Tupac Shakur

Tupac Amaru Shakur, known professionally as 2Pac, was born Lesane Parish Crooks on June 16, 1971, in Harlem, New York. His mother, Afeni Shakur, was a member of the Black Panther Party and gave him the name Tupac Amaru after his birth. The family later moved to Baltimore, where he attended the Baltimore School for the Arts and studied acting, poetry, jazz, and ballet. In 1988, he relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area and began performing with the hip-hop group Digital Underground.

Shakur appeared on Digital Underground's 1991 single "Same Song," then released his debut album, 2Pacalypse Now, that year. The record addressed police violence, poverty, racism, and the pressures facing young Black Americans. Its confrontational subject matter attracted controversy, but it also established his reputation as a politically engaged rapper. His second album, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z..., arrived in 1993 and included "Keep Ya Head Up" and "I Get Around."

In 1993, Shakur made his film debut in John Singleton's drama Juice, playing Bishop, a volatile Harlem teenager. He followed it with roles in Poetic Justice, Above the Rim, and the posthumously released Gang Related. His third album, Me Against the World, was released in March 1995 while he was incarcerated. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making him the first imprisoned artist to top that chart. The album included "Dear Mama," his tribute to Afeni, and "So Many Tears."

After serving part of a sentence for a sexual-abuse conviction, Shakur signed with Death Row Records. His double album All Eyez on Me, released in February 1996, became one of rap's defining commercial successes. It contained "California Love," "How Do U Want It," and "I Ain't Mad at Cha." The album reflected the increasingly public East Coast-West Coast rivalry, particularly his conflict with The Notorious B.I.G. and Bad Boy Records.

On September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot multiple times in a drive-by attack in Las Vegas after attending a Mike Tyson boxing match. He died six days later, on September 13, aged 25. His posthumous releases included The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, Makaveli's only album, issued in 1996, and Until the End of Time. In 2017, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, and in 2023, the United States Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp honoring him in its Black Heritage series.