Tupac Amaru Shakur (/ˈtuːpɑːk ʃəˈkʊər/ TOO-pahk shə-KOOR; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. Considered one of the most influential and successful rappers of all time, he is among the best-selling music artists, having sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Much of Shakur's music has been noted for addressing contemporary social issues that plagued inner cities.
Shakur was born in New York City to parents who were both
political activists and Black Panther Party members. Raised by his mother, Afeni Shakur, he relocated to Baltimore
in 1984 and to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1988. With the release of his
debut album 2Pacalypse Now in 1991, he became a central figure in West Coast
hip hop for his conscious rap lyrics. Shakur achieved further critical and
commercial success with his follow-up albums Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z...
(1993) and Me Against the World (1995). His Diamond certified album All Eyez on
Me (1996), the first double-length album in hip-hop history, abandoned his
introspective lyrics for volatile gangsta rap. In addition to his music career,
Shakur also found considerable success as an actor, with his starring roles in
Juice (1992), Poetic Justice (1993), Above the Rim (1994), Bullet (1996),
Gridlock'd (1997), and Gang Related (1997).
During the latter part of his career, Shakur was shot five
times in the lobby of a New York recording studio and experienced legal
troubles, including incarceration. Shakur served eight months in prison on
sexual abuse charges, but was released pending an appeal of his conviction in
1995. Following his release, he signed to Marion "Suge" Knight's label Death Row Records and became
heavily involved in the growing East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry. On
September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot four times by an unidentified assailant in a
drive-by shooting in Las Vegas; he died six days later. Following his murder,
Shakur's friend-turned-rival, the Notorious B.I.G., was at first considered a
suspect due to their public feud; he was also murdered in another drive-by
shooting six months later in March 1997, while visiting Los Angeles.
Shakur's double-length posthumous album Greatest Hits (1998)
is one of his two releases—and one of only nine hip hop albums—to have been
certified Diamond in the United States. Five more albums have been released
since Shakur's death, including his critically acclaimed posthumous album The
Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (1996) under his stage name Makaveli, all of
which have been certified Platinum in the United States. In 2002, Shakur was
inducted into the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame. In 2017, he was inducted into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Rolling Stone ranked
Shakur among the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2023, he was awarded a
posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Early life
Shakur was born on June 16, 1971, in East Harlem, Upper
Manhattan, New York City. While born Lesane Parish Crooks, at age one he was
renamed Tupac Amaru Shakur. He was named after Túpac Amaru II, a descendant of
the last Incan ruler, who was executed in Peru in 1781 after his failed revolt
against Spanish rule. Shakur's mother Afeni Shakur explained, "I wanted him to have the name of
revolutionary, indigenous people in the world. I wanted him to know he was part
of a world culture and not just from a neighborhood." Tupac's surname
came from Lumumba Shakur, a Sunni Muslim, whom his mother married in November
1968, their marriage fell apart when it was discovered that Lumumba was not
Tupac's biological father.
Shakur had an older stepbrother, Mopreme "Komani"
Shakur, and a half-sister, Sekyiwa
Shakur, two years his junior.
Panther heritage
Shakur's parents, Afeni Shakur—born Alice Faye Williams in
North Carolina—and his biological father, William
"Billy" Garland, had
been active Black Panther Party members in New York in the late 1960s and early
1970s. A month before Shakur's birth, his mother was tried in New York City as
part of the Panther 21 criminal trial. She was acquitted of over 150 charges.
Other family members who were involved in the Black
Panthers' Black Liberation Army were convicted of serious crimes and
imprisoned, including Shakur's stepfather, Mutulu Shakur, who spent four years
among the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. Mutulu Shakur was apprehended in
1986 and subsequently convicted for a 1981 robbery of a Brinks armored truck,
during which police officers and a guard were killed.
Shakur's godfather, Elmer
"Geronimo" Pratt, a
high-ranking Black Panther, was convicted of murdering a schoolteacher during a
1968 robbery. After spending 27 years in prison, his conviction was overturned
due to the prosecution's having concealed evidence that proved his innocence.
