2Pac

From Harlem to Marin City

Tupac Amaru Shakur was born on 16 June 1971 in East Harlem, New York, to parents who were Black Panther Party members. His mother, Afeni Shakur, raised him. The family moved to Baltimore in 1984, where he studied acting, poetry, jazz and ballet at the Baltimore School for the Arts and became friends with Jada Pinkett. In 1988 he moved to Marin City, California.

He began recording as MC New York in 1989 and was signed by Atron Gregory, the manager of Digital Underground, who placed him with the group in 1990 as a roadie and backup dancer. He made his debut as 2Pac on Digital Underground's single Same Song in January 1991.

Two albums and a film career

2Pacalypse Now came out on 12 November 1991. It took on racism, police brutality, poverty, gang violence, teenage pregnancy and drug abuse, and it drew public criticism from Vice President Dan Quayle. It peaked at number 64 on the Billboard 200 and went gold, and its singles included Brenda's Got a Baby. In 1992 he made his film debut in Juice, playing Roland Bishop.

Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z... followed in February 1993 and debuted at number 24. Its singles I Get Around and Keep Ya Head Up reached numbers 11 and 12 on the Hot 100, and the album went platinum in 1995.

Me Against the World

On 30 November 1994 Shakur was shot five times and robbed at Quad Studios in New York. On 1 December 1994 he was convicted of two counts of first-degree sexual abuse, and on 7 February 1995 he was sentenced to 18 months to four and a half years in prison. Me Against the World was released on 14 March 1995, while he was incarcerated.

He said he wanted the record to show the hip-hop audience his respect for the art form, and he made the lyrics more personal and reflective than before. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 240,000 copies in its first week and spent four weeks on top, overtaking Bruce Springsteen's Greatest Hits as the best-selling album in the United States. It was certified double platinum in December 1995. Dear Mama was the lead single and reached number nine on the Hot 100, followed by So Many Tears and Temptations.

It was like a blues record. It was down-home.

2Pac, on Me Against the World

Death Row

On 12 October 1995 he was released on bond pending appeal of his conviction. Suge Knight, head of Death Row Records, arranged the $1.4 million bond, and Shakur joined the label. California Love, with Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman, came out on 3 December 1995 as his comeback single. All Eyez on Me, released on 13 February 1996, was a double album that debuted at number one with 566,000 copies in its first week and was certified Diamond in 2014. Death Row released Hit 'Em Up as the non-album B-side to How Do U Want It.

In the summer of 1996 he recorded The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory at Can-Am Studios in Tarzana, under the name Makaveli. He was shot in Nevada on 7 September 1996 and died on 13 September.

After

The Don Killuminati was released on 5 November 1996 and debuted at number one. More albums followed, among them Greatest Hits (1998), which was certified Diamond and carried Changes, and Pac's Life (2006).

Dear Mama was added to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2009. Shakur was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017, in his first year of eligibility, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023. On 15 April 2012 a projection of him appeared at Coachella with Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre. Rolling Stone placed him at number 86 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists in 2010.