Actors - Tupac Shakur

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Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996) was an American hip hop artist, poet and actor. He is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the best-selling rap/hip-hop artist ever, having sold 67 million albums worldwide (mostly posthumously), including 37 million in the United States alone, and has had 17 top-10 singles in the U.S. He is consistently voted by fans, critics and industry insiders as one of the greatest rap artists of all time.

Most of Shakur's songs are about the hardships of growing up around violence in United States ghettos, poverty, racism, and sometimes his feuds with fellow rappers. Tupac is known for the political, economic, and racial equality messages that pervade his work. His music features extensive use of metaphor and shows a high degree of lyrical structure.

The Early Years

Tupac Amaru Shakur was born in Manhattan, New York on June 16, 1971. His mother, Afeni, was an active member of the Black Panther Party in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Tupac was born just one month after his mother's acquittal on more than 100 charges of "conspiracy against the United States government and New York landmarks" in the "New York Panther 21" court case. He was named after Tupac Amaru II, an Inca who was sentenced to death by the Spaniards.

Tupac was raised under difficult circumstances. His godfather, Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt, was convicted of murdering a schoolteacher during a 1968 robbery. His stepfather, Mutulu Shakur, was found guilty of the attempted robbery of a Brinks armored car in which two police officers and a guard were killed.

At age 12, Tupac was enrolled in the famous Harlem "127th Street Ensemble". His first major role with this acting troupe was as Travis in the play A Raisin in the Sun.

In 1984, when he was 13, Tupac's family relocated to Baltimore. Tupac became a student at the Baltimore School for the Arts, where he befriended a young Jada Pinkett-Smith. At the School for the Arts, he studied ballet, poetry, jazz, and acting, performing in Shakespearan plays and landing the role of the Mouse King in The Nutcracker.

In June 1988, Afeni moved her family once again, this time to Marin City, California, where Tupac continued to pursue his career in entertainment. In 1990 Tupac became a back-up dancer and roadie for the up-and-coming rap group Digital Underground. In early 1991, he debuted his rap skills on the single "Same Song" from the Digital Underground album This is an EP Release. Also in 1991 he appeared in the video for "Same Song" and made a brief appearance as himself in the movie Nothing But Trouble.

Rise to fame

In late 1991, after his rap debut on "Same Song" with the group Digital Underground, Tupac released his first solo album, 2Pacalypse Now. Initially he had trouble marketing his solo debut. Eventually, Interscope Records executives Ted Field and Tom Whalley agreed to distribute the record. Although produced with the help of his Digital Underground crew, the intent of the album was to showcase his individual talent.

Tupac claimed his first album was aimed at the problems facing young black males, but it was publicly criticized for its graphic nature and images of violence by and against police. In one incident, a young man claimed his killing of a Texas trooper was inspired by the album. Former Vice President Dan Quayle even entered the fray by publicly denouncing the album as having "no place in our society".

2Pacalypse Now did not do well on the charts, spawning no number-one hits.

Tupac's second CD, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., was released in 1993 on the Jive label. It was heavily produced by Stretch and the Live Squad, and generated two number one hits: the emotional Keep Ya Head Up and the playful I Get Around, the latter featuring guest appearances by other members of the Digital Underground crew.

In addition to rapping, Tupac also achieved fame as a movie actor. His first major motion-picture appearance was in 1991's Nothing But Trouble, where he made a brief appearance as himself alongside the other members of Digital Underground. His first starring role was in the 1991 movie Juice
, in which he was hailed by Rolling Stone's Peter Travers as "the film's most magnetic figure." He went on to star in Poetic Justice
(with Janet Jackson), Above the Rim
, Gridlock'd
(with Tim Roth), Bullet, and Gang Related. He had also been slated to star in the Hughes brothers' Menace II Society but was replaced by Larenz Tate after assaulting the directors. Director John Singleton claimed that he wrote the film Baby Boy with Shakur in mind for the leading role, but was killed before the film was made. It was eventually filmed with Tyrese Gibson in his place and released in 2001, five years after Shakur's death.

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Actors - Tupac Shakur

The Early Years

Rise to fame

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