Shakur's godmother, Assata
Shakur, is a former member of the Black Liberation Army who was convicted
in 1977 of the first-degree murder of a New Jersey State Trooper. Since 2013,
she has been in the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list after she escaped prison in
1979.
Education
In the 1980s, Shakur's mother found it difficult to find
work and she struggled with drug addiction. In 1984, his family moved from New
York City to Baltimore, Maryland. He attended eighth grade at Roland Park
Middle School, then ninth grade at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School. He
transferred to the Baltimore School for the Arts in the tenth grade, where he
studied acting, poetry, jazz, and ballet. He performed in Shakespeare's
plays—depicting timeless themes, now seen in gang warfare, he would recall—and
as the Mouse King role in The Nutcracker ballet.
At the Baltimore School for the Arts, Shakur befriended
actress Jada Pinkett, who became a subject of some of his poems. With his
friend Dana "Mouse" Smith as beatbox, he won competitions as
reputedly the school's best rapper. Also known for his humor, he could mix with
all crowds. He listened to a diverse range of music that included Kate Bush,
Culture Club, Sinéad O'Connor, and U2.
Upon connecting with the Baltimore Young Communist League USA,
Shakur dated Mary Baldridge, who was the daughter of the director of the local
chapter of the Communist Party USA. Baldridge, who was white, was described as
an attractive young woman who was raised to look past color.
In 1988, Shakur moved to Marin City, California, an
impoverished community in the San Francisco Bay Area. In nearby Mill Valley, he
attended Tamalpais High School, where he performed in several theater
productions. Shakur did not graduate from high school, but he later earned his
GED.
Music career
MC New York
Shakur began recording under the stage name MC New York in
1989. That year, he began attending the poetry classes of Leila Steinberg, and
she soon became his manager. Steinberg organized a concert for Shakur and his
rap group Strictly Dope. Steinberg managed to get Shakur signed by Atron
Gregory, manager of the rap group Digital Underground. In 1990, Gregory placed
him with the Underground as a roadie and backup dancer.
Digital Underground
In January 1991 Shakur debuted under the stage name 2Pac on
Digital Underground, under a new record label, Interscope Records; on the
group's January 1991 single "Same
Song". The song was featured on the soundtrack of the 1991 film
Nothing but Trouble, starring Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Chevy Chase, and Demi
Moore. The song opened the group's January 1991 EP titled This Is an EP
Release, while Shakur appeared in the music video.
At the request of Steinberg, Digital Underground co-founder Jimi "Chopmaster
J" Dright worked with Shakur, Ray Luv and Dize, a DJ, on their
earliest studio recordings. Dright recalls that Shakur did not work well as
part of a group, and added, "This
guy was on a mission. From day one. Maybe he knew he wasn't going to be around
seven years later."
From 1988 to 1991, Dright and Digital Underground produced
Shakur's earliest work with his crew at the time, Strictly Dope. The recordings
were rediscovered in 2000 and released as The Lost Tapes: Circa 1989. Afeni
Shakur sued to stop the sale of the recordings but the suit was settled in June
2001 and rereleased as Beginnings: The Lost Tapes 1988–1991.
Shakur's early days with Digital Underground made him
acquainted with Randy "Stretch" Walker, who
along with his brother, dubbed Majesty, and a friend debuted with an EP as a
rap group and production team, Live Squad, in Queens, New York. Stretch was
featured on a track of the Digital Underground's 1991 album Sons of the P.
Becoming fast friends, Shakur and Stretch recorded and performed together
often.
2Pacalypse Now
Shakur's debut album, 2Pacalypse Now—alluding to the 1979
film Apocalypse Now—arrived in November 1991. Some prominent rappers—like Nas,
Eminem, Game, and Talib Kweli—cite it as an inspiration. Aside from "If My Homie Calls", the
singles "Trapped" and "Brenda's Got a Baby" poetically
depict individual struggles under socioeconomic disadvantage.
US Vice President Dan Quayle said, "There's no reason for a record like this to be released. It has
no place in our society." Tupac, finding himself misunderstood,
explained, in part:
I just wanted to rap
about things that affected young black males. When I said that, I didn't know
that I was gonna tie myself down to just take all the blunts and hits for all
the young black males, to be the media's kicking post for young black males.
