1993 shooting in Atlanta
On October 31, 1993, Shakur was arrested in Atlanta for
shooting two off-duty police officers, brothers Mark Whitwell and Scott
Whitwell. The Atlanta police claimed the shooting occurred after the brothers
were almost struck by a car carrying Shakur while they were crossing the street
with their wives. As they argued with the driver, Shakur's car pulled up and he
shot the Whitwells in the buttocks and the abdomen. However, there are
conflicting accounts that the Whitwells were harassing a black motorist and
uttered racial slurs. According to some witnesses, Shakur and his entourage had
fired in self-defense as Mark Whitwell shot at them first.
Shakur was charged with two counts of aggravated assault.
Mark Whitwell was charged with firing at Shakur's car and later with making
false statements to investigators. Scott Whitwell admitted to possessing a gun
he had taken from a Henry County police evidence room. Prosecutors ultimately
dropped all charges against both parties. Mark Whitwell resigned from the force
seven months after the shooting. Both brothers filed civil suits against
Shakur; Mark Whitwell's suit was settled out of court, while Scott Whitwell's
$2 million lawsuit resulted in a default judgment entered against the rapper's
estate in 1998.
1994 Quad Studios
shooting
On November 30, 1994, while in New York recording verses for
a mixtape of Ron G, Shakur was repeatedly distracted by his beeper. Music
manager James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond, reportedly offered Shakur
$7,000 to stop by Quad Studios, in Times Square, that night to record a verse
for his client Little Shawn. Shakur was unsure, but agreed to the session as he
needed the cash to offset legal costs. He arrived with Stretch and one or two
others. In the lobby, three men robbed and beat him at gunpoint; Shakur
resisted and was shot. Shakur speculated that the shooting had been a set-up.
Against doctor's advice, Shakur checked out of Metropolitan
Hospital Center a few hours after surgery and secretly went to the house of the
actress Jasmine Guy to recuperate. The next day, Shakur arrived at a Manhattan
courthouse bandaged in a wheelchair to receive the jury's verdict for his
sexual abuse case. Shakur spent the next few weeks being cared for by his
mother and a private doctor at Guy's home. The Fruit of Islam and former
members of the Black Panther Party stood guard to protect him.
Setup accusations
involving the Notorious B.I.G.
In a 1995 interview with Vibe, Shakur accused Sean Combs,
Jimmy Henchman, and the Notorious B.I.G, – who were at Quad Studios at the time
– among others, of setting up or being privy to the November 1994 robbery and
shooting. Vibe alerted the names of the accused. The accusations were
significant to the East-West Coast rivalry in hip-hop; in 1995, months after
the robbery, Combs and B.I.G. released the track "Who Shot Ya?", which Shakur took as a mockery of his
shooting and thought they could be responsible, so he released a diss song, "Hit 'Em Up", in which he
targeted B.I.G., Combs, their record label, Junior M.A.F.I.A., and at the end
of "Hit 'Em Up", he
mentions rivals Mobb Deep and Chino XL.
In March 2008, Chuck Philips, in the Los Angeles Times,
reported on the 1994 ambush and shooting. The newspaper later retracted the
article since it relied partially on FBI documents later discovered forged,
supplied by a man convicted of fraud. In June 2011, convicted murderer Dexter
Isaac, incarcerated in Brooklyn, issued a confession that he had been one of
the gunmen who had robbed and shot Shakur at Henchman's order. Philips then
named Isaac as one of his own, retracted article's unnamed sources.
Other criminal or
civil cases
1991 Oakland Police
Department lawsuit
On October 17, 1991, two Oakland Police Department officers
stopped Shakur for jaywalking at a downtown intersection. According to Shakur,
officers Alex Boyovic and Kevin Rogers asked him for his ID and pressed him
about his name before choking him, throwing him to the ground and slamming his
head on the concrete. Shakur filed a $10 million lawsuit against the officers
for police brutality. The case was settled for about $43,000. It was later
revealed that this incident was the onset of Shakur's autoimmune disease
alopecia, which led him to shave his head bald.
