Tupac Shakur

Monday June 16^th 2008 marks what would have been the 37^th birthday of celebrated and controversial rapper Tupac Amaru Shakur (Also known as 2Pac and Makaveli). Shakur was born in New York City on June 16^th 1971 and named after the famous Incan chief Tupac Amaru. He started his career first as a roadie and then a backup dancer with the hip hop group Digital Underground. During his brief lifetime he had a role in several films including Juice, Above The Rim, and Gridlock'ed. Musically he may be best known for the 1996 hit California Love however ultimately he may be most well known as being part of the East Coast/West Coast rap feuds of the 1990s which ended in his death as well as the death of rival rapper Notorious BIG. His life could possibly best be summed up by a mural done by artist Andre Charles shortly after his death which read "RIP Tupac. Live by the gun, die by the gun."

Shakur seemed to be a divisive figure from the start. His first solo album 2Pacaylpse Now was released in November of 1991 and immediately lines were drawn between those who loved the music and felt it was a new, fresh, and unique sound and those who denounced his work for its language and subject matter.

In November 1994 he was shot five times outside a recording studio in Manhattan. This strongly fueled the East Coast/West Coast rivalry as Shakur claimed that Notorious BIG among other rappers was behind the shooting. Shortly afterwards legal troubles caught up to him and he served eleven months in prison at Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York near the Canadian border.

On September 7^th, 1996 a few hours after an altercation with a member of the Southside Crips, Tupac Shakur was shot four times and eventually died from internal bleeding a few days later. No arrests were made in the case however it was widely believed to be a gang related hit especially considering the driver of the car was not injured.

So where does Tupac rank among the rappers of all time? Everyone seems to have a separate opinion. From a sales perspective he has sold more albums than any rapper in history. About.com users named him thegreatest rapper of all time. A 2004 Vibe Magazine Poll conducted by the facts echoed that endorsement naming him the "greatest rapper of all time"

Many questions remain not only about his legacy about also about his death. Many of his highest grossing albums did not come out until after his death. This combined with no arrests in the case have led to multiple conspiracy theories involving whether or not he is still in fact alive and in hiding as well conspiracy theories as to who may actually have killed him.