In any case, 2Pacalypse Now was certified Gold, half a
million copies sold. The album addresses urban Black concerns said to remain relevant
to the present day.
Strictly 4 My
N.I.G.G.A.Z...
Shakur's second album, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z..., was
released in February 1993. A critical and commercial success, it debuted at No.
24 on the pop albums chart, the Billboard 200. An overall more hardcore album,
it emphasizes Tupac's sociopolitical views, and has a metallic production
quality. The song "Last Wordz"
features Ice Cube, co-writer of N.W.A's "Fuck
tha Police", who in his own solo albums had newly gone militantly
political, and gangsta rapper Ice-T, who in June 1992 had sparked controversy
with his band Body Count's track "Cop
Killer".
In its vinyl release, side A, tracks 1 to 8, is labeled the "Black Side", while side B,
tracks 9 to 16, is the "Dark
Side". The album carries the single "I Get Around", a party anthem featuring Digital
Underground's Shock G and Money-B, which became Shakur's breakthrough, reaching
No. 11 on the pop singles chart, the Billboard Hot 100. And it carries the
optimistic compassion of another hit, "Keep
Ya Head Up", an anthem for women's empowerment. The album was
certified Platinum, with a million copies sold. As of 2004, among Shakur albums,
including posthumous and compilation albums, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z... was
10th in sales at about 1,366,000 copies.
Thug Life
In late 1993, Shakur formed the group Thug Life with Tyrus "Big Syke" Himes, Diron "Macadoshis" Rivers, his
stepbrother Mopreme Shakur, and Walter "Rated
R" Burns. Usually, Thug Life performed live without Tupac.
Thug Life released its only album, Thug Life, Volume I, on
October 11, 1994, which is certified Gold. It carries the single "Pour Out a Little Liquor",
produced by Johnny "J" Jackson, who would also produce much of Shakur's
album All Eyez on Me. The track also appears on the Above the Rim soundtrack.
Due to gangsta rap being under heavy criticism at the time, the album's
original version was scrapped, and the album redone with mostly new tracks.
Still, along with Stretch, Tupac would perform the first planned single, "Out on Bail", which was never
released, at the 1994 Source Awards.
The Notorious B.I.G.
and Junior M.A.F.I.A.
In 1993, while visiting Los Angeles, the Notorious B.I.G.
asked a local drug dealer to introduce him to Shakur and they quickly became
friends. The pair would socialize when Shakur went to New York or B.I.G. to Los
Angeles. During this period, at his own live shows, Shakur would call B.I.G.
onto stage to rap with him and Stretch. Together, they recorded the songs "Runnin' from tha Police" and "House of Pain".
Reportedly, B.I.G. asked Shakur to manage him, whereupon
Shakur advised him that Sean Combs would make him a star. Yet in the meantime,
Shakur's lifestyle was comparatively lavish to B.I.G. who had not yet
established himself. Shakur welcomed B.I.G. to join his side group Thug Life,
but he would instead form his own side group, the Junior M.A.F.I.A., with his
Brooklyn friends Lil' Cease and Lil' Kim. Shakur had a falling out with B.I.G.
after he was shot at Quad Studios in 1994.
Me Against the World
Shakur's third album, Me Against the World, was released
while he was incarcerated in March 1995. It is now hailed as his magnum opus,
and commonly ranks among the greatest, most influential rap albums. The album
debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and sold 240,000 copies in its first
week, setting a then record for highest first-week sales for a solo male
rapper.
The lead single, "Dear
Mama", was released in February 1995 with "Old School" as the B-side. It is the album's most
successful single, topping the Hot Rap Singles chart, and peaking at No. 9 on
the Billboard Hot 100. In July, it was certified Platinum. It ranked No. 51 on
the year-end charts. The second single, "So
Many Tears", was released in June 1995, reaching No. 6 on the Hot Rap
Singles chart and No. 44 on Hot 100. The final single, "Temptations", was released in August 1995. It reached
No. 68 on the Hot 100, No. 35 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks,
and No. 13 on the Hot Rap Singles. Several celebrities showed their support for
Shakur by appearing in the music video for "Temptations".