Misdemeanor assault
convictions
On April 5, 1993, charged with felonious assault, Shakur
allegedly threw a microphone and swung a baseball bat at rapper Chauncey Wynn,
of the group M.A.D., at a concert at Michigan State University. Shakur claimed
the bat was a part of his show, that he never swung it, and that there was no
criminal intent. Nonetheless, on September 14, 1994, Shakur pleaded guilty to a
misdemeanor and was sentenced to 30 days in jail, twenty of them suspended on
condition that he complete 35 hours of community service.
Slated to star as Sharif in the 1993 Hughes Brothers' film
Menace II Society, Shakur was replaced by actor Vonte Sweet after allegedly
assaulting one of the film's directors, Allen Hughes. In early 1994, Shakur
served 15 days in jail after being found guilty of the assault. The
prosecution's evidence included a Yo! MTV Raps interview where Shakur boasts
that he had "beat up the director of
Menace II Society".
Concealed weapon case
In 1994, Shakur was arrested in Los Angeles, when he was
stopped by police on suspicion of speeding. Police found a semiautomatic pistol
in the car, a felony offense because a prior conviction in 1993 in Los Angeles
for carrying a concealed firearm. On April 4, 1996, Shakur was sentenced to 120
days in jail for violating his release terms and failing to appear for a road
cleanup job, but was allowed to remain free awaiting appeal. On June 7, his
sentence was deferred via appeals pending in other cases.
1995 wrongful death
suit
On August 22, 1992, in Marin City, Shakur performed outdoors
at a festival. For about an hour after the performance, he signed autographs
and posed for photos. A conflict broke out and Shakur allegedly drew a legally
carried Colt Mustang but dropped it on the ground. Shakur claimed that someone
with him then picked it up when it accidentally discharged.
About 100 yards (90 meters) away in a schoolyard, Qa'id
Walker-Teal, a boy aged 6 on his bicycle, was fatally shot in the forehead.
Police matched the bullet to a .38-caliber pistol registered to Shakur. His
stepbrother Maurice Harding was arrested in suspicion of having fired the gun,
but no charges were filed. Lack of witnesses stymied prosecution. In 1995,
Qa'id's mother filed a wrongful death suit against Shakur, which was settled
for about $300,000 to $500,000.
C. Delores Tucker
lawsuit
Civil rights activist and fierce rap critic C. Delores
Tucker sued Shakur's estate in federal court, claiming that lyrics in "How Do U Want It" and "Wonda Why They Call U Bitch"
inflicted emotional distress, were slanderous, and invaded her privacy. The
case was later dismissed.
Death
On the night of September 7, 1996, Shakur was in Las Vegas,
Nevada, to celebrate his business partner Tracy Danielle Robinson's birthday
and attended the Bruce Seldon vs. Mike Tyson boxing match with Suge Knight at
the MGM Grand. Afterward in the lobby one of Knight's associates spotted Orlando "Baby
Lane" Anderson, a Southside Compton Crip, and told Shakur he had
tried to rob them earlier that year. The hotel's surveillance footage shows the
ensuing assault on Anderson. Shakur soon stopped by his hotel room and then
headed with Knight to his Death Row nightclub, Club 662, in a black BMW 750iL
sedan, part of a larger convoy.
At about 11 pm on Las Vegas Boulevard, bicycle-mounted
police stopped the car for its loud music and lack of license plates. The
plates were found in the trunk, and the car was released without a ticket. At
about 11:15 pm at a stop light, a white, four-door, late-model Cadillac sedan
pulled up to the passenger side and an occupant rapidly fired into the car.
Shakur was struck four times: once in the arm, once in the thigh, and twice in
the chest with one bullet entering his right lung. Shards hit Knight's head.
Frank Alexander, Shakur's bodyguard, was not in the car at the time. He would
say he had been tasked to drive the car of Shakur's girlfriend, Kidada Jones.
