crew in the field of production and this album was aimed at manifesting individual talent.
"Its a mirror image to the problems faced by my Homies(Black)"-Tupac Shakur
But this album received severe criticism from the public due to the violence content portraying images of violence by and against police. To add to his woes it just aggravated when a young man who killed a Texas Trooper claimed he was inspired by the album. A case was registered against him, from which he was late cleared under his constitutional freedom of expression. Former Vice President Dan Quayle publicly denounced the album as having "no place in our society". . The album failed to meet Tupac's expectations and crashed out without any top notch tracks making it up the listings.
Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z: His second album
His sequel to his previous failed album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., which was a big budget production under the belt of Stretch and the Live Squad, spurred two chartbusters:the emotional Keep Ya Head Up and the playful I Get Around. He had no criminal record against him.
"I had to make a record to get a police record”-Tupac Shakur
In October 1991 in Oakland Tupac was halted by two officers for allegedly jaywalkin. On retorting back he was choked, beaten, and had his head smashed on the pavement for a trivial crime. Frustrated he launched a $ 10 million dollar lawsuite against the Oakland Police, which was finally settled for $ 42000. When approached Tupac was reportedly found saying:
“I could have got more but I was tired of going to court, and thought any money from the police department was good, I got $42,000 for jaywalking!”-Tupac Shakur
Birth of Thug Life: 1993
A few close confidants,comprising of Big Syke, Macadoshis, his step-brother Mopreme, and Rated R formed the group "Thug Life".Their first record was reportedly named: Thug Life: Volume 1 again produced by Interscope in 1994. Even though lyrics were considered R rated it made all way to gold. This band soon dismantled itself after Tupac's release from prison.He was charged for sexually abusing a women in his hotel room. According to Police accounts:
"He met a female fan at a club, Nell's, who was described to him as wanting to "more than meet [him]". She allegedly gave him oral sex on the dance floor before Tupac took her back to his hotel room. The next night, she visited him before he was set to do a show and was giving him a massage in a hotel room.
Some people who were hanging with him interrupted the couple, wanting to enjoy the woman's attentions themselves."On February 7th 1995 Tupac was sentenced for 4.5 years for sexual assault to which Tupac vehemently denied any involvement. On asked he said:
“I would have never closed my eyes until the girl had left the room”.
Shortly before his verdict was announced, Tupac was shot five times in an apparent robbery attempt outside the New York Quad music studio. Tupac recalled the circumstances shortly afterwards in an interview with Vibe magazine. He was with his close friend, manager, and another friend on the night of November 30, 1994.He was serving his term Clinton Correctional Facility, where he released his multi-platinum album,“Me Against the World” Tupac is the only known rapper to have the distinction of having an album at number one position in charts while he served his sentence.
“For me that will always be my favourite album” Tupac commented in an interview
He was assaulted verbally and taunted by the jail officials to whom he politely used to replay with a stifled laugh:
“Actually my album is no 1 in the whole country and has just beat Bruce Springsteen to the top of the the buildboard!”
In jail he married his long love Keisha Morris which was later negated.
All Eyez On ME: Another Chartbuster from this legend
After serving 11 months in prison 2pac was released on bail largely due to Suge Knight, the head of “Death Row Records”. He managed to provide $ 1.4 million for him and in exchange Tupac agreed to do three albums under Death Rows belt.in February 1996 he started working on his new title (another solo one):“All Eyez on Me” which crossed 9 million copies and was considered one of the greatest albums ever. When all semmed to favour his come back to the rap game he was shot on the way after watchin Mike tysons fight with Suge. The doctors tried their best to save him but all went in vain and he died after 7 days in hospital. The music industry was hit worldwide and brought a great shock to his fans all over the way.The Details about the Shooting & the investigation that followed can be found here.And the people whom i suspect can be found here.Tupac was quoted saying that :
“I know what it’s going to be like when I die, there will not be any noise or bright lights, I’m just going to fade away"-Tupac Shakur
The case still remains unsolved.Following his passing, Death Row released, “The Don Killuminati”, under the pseudonym "Makaveli". The cover depicted Shakur nailed to a cross under a crown of thorns, with a map of the country's major gang areas superimposed on it. In January of 1997, Gramercy pictures released “Gridlock'd”, a film in which Tupac played the role of a drug addict to mostly good reviews. His final film, “Gang Related”, was released in 1997. There were hundreds of unreleased Death Row tracks, which were later released on Posthumous albums such as “Better Dayz” and “Until the End of Time”, and the newly realeased “Loyal to the game”, produced by Eminem.A rapper. An actor. A revolutionary. The Posthumous albums can be categorized as follows(in sequential order):
*1997: R U Still Down? (Remember Me)
*1998:Greatest Hits
*1999:Still I Rise(Featuring Outlawz)
*2000:The Rose That Grew From Concrete
*2000:The Rose That Grew From Concrete
*2001:Until The End Of Time
*2002:Better Dayz
*2003:Tupac Ressurection
*2003:Nu-Mixx Klazzics
*2004:Tupac Live
*2003:Nu-Mixx Klazzics
*2004:Tupac Live
*2004:Loyal To The Game
*2005:The Rose Vol. 2
*2005:The Rose Vol. 2
*2006:Pac's Life
*2008: It Up
*2010:Pac's Life 2
*2008: It Up
*2010:Pac's Life 2
A martyr. A son. A brother. A friend. But most of all this man was a legacy, “so keep you head up, do what you gotta do, and through you I will be reborn”.
By all means he was and will be the greatest rap artist of the millenium. Rest in peace Homie.
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