On This day in HipHop history: June 16th – Tupac Amaru Shakur was born Lesane Parish Crooks in Harlem, New York, on this day in 1971. Shakur, a rapper, actor, record producer, screen-writer and poet is probably the most beloved, bigger than life, mythical, popular figure in hip-hop history. Shakur was born into a family of activists as both his parents Afeni Shakur and Billy Garland were active members of The Black Panther Party For Self-Defense. His godfather was the late high-ranking Panther member Elmer “Geronimo” Pratt. His step-father, when his mother remarried, was Mutulu Shakur, brother of Assata Shakur, also known as Joanne Chesimard, a Panther activist who now resides in Cuba as a political refugee. At age 12, Shakur enrolled in Harlem’s 127th Street Repertory Ensemble and performed in productions like “A Raisin In The Sun” at The Apollo Theater. Shakur’s family moved to Baltimore, Maryland by the time he was in high school, where he attended the Baltimore School For The Arts and studied Shakespeare. In 1988, his family moved again, this time to Marin County, California, where he attended poetry classes as taught by Leila Steinberg. Before long he was bitten by the hip-hop bug and soon found himself working as a roadie, then later dancer and MC for the legendary Oakland hip-hop band Digital Underground. In 1991, Shakur released his classic debut solo album, “2Pacalypse Now”, on Jive Records, which featured the hit “Brenda’s Got A Baby”. By this time had also been bitten by the acting bug, making his major motion picture acting debut in the classic villain role of Bishop in the 1992 Paramount Pictures crime-drama “Juice”. Shakur had briefly appeared performing a song with Digital Underground in the 1991 Warner Bros. comedy “Nothing But Trouble”. In 1993, He released his sophomore set “Strictly 4 My”, which contained classic singles like, “I Get Around”, “Papa’z Song”, “Holla If You Hear Me” and the inspirational “Keep Ya Head Up”. 2Pac’s third album, “Me Against The World”, followed in 1995, which contained the classic ode to his mother called “Dear Mama”. In 1994, 2Pac along with his group Thug Life, which included Rated R, Big Syke, Macadoshis and Pac’s brother Mopreme, released their one and only album “Thug Life Vol.1” on Interscope Records. Meanwhile, Shakur would go on to appear in six more films between 1993 and 1997 with riveting on-screen performances rivaling the dramatic vocal performances of his records. Among the films 2Pac appeared in were “Gridlock’d”, “Above The Rim”, “Murder Was The Case”, “Bullet”, “Gang Related” and the classic “Poetic Justice”, alongside Janet Jackson. In 1996, Shakur released his first album after leaving Jive Records on Suge Knight’s Death Row label called “All Eyez On Me”. The album went multi-platinum and contained the classic hit single “California Love” featuring Dr. Dre. Unfortunately, a brewing East Coast/West Coast rivalry found its way into Shakur’s cipher eventually causing a big feud with his one-time close friend Biggie Smalls. Shakur who had already survived gunshot wounds to the head, leg and groin eventually met his fate in Las Vegas, Nevada when he was shot several times after leaving a Mike Tyson Heavyweight Title fight in an SUV with Suge Knight. Shakur died six days later in a Las Vegas hospital from his wounds. His name and legend grew to epic proportions after his death akin to Elvis Presley, Robert Johnson, James Dean and Mozart. Shakur became one of the biggest-selling hip-hop artists ever with no less than 10 posthumous albums released. Among those albums included the multi-platinum-selling, chart-topping “The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory”, which included the smash-hits, “Hail Mary”, featuring Outlawz, “To Live And Die In L.A.”, featuring Val Young and “Toss It Up”, featuring K-Ci & JoJo, Aaron Hall and Danny Boy. The album was credited to 2Pac’s reported new stagename Makaveli after the 15th century Italian diplomat and philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli. In his literary classic called “The Prince”, Machiavelli wrote about how a head of state should be willing to be deceitful against his enemies and to even be willing to fake his own death. Many extreme 2Pac fans and conspiracy theorists believed this to be the case with 2Pac, with the rapper changing his name to Makaveli and faking his own death against his enemies in the East Coast/West Coast war, a belief some still perpetuate until this very day. Other posthumous albums included 1997’s “R U Still Down? (Remember Me)”, 2001’s “Until The End Of Time”, 2002’s “Better Dayz”, 2004’s “Loyal To The Game” and 2006’s “Pac’s Life”. In 1999, Death Row also released a collaborative effort with his group Outlawz called “Still I Rise”. Shakur, who shot an array of motion pictures before his untimely death, worked alongside actors like Mickey Rourke, Jim Belushi and Tim Roth. His rival, Biggie Smalls, would be shot to death less than a year later in Los Angeles, California. The murders of the two rap icons remain unsolved until this day. In the late 1990’s, his mother, Afeni, launched several companies that market and preserve her son’s name. Among those companies include Amaru Records, which would release the late rapper’s recordings in conjunction with Death Row, the Makaveli Branded Clothing line as well as other divisions that would release books, dvd’s, documentaries as well as a foundation that would award scholarships to young artists called The Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation. 2Pac Shakur will simply be best remembered as one of the most recognizable figures in hip-hop ever.
Posted on: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 18:10:46 +0000
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