Shakur was taken to the University Medical Center of Southern
Nevada where he was heavily sedated and put on life support. In the
intensive-care unit on the afternoon of September 13, 1996, Shakur died from
internal bleeding. He was pronounced dead at 4:03 pm. The official causes of
death are respiratory failure and cardiopulmonary arrest associated with
multiple gunshot wounds. Shakur's body was cremated the next day. Members of
the Outlawz, recalling a line in his song "Black
Jesus", (although uncertain of the artist's attempt at a literal
meaning chose to interpret the request seriously) smoked some of his body's
ashes after mixing them with marijuana.
In 2002, investigative journalist Chuck Philips, after a
year of work, reported in the Los Angeles Times that Anderson, a Southside
Compton Crip, having been attacked by Suge and Shakur's entourage at the MGM
Hotel after the boxing match, had fired the fatal gunshots, but that Las Vegas
police had interviewed him only once, briefly, before his death in an unrelated
shooting. Philips's 2002 article also alleges the involvement of Christopher "Notorious B.I.G." Wallace and several within New
York City's criminal underworld. Both Anderson and Wallace denied involvement,
while Wallace offered a confirmed alibi. Music journalist John Leland, in The
New York Times, called the evidence "inconclusive".
In 2011, via the Freedom of Information Act, the FBI
released documents related to its investigation which described an extortion
scheme by the Jewish Defense League (classified as "a right wing terrorist group" by the FBI) that included
making death threats against Shakur and other rappers, but did not indicate a
direct connection to his murder.
On July 18, 2023, the Las Vegas Police Department executed a
search warrant in connection with Shakur's murder.
On September 29, 2023, the AP reported that Las Vegas police
had arrested a suspect, Duane "Keefe D" Davis, in
Shakur's murder. Police had two months previously served a search warrant at
his wife's home in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson. Davis pleaded not guilty
on November 2, 2023, in Las Vegas.
Artistry
Shakur's music and philosophical outlook were deeply
influenced by a wide range of American, African American, and global
influences, including the Black Panther Party, Black Nationalism,
egalitarianism, and the concept of liberty. Moreover, Shakur's artistic
sensibilities were enriched by his passion for theater and admiration for the
works of William Shakespeare. Notably, he honed his theatrical skills as a
student at the Baltimore School for the Arts, where he delved into the
psychological complexities inherent in inter-gang warfare and inter-cultural
conflicts, reflecting themes explored in Shakespearean dramas.
2Pacalypse Now (1991), showcased his socially conscious
perspective. Through powerful tracks like "Brenda's
Got a Baby", "Trapped", and "Part Time Mutha", Shakur addressed social injustice,
poverty, and police brutality. In doing so, he contributed to the ongoing
success of rap groups such as Boogie Down Productions, Public Enemy, X-Clan,
and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, while establishing himself as one
of the pioneering socially conscious rappers from the West Coast.
Continuing his focus on the social challenges faced by
African American people, Shakur's second album featured songs like "The Streetz R Deathrow" and "Last Wordz". Simultaneously,
he showcased his compassionate side with the empowering anthem "Keep Ya Head Up", and his
legendary intensity with the title track from the album Strictly 4 My
N.I.G.G.A.Z... Additionally, he paid homage to his former group Digital
Underground by including them on the playful track "I Get Around". Throughout his career, Shakur's
subsequent albums reflected a growing assertiveness in his approach.
Shakur's body of work encompassed contrasting themes,
including social inequality, injustice, compassion, playfulness, and hope.
These elements continued to shape his artistry, exemplified by his explosive
1995 album Me Against the World. The release of All Eyez on Me in 1996 further
solidified his reputation, with tracks like "Ambitionz
az a Ridah", "I Ain't Mad at Cha", "California Love",
"Life Goes On", and "Picture
Me Rollin'" being hailed as classics by critics. Shakur described All
Eyez on Me as a celebration of life, and the album achieved both critical acclaim
and commercial success.
