KING RAP MASTER****ALBAY SHERIFF H.I.V
TUPAC BIOGRAFY
DOB: June 16, 1971 - Brooklyn, NY
DOD: September 13, 1996 - Las Vegas, NV
Height: 5'10 Weight: 168
Mother: Afeni Shakur
Father: William Garland
Step Father: Jeral Wayne Williams
AKA Mutula Shakur
Half Sister: Sekyiwa Shakur
Half Brother: Maurice Harding
(Mopreme of Thug Life)
Godfather: Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt
Music Groups: One Nation Emcees, Two From The Crew, Strictly Dope, Digital Underground, Thug Life, Outlaw Immortalz/Outlawz
Aliases: MC New York, 2Pac, Makaveli (the don)
Marital Status: Divorced (Keisha Morris) & Engaged (Kidida Jones)
Tupac Shakur was born Lesane Parish Crooks in Brooklyn, NY in 1971. While still a small child, his mother changed his name to Tupac Amaru after an Inca Indian revolutionary, "Tupac Amaru", meaning "Shining Serpent". "Shakur" means "Thankful To God" in Arabic.
From childhood, everyone called him the "Black Prince." Formisbehaving, he had to read an entire edition of The New York Times. When he was two, his sister, Sekyiwa, was born. This child's father, Mutulu, was a BlackPanther who, a few months before her birth, had been sentenced to sixty years for a fatal armored car robbery.
With Mutulu away, the family experienced hard times. No matter where they moved-the Bronx, Harlem, homeless shelters- Tupac was distressed. "I remember crying all the time. My major thing growing up was I couldn't fit in. Because I was from everywhere. I didn't have no buddies that I grew up with."
By the age of twelve, Tupac had discovered his loves for acting, writing love songs and poetry. As a young teen, his family moved to Baltimore , MD, where he attended The Baltimore School for the Performing Arts studying acting and ballet. At this school, Tupac left a lasting impression on his teachers and was showing tremendous potential. Unfortunately, Tupac was unable to continue his training. He moved to Oakland, California with the rest of his family. That's when Tupac began to, as he called it, "Hang with the wrong crowd."
At age fifteen, he fell into rap; he started writing lyrics, walking with a swagger, and milking his background in New York for all it was worth. People in small towns feared the Big Apple's reputation; he called himself MC New York and made people think he was a tough guy.
By the time he was twenty, Tupac had been arrested eight times, even serving eight months in prison after being convicted of sexual abuse. In addition, he was the subject of two wrongful-death lawsuits, one involving a six-year-old boy who was killed after getting caught in gang-war crossfire between Shakur's gang and a rival group.
Not held back by his lack of formal education, Tupac joined the Rap group Digital Underground as a dancer. Not long before the group achieved award winning success, Tupac released his own album "2Pacalypse Now", which was also a success. The hit single "Brenda's Got A Baby" launched Tupac's career like a rocket. His stunning talent also got him a role in the motion picture, "Juice". Tupac eventually released a second album "Strictly for my N.I.G.G.A.Z.," which was an even bigger success and introduced Tupac's music onto the pop charts.
In November of 1994, he was shot five times during a robbery in which thieves made off with ,000 worth of his jewelry. Shakur miraculously recovered from his injuries to produce his most impressive artistic accomplishments, including 1995's Me Against the World
The highlight of Tupac's acting career came when he appeared in "Poetic Justice" besides Janet Jackson. The role made Tupac a household name and showed the world that music may not be Tupac's #1 attribute. In the midst of a role in the movie "Above the Rim" and a Platinum album "Me against the world," Tupac's rising career was snagged. He was brought up on sexual assault charges by a woman he met at a nightclub. Hours before Tupac would be found guilty, Tupac was robbed at gun point by men whose intent and purpose is still uncertain. Tupac was eventually released at over $1 Million in bail. After his release, Tupac answered his critics by releasing his best album, "All Eyes On Me." "All Eyes On Me" has currently sold over 6 million copies, which is revolutionary for a double CD, especially in Hip Hop music. Tupac also had costarring roles in three other films, "Gridlock'd", "Bullet", and "Gang Related."
