Tupac's life and how we can learn from it
Tupac Shakur’s life was rough since the day he was born. That is why it is important to know that as a listener and a fan, a person can learn from how an artist lived his life, especially Tupac because no one should be killed by gunshot at the age of 25. He was born in one of those less fortunate places (East Harlem). He attracted a lot of attention, both positive and negative, with his lifestyle and music. As one of the most influential rappers of all time, he created controversy in whether or not his music was good for the general public. Daniel Kreps from The Rolling Stones, a very prominent music information magazine, displayed a biography of Tupac Shakur on their website. Tupac’s parents were members of the Black Panther party, which has a large history of hatred of the government. (Kreps, 2001) Since the moment he was born, he was involved in a political movement which the repressed minorities demanded recognition.
His music hits list grew about as fast as his criminal record did. (Kreps, 2001) In the early 90’s, Tupac was arrested for the suspected murder of a six year old boy who was killed by stray bullets, shooting two off duty officers, and the sexual assault of a 19 year old girl with two of his cronies (which he was found guilty for later). (Kreps, 2001) All three incidents were separate incidents with three separate arrests. His record did not stop there. In 1994, Tupac was arrested for punching his director Allen Hughes, which he was found guilty for and had to go to jail for 15 days. Later in the year of 1994, Tupac was found guilty of the sexual assault on that 19 year old girl. This conviction occurred one day after being shot in a recording studio in New York (which he accused Biggie Smalls for). He was to serve between one and a half to four and a half years in prison. (Kreps, 2001) With him being convicted and suspected of all of these crimes, people saw him as a hazard to society with good reason to. Even though he committed these crimes, people viewed him as a struggling gangster trying to make it in the world.
Controversy sparked between the East Coast and the West Coast gangs by 1995 after serving only eight months of his prison sentence. (Kreps, 2001) Notorious B.I.G. and Bad Boy Records represented the East Coast while Tupac and Death Row represented the West Coast. This is when Tupac’s music started becoming violent. His attacks were more vocally than physically in his 1996 released album All Eyes on Me. According to the Rolling Stones’ biography of Tupac, “On the album, Shakur attacked his enemies with furious threats of violence, while speaking of his own early death as inevitable.” (Kreps, 2004) He also claimed to sleep with Biggie Small’s wife Faith Evans in his song “Hit ‘Em Up” which further fueled the fire of this fight between the West Coast and East Coast.
On September 7, 1996, Tupac Shakur was hospitalized with gun shots to the body after him and his label’s CEO Marion Knight left in Knight’s BMW after getting into a fight involving the MGM Grand Hotel. (Kreps, 2001) He died six days later after being shot to hemorrhaging complications. Biggie was also murdered in a related way six months later after being in California.
Even though his life was filled with crime and negative situations, a Tupac fan can learn from his mistakes. Does someone want to sit in prison for years for doing a crime? The answer is no. Does someone want to be shot and killed at the age of 25? The answer is once again no. Speaking for the general population, I can say that most people would not want to be affiliated with gangs, crime, and early death. So why live the same way he did, unless someone wants to live a rough life.
Tupac’s music continued to be sold after his death, which shows how inspirational and influential Tupac really was to the world. In 1996, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory was released by “Makaveli”, a pseudonym used to cover up Tupac’s name. The next post-death release was in 1997, and the name of that album was R U Still Down? (Remember Me?). (Rolling Stones, 2001) Others followed after all of the legal actions were finished. This is significant to know because people still had a reason to listen to him after he passed. The reason people had was because Tupac created a good picture of how impoverished people had to live life and that we need to change our ways to survive.
His music hits list grew about as fast as his criminal record did. (Kreps, 2001) In the early 90’s, Tupac was arrested for the suspected murder of a six year old boy who was killed by stray bullets, shooting two off duty officers, and the sexual assault of a 19 year old girl with two of his cronies (which he was found guilty for later). (Kreps, 2001) All three incidents were separate incidents with three separate arrests. His record did not stop there. In 1994, Tupac was arrested for punching his director Allen Hughes, which he was found guilty for and had to go to jail for 15 days. Later in the year of 1994, Tupac was found guilty of the sexual assault on that 19 year old girl. This conviction occurred one day after being shot in a recording studio in New York (which he accused Biggie Smalls for). He was to serve between one and a half to four and a half years in prison. (Kreps, 2001) With him being convicted and suspected of all of these crimes, people saw him as a hazard to society with good reason to. Even though he committed these crimes, people viewed him as a struggling gangster trying to make it in the world.
Controversy sparked between the East Coast and the West Coast gangs by 1995 after serving only eight months of his prison sentence. (Kreps, 2001) Notorious B.I.G. and Bad Boy Records represented the East Coast while Tupac and Death Row represented the West Coast. This is when Tupac’s music started becoming violent. His attacks were more vocally than physically in his 1996 released album All Eyes on Me. According to the Rolling Stones’ biography of Tupac, “On the album, Shakur attacked his enemies with furious threats of violence, while speaking of his own early death as inevitable.” (Kreps, 2004) He also claimed to sleep with Biggie Small’s wife Faith Evans in his song “Hit ‘Em Up” which further fueled the fire of this fight between the West Coast and East Coast.
On September 7, 1996, Tupac Shakur was hospitalized with gun shots to the body after him and his label’s CEO Marion Knight left in Knight’s BMW after getting into a fight involving the MGM Grand Hotel. (Kreps, 2001) He died six days later after being shot to hemorrhaging complications. Biggie was also murdered in a related way six months later after being in California.
Even though his life was filled with crime and negative situations, a Tupac fan can learn from his mistakes. Does someone want to sit in prison for years for doing a crime? The answer is no. Does someone want to be shot and killed at the age of 25? The answer is once again no. Speaking for the general population, I can say that most people would not want to be affiliated with gangs, crime, and early death. So why live the same way he did, unless someone wants to live a rough life.
Tupac’s music continued to be sold after his death, which shows how inspirational and influential Tupac really was to the world. In 1996, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory was released by “Makaveli”, a pseudonym used to cover up Tupac’s name. The next post-death release was in 1997, and the name of that album was R U Still Down? (Remember Me?). (Rolling Stones, 2001) Others followed after all of the legal actions were finished. This is significant to know because people still had a reason to listen to him after he passed. The reason people had was because Tupac created a good picture of how impoverished people had to live life and that we need to change our ways to survive.