Tupac Amaru Shakur
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Early life
Tupac Amaru Shakur was born in the East Harlem section of Manhattan in New York City.[3] He was named after TДєpac Amaru II, an Incan revolutionary who led an indigenous uprising against Spain and subsequently received capital punishment. His mother, Afeni Shakur, was an active member of the Black Panther Party in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s; Shakur was born just one month after her acquittal on more than 150 charges of “Conspiracy against the United States government and New York landmarks” in the New York Panther 21 court case.[4] Although officially unconfirmed by the Shakur family,[5] several sources list his birth name as either “Parish Lesane Crooks”[6] or “Lesane Parish Crooks”.[7] Afeni feared her enemies would attack her son, and disguised their relation using a different last name, only to change it three months[6] or a year later, following her marriage to Mutulu Shakur.
Struggle and incarceration surrounded Shakur from an early age. His godfather, Elmer “Geronimo” Pratt, a high ranking Black Panther, was convicted of murdering a school teacher during a 1968 robbery, although his sentence was later overturned. His stepfather, Mutulu Shakur, spent four years at large on the FBIs Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list beginning in 1982, when Shakur was a pre-teen. Mutulu was wanted in part for having helped his sister Assata Shakur (also known as Joanne Chesimard), Tupacs godmother, to escape from a penitentiary in New Jersey, where she had been incarcerated for allegedly shooting a state trooper to death in 1973. Mutulu was caught in 1986 and imprisoned for the robbery of a Brinks armored truck in which two police officers and a guard were killed.[8] Tupac had a half-sister, Sekyiwa, two years his junior, and an older stepbrother, Mopreme “Komani” Shakur, who appeared on many of his recordings.
At the age of twelve, Shakur enrolled in Harlems famous “127th Street Ensemble.” His first major role with this acting troupe was as Travis in A Raisin in the Sun. In 1984, his family relocated to Baltimore, Maryland,[9] After completing his second year at Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School he transferred to the Baltimore School for the Arts, where he studied acting, poetry, jazz, and ballet. He performed in Shakespeare plays, and in the role of the Mouse King in The Nutcracker.[8] Shakur, accompanied by one of his friends, Dana “Mouse” Smith, as his beatbox, won most of the many rap competitions that he participated in and was considered to be the best rapper in his school.[10] Although he lacked trendy clothing, he was one of the most popular kids in his school because of his sense of humor, superior rapping skills, and ability to mix in with all crowds.[11] He developed a close friendship with a young Jada Pinkett (later Jada Pinkett Smith) that lasted until Shakurs death. In the documentary Tupac: Resurrection, Shakur says, “Jada is my heart. She will be my friend for my whole life,” and Smith calls Shakur “one of my best friends. He was like a brother. It was beyond friendship for us. The type of relationship we had, you only get that once in a lifetime.” A poem written by Shakur titled “Jada” appears in his book, The Rose That Grew From Concrete, which also includes a poem dedicated to Smith called “The Tears in Cupids Eyes”.
In June 1988, Shakur and his family moved once again, this time to Marin City, California, where he attended Tamalpais High School. He joined the Ensemble Theater Company (ETC) to pursue his career in entertainment. His mothers crack addiction led him to move into Leila Steinbergs home with his friend Ray Luv at the age of seventeen and he eventually dropped out of high school. Leila Steinberg acted as a literary mentor to Shakur, an avid reader. Steinberg has kept copies of the books that he read, which include J.D. Salingers Catcher in the Rye, Jamaica Kincaids At the Bottom of the River, Herman Melvilles Moby-Dick, Eileen Southerns Music of Black Americans, and the feminist writings of Alice Walker and Robin Morgan.[12] Most of these books were read before the age of twenty.[12] It has been said that Shakur was, in fact, more well-read and intellectually well-rounded at that age than the average student in the first year class of most Ivy League institutions.[13] In 1989, Leila Steinberg organized a concert with Shakurs group, Strictly Dope. The concert lead to him being signed with Atron Gregory who set him up with Digital Underground. In 1990, he was hired as a back-up dancer and roadie for up-and-coming rap group Digital Underground.[14]
Rapping career
Shakurs professional entertainment career began in the early 1990s, when he debuted his rapping skills on “Same Song” from the Digital Underground album This is an EP Release. He first appeared in the music video for “Same Song”. After his rap debut, Shakur performed with Digital Underground again on the album Sons Of The P. Later, he released his first solo album, 2Pacalypse Now. Initially he had trouble marketing his solo debut, but Interscope Records executives Ted Field and Tom Whalley eventually agreed to distribute the record.
Shakur claimed his first album was aimed at the problems facing young black males, but it was publicly criticized for its graphic language and images of violence by and against law enforcement.[15] In one instance, a young man claimed his killing of a Texas-based trooper was influenced by the album. Former Vice President Dan Quayle publicly denounced the album as having “no place in our society”.[16] 2Pacalypse Now did not do as well on the charts as future albums, spawning no top ten hits. His second record, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., was released in 1993. The album, produced mostly in part by Randy “Stretch” Walker (Shakurs closest friend and associate at the time) and the Live Squad, generated two hits, “Keep Ya Head Up” and “I Get Around”, the latter featuring guest appearances by Shock G and Money-B of the Digital Underground.
Thug Life
In late 1993, Shakur formed the group Thug Life with a number of his friends, including Big Syke, Macadoshis, his stepbrother Mopreme Shakur, and Rated R. The group released their first and only record album Thug Life Vol. 1 on September 26, 1994. The group usually performed their concerts without Shakur.[17]
The concept of “Thug Life” was viewed by Shakur as a philosophy for life. He developed the word into a backronym standing for “The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everybody”.