On September 7th, Tupac Shakur was shot by unknown gunmen and died on September 13, 1996. Much of what happened on this night remains a mystery to this very day. This picture was taken minutes before the fatal shooting.
Following his passing, Shakur's label released an album, The Don Killuminati, under the pseudonym "Makaveli." The cover depicted Shakur nailed to a cross under a crown of thorns, with a map of the country's major gang areas superimposed on it. In January of 1997, Gramercy pictures released Gridlock'd, a film in which Shakur played the role of a drug addict to mostly good reviews. His final film, Gang Related, was released in 1997, and Death Row is said to have several unreleased recordings in the vaults for potential future release.
September 13, 2003 will mark the seventh anniversary of Tupac's passing.
For more information on the life and death of Tupac Shakur:
Read articles about Tupac Shakur
View Vibe Magazine's Tupac Biography
Read and hear interviews with Tupac Shakur
Find out information about Tupac's autopsy
TUPAC FLASH FILM (MOVIE)
Plans for the annual family reunion are underway. Please stay tuned. Tupac Shakur Filmography
Gang Related (1997)
Two cops, played by Tupac Shakur and James Belushi, kill an undercover DEA agent by mistake, and frantically try to cover their tracks by framing a homeless man for the crime. That involves juggling evidence, coaching witnesses, and improvising to keep their desperate scheme from unraveling.
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Gridlock'd (1997)
After a friend overdoses, Spoon (played by Tupac Shakur) and Stretch (Tim Roth) decide to kick their drug habits and attempt to enroll in a government detox program. Their efforts are hampered by seemingly endless red tape, as they are shuffled from one office to another while being chased by drug dealers and the police.
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Rhyme & Reason (1997)
A study in the world of hip-hop, done mostly with interviews, in order to see why it is as popular as it is today and what the future holds. This documentry features Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre, Puff Daddy and Ice-T among others.
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Bullet (1996)
In this gangland action thriller, a pair of urban underworld thugs struggle to come to terms with both their intense, violent rivalry and their grudging respect for one another. A small role for Tupac (playing Tank).
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Above The Rim (1994)
Story of a promising high school basketball star and his relationships with his two brothers, one a drug dealer and the other a basketball star now employed as a security guard. Tupac Shakur stars as Birdie.
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Poetic Justice (1993)
After witnessing the murder of her first and only boyfriend, young Justice decides to forget about college and become a South Central Los Angeles hairdresser. Avoiding friends, the only way for her to cope with her depression is by composing beautiful poetry. On her way to a convention in Oakland, she is forced to ride with an independent-minded postal worker whom she has not gotten along with in the past. After various arguments between them and their friends, they start to discover that their thoughts on violence, socially and domestically, are the same. Justice may finally feel that she is not as alone as before. Movie stars Janet Jackson as Justice and Tupac Shakur as Lucky.
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Juice (1992)
Best friends Q, Bishop (played by Tupac Shakur), Raheem, and Stell live in a world where fun and danger exist side-by-side, and violence is powerfully seductive. These four Harlem friends take on the neighborhood - and each other - to get the power and respect they call Juice.
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Nothing But Trouble (1991)
A financier [Chevy Chase] meets a spurned lover [Demi Moore] and agrees to take her to a business meeting. On the way there, they run a stop sign in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. They are arrested and taken to the local court. But all is not as it seems: the courthouse and the "prison" are a maze of zany booby- traps and deadly contraptions. The antics of the captured couple as they try to escape from the mad judge and his bizarre family make up the rest of this unusual film. Tupac Shakur appears in a cameo as a member of Digital Underground.
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Notable TV guest appearances:
"Saturday Night Special" (1996)
Saturday Night Live (1995)
"Different World, A" (1987) playing "Picolo"