Shakur won best rap album at the 1996 Soul Train Music
Awards. In 2001, it ranked 4th among his total albums in sales, with about 3 million
copies sold in the US.
All Eyez on Me
While Shakur was imprisoned in 1995, his mother was about to
lose her house. Shakur had his wife Keisha Morris contact Death Row Records
founder Suge Knight in Los Angeles. Reportedly, Shakur's mother promptly
received $15,000. After an August visit to Clinton Correctional Facility in
northern New York state, Knight traveled southward to New York City to attend
the 2nd Annual Source Awards ceremony. Meanwhile, an East Coast–West Coast hip
hop rivalry was brewing between Death Row and Bad Boy Records. In October 1995,
Knight visited Shakur in prison again and posted $1.4 million bond. Shakur
returned to Los Angeles and joined Death Row with the appeal of his December
1994 conviction pending.
Shakur's fourth album, All Eyez on Me, arrived on February
13, 1996. It was rap's first double album—meeting two of the three albums due
in Shakur's contract with Death Row—and bore five singles. The album shows
Shakur rapping about the gangsta lifestyle, leaving behind his previous
political messages. With standout production, the album has more party tracks
and often a triumphant tone. Music journalist Kevin Powell noted that Shakur,
once released from prison, became more aggressive, and "seemed like a completely transformed person".
As Shakur's second album to hit No. 1 on both the Top
R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and the pop albums chart, the Billboard 200, it
sold 566,000 copies in its first week and was it was certified 5×
Multi-Platinum in April. The singles "How
Do U Want It" and "California
Love" reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Death Row released
Shakur's diss track "Hit 'Em
Up" as the non-album B-side to "How
Do U Want It". In this venomous tirade, the proclaimed "Bad Boy killer" threatens
violent payback on all things Bad Boy — B.I.G., Sean Combs, Junior M.A.F.I.A.,
the company — and on any in the East Coast rap scene, like rap duo Mobb Deep
and rapper Chino XL, who allegedly had commented against Shakur about the
dispute.
All Eyez on Me won R&B/Soul or Rap Album of the Year at
the 1997 Soul Train Music Awards. At the 1997 American Music Awards, Shakur won
Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist. The album was certified 9 × Multi-Platinum in June
1998 and 10 × in July 2014.
Posthumous albums
At the time of his death, a fifth and final solo album was
already finished, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, under the stage name
Makaveli. It had been recorded in one week in August 1996 and released that
year. The lyrics were written and recorded in three days, and mixing took
another four days. In 2005, MTV.com ranked The 7 Day Theory at No. 9 among hip hop's
greatest albums ever, and by 2006 a classic album. Its singular poignance,
through hurt and rage, contemplation and vendetta, resonate with many fans.
According to George "Papa G" Pryce, Death Row
Records' then director of public relations, the album was meant to be "underground", and was not
intended for release before the artist was murdered. It peaked at No. 1 on
Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and on the Billboard 200, with the
second-highest debut-week sales total of any album that year.[109] On June 15,
1999, it was certified 4× Multi-Platinum.
Later posthumous albums are archival productions, these
albums are:
R U Still Down? (1997)
Greatest Hits (1998)
Still I Rise (1999)
Until the End of Time (2001)
Better Dayz (2002)
Loyal to the Game (2004)
Pac's Life (2006)
Film career
Shakur's first film appearance was in the 1991 film Nothing
but Trouble, a cameo by the Digital Underground. In 1992, he starred in Juice,
where he plays the fictional Roland Bishop, a militant and haunting individual.
Rolling Stone's Peter Travers calls him "the
film's most magnetic figure".
In 1993, Shakur starred alongside Janet Jackson in John
Singleton's romance film, Poetic Justice. Singleton later fired Shakur from the
1995 film Higher Learning because the studio would not finance the film
following his arrest. For the lead role in the eventual 2001 film Baby Boy, a
role played by Tyrese Gibson, Singleton originally had Shakur in mind.