Legacy and
remembrance
Shakur is considered one of the most influential rappers of
all time. With Rolling Stone listing him as one of greatest artists of all
time. He is widely credited as an important figure in hip hop culture, and his prominence
in pop culture in general has been noted. Dotdash, formerly About.com, while
ranking him fifth among the greatest rappers, nonetheless notes, "Tupac Shakur is the most influential
hip-hop artist of all time. Even in death, 2Pac remains a transcendental rap
figure." Yet to some, he was a "father
figure" who, said rapper YG, "makes
you want to be better—at every level." In 2023, Billboard ranked Tupac
at number 4 among the top 50 rappers of all time.
AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine described Shakur as "the unlikely martyr of gangsta
rap", with Shakur paying the ultimate price of a criminal lifestyle.
Shakur was described as one of the top two American rappers in the 1990s, along
with Snoop Dogg. The online rap magazine AllHipHop held a 2007 roundtable at
which New York rappers Cormega, citing tour experience with New York rap duo
Mobb Deep, commented that B.I.G. ran New York, but Shakur ran America. Shakur
emerged as a celebrated artist, earning recognition for his astonishingly
prolific output and unwavering commitment to his craft.
According to British writer Rob Marriott, he deemed the act
of tying a bandana into rabbit ears as one of the most distinctive and
instantly recognizable style choices in the world of hip-hop. Regarded as a sex
symbol, his unique style helped shape the fashion landscape of the 1990s and
continues to influence artists and fashion enthusiasts to this day.
In 2010, writing Rolling Stone magazine's entry on Shakur at
No. 86 among the "100 greatest
artists", New York rapper 50 Cent appraised:
Every rapper who grew
up in the Nineties owes something to Tupac. He didn't sound like anyone who
came before him.
According to music journalist Chuck Philips, Shakur "had helped elevate rap from a crude
street fad to a complex art form, setting the stage for the current global
hip-hop phenomenon." Philips writes, "The slaying silenced one of modern music's most eloquent voices—a
ghetto poet whose tales of urban alienation captivated young people of all
races and backgrounds." Via numerous fans perceiving him, despite his
questionable conduct, as a martyr, "the
downsizing of martyrdom cheapens its use", Michael Eric Dyson
concedes. But Dyson adds, "Some, or
even most, of that criticism can be conceded without doing damage to Tupac's
martyrdom in the eyes of those disappointed by more traditional martyrs."
In 2014, BET explained that "his confounding mixture of ladies' man, thug, revolutionary and
poet has forever altered our perception of what a rapper should look like,
sound like and act like. In 50 Cent, Ja Rule, Lil Wayne, newcomers like Freddie
Gibbs and even his friend-turned-rival B.I.G., it's easy to see that Pac is the
most copied MC of all time. There are murals bearing his likeness in New York,
Brazil, Sierra Leone, Bulgaria and countless other places; he even has statues
in Atlanta and Germany. Quite simply, no other rapper has captured the world's
attention the way Tupac did and still does." More simply, his
writings, published after his death, inspired rapper YG to return to school and
get his GED. In 2020, former California Senator and current Vice-president
Kamala Harris called Shakur the "best
rapper alive", which she explained because "West Coast girls think 2Pac lives on".
Tupac Amaru Shakur
Foundation
In 1997, Shakur's mother founded the Shakur Family
Foundation. Later renamed the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation, or TASF, it
launched with a stated mission to "provide
training and support for students who aspire to enhance their creative
talents." The TASF sponsors essay contests, charity events, a
performing arts day camp for teenagers, and undergraduate scholarships. In June
2005, the TASF opened the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts, or TASCA, in
Stone Mountain, Georgia. It closed in 2015.
Academic appraisal
In 1997, the University of California, Berkeley, offered a
course led by a student titled "History
98: Poetry and History of Tupac Shakur". In April 2003, Harvard
University cosponsored the symposium "All
Eyez on Me: Tupac Shakur and the Search for the Modern Folk Hero". The
papers presented cover his ranging influence from entertainment to sociology.
Calling him a "Thug Nigga
Intellectual", an "organic
intellectual", English