Ultimately, the set design includes a Shakur mural in the protagonist's
bedroom, and the film's score includes Shakur's song "Hail Mary".
Director Allen Hughes had cast Shakur as Sharif in the 1993
film Menace II Society but replaced him once Shakur assaulted him on set due to
a discrepancy with the script. Nonetheless, in 2013, Hughes appraises that
Shakur would have outshone the other actors "because
he was bigger than the movie".
Shakur played a gangster called Birdie in the 1994 film
Above the Rim. By some accounts, that character had been modeled after former
New York drug dealer Jacques "Haitian Jack" Agnant, who
managed and promoted rappers. Shakur was introduced to him at a Queens
nightclub. Reportedly, B.I.G. advised Shakur to avoid him, but Shakur
disregarded the warning. Through Haitian Jack, Shakur met James "Jimmy Henchman"
Rosemond, also a drug dealer who doubled as music manager.
Soon after Shakur's death, three more films starring him
were released, Bullet (1996), Gridlock'd (1997), and Gang Related (1997).
Posthumous rumored
roles and Star Wars
It was rumored that Shakur was being considered by George
Lucas to portray Jedi Master Mace Windu in the Star Wars prequel films
(1999–2005). According to former Death Row Records chief engineer Rick
Clifford, George Lucas was eyeing Tupac to star in his return to the "Star Wars" saga. Clifford
talked about how understandably excited Tupac was for the role, "'Pac found out that I worked for Brian
Austin Green, who was on 90210, then he found out I [worked on] some movies, so
we always talked about his film career and stuff. [...] He was telling me that
he was supposed to read for George Lucas and them. They wanted him to be a
Jedi. I'm serious. Samuel L. [Jackson] got Tupac's part. [Tupac] said [to me],
'Old man, keep your fingers crossed.' He said, 'I've got three movies coming
up. One of them, I've got to read for George Lucas."
The Phantom Menace script had begun being written in 1996
and the eventual film seeing release in 1999. Lucas had asked Jackson to ask
Shakur to audition but due to Shakur's untimely death the role ultimately went
to Samuel L. Jackson. The two had worked on the film Juice together. The
character's bald appearance could have also been an homage to Shakur.
Personal life
In his 1995 interview with Vibe magazine, Shakur listed Jada
Pinkett, Jasmine Guy, Treach and Mickey Rourke among the people who were
looking out for him while he was in prison. Shakur also mentioned that Madonna
was a supportive friend. Madonna later revealed that they dated in 1994.
Shakur became close friends with Jada Pinkett while
attending the Baltimore School for the Arts. Shakur helped Pinkett land her
first movie role in the film Menace II Society (1993). In turn, Pinkett secured
Shakur a guest starring role on the sitcom A Different World in 1993. She
appeared in his music videos "Keep
Ya Head Up" and "Temptations".
She also came up with the concept for his "California
Love" music video and had intended to direct it, but she removed
herself from the project. In 1995, Pinkett contributed $100,000 towards
Shakur's bail as he awaited an appeal on his sexual abuse conviction. Pinkett
later revealed that she turned down his marriage proposal while he was
incarcerated at Rikers Island in 1995. Speaking about Pinkett, Shakur stated: "Jada is my heart. She will be my
friend for my whole life. We'll be old together. Jada can ask me to do anything
and she can have it." Pinkett said Shakur was "one of my best friends. He was like a brother. It was beyond
friendship for us. The type of relationship we had, you only get that once in a
lifetime."
After Shakur was shot in 1994, he recuperated at Jasmine
Guy's home. They had met during his guest appearance on the sitcom A Different
World in 1993. Guy appeared in his music video "Temptations" and later wrote his mother's 2004
biography, Afeni Shakur: Evolution of a Revolutionary.
Shakur befriended Treach when they were both roadies on Public
Enemy's tour in 1990. He made a cameo in Naughty by Nature's music video "Uptown Anthem" in 1992.
Treach collaborated with Shakur on his song "5
Deadly Venomz" and appeared in his music video "Temptations". Treach was also a speaker at a public
memorial service for Shakur in 1996.
Shakur and Mickey Rourke formed a bond while filming the
movie Bullet in 1994. Rourke recalled that Shakur "was there for me during some very hard times."
Shakur had friendships with other celebrities, including
Mike Tyson Chuck D, Jim Carrey, and Alanis Morissette. In April 1996, Shakur said
that he, Morissette, Snoop Dogg, and Suge Knight were planning to open a
restaurant together.
On April 29, 1995, Shakur married his then girlfriend Keisha
Morris, a pre-law student. Their marriage was annulled ten months later.
In a 1993 interview published in The Source, Shakur
criticized record producer Quincy Jones for his interracial marriage to actress
Peggy Lipton. Their daughter Rashida Jones responded with an irate open letter.
Shakur later apologized to her sister Kidada Jones, whom he began dating in
1996. Shakur and Jones attended Men's Fashion Week in Milan and walked the
runway together for a Versace fashion show. Jones was at their hotel in Las Vegas
when Shakur was shot.
Legal issues
Sexual assault case,
prison sentence, appeal and release
In November 1993, Shakur and two other men were charged in
New York with sodomizing a woman in Shakur's hotel room. The woman, Ayanna
Jackson, alleged that after she performed oral sex on Shakur at the public
dance floor of a Manhattan nightclub, she went to his hotel room a later day,
when Shakur, record executive Jacques "Haitian Jack" Agnant,
Shakur's road manager Charles Fuller and an unidentified fourth man apprehended
and forced her to perform non-consensual oral sex on each of them. Shakur was
also charged with illegal possession of a firearm as two guns were found in the
hotel room.[160] Interviewed on The Arsenio Hall Show, Shakur said he was hurt
that "a woman would accuse me of
taking something from her", as he had been raised in a female household
and surrounded by women his whole life.
On December 1, 1994, Shakur was acquitted of three counts of
sodomy and the associated gun charges, but convicted of two counts of
first-degree sexual abuse for "forcibly
touching the woman's buttocks" in his hotel room. Jurors have said the
lack of evidence stymied a sodomy conviction. Shakur's lawyer characterized the
sentence as "out of line"
with the groping conviction and the setting of bail at $3 million as "inhumane". Shakur's accuser
later filed a civil suit against Shakur seeking $10 million for punitive
damages which was subsequently settled.
After Shakur had been convicted of sexual abuse, Jacques
Agnant's case was separated and closed via misdemeanor plea without
incarceration. A. J. Benza reported in New York Daily News Shakur's new disdain
for Agnant who Shakur theorized had set him up with the case. Shakur reportedly
believed his accuser was connected to and had sexual relations with Agnant and James "Henchman"
Rosemond, who he considered to be behind the 1994 Quad Studios shooting.
Shakur was unable to post the $3 million bond to keep
himself free until sentencing so he surrendered himself to authorities at the
Bellevue Hospital Jail Ward in New York City on December 23, 1994. At the time,
he was still recovering from injuries he received on November 30, when he was
shot five times and robbed at Quad Studios. In January 1995, Shakur was moved
to the North Infirmary Command (NIC) on Rikers Island in the Bronx. On February
7, 1995, he was sentenced to 18 months to 4+1⁄2 years in prison by a judge who
decried "an act of brutal violence
against a helpless woman".
In March 1995, Shakur was transferred to Clinton Correctional
Facility in Dannemora. While imprisoned, he began reading again, which he had
been unable to do as his career progressed due to his marijuana and alcohol
habits. Works such as The Prince by Italian philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli and
The Art of War by Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu sparked Shakur's interest
in philosophy, philosophy of war and military strategy. On April 29, 1995,
Shakur married his girlfriend Keisha Morris; the marriage was later annulled.
While in prison, Shakur exchanged letters with celebrities such as Jim Carrey
and Tony Danza among others. He was also visited by Al Sharpton, who helped
Shakur get released from solitary confinement.
By October 1995, pending judicial appeal, Shakur was
incarcerated in New York. On October 12, he bonded out of the maximum security
Dannemora Clinton Correctional Facility in the process of appealing his
conviction, once Suge Knight, CEO of Death Row Records, arraigned for posting
of his $1.4 million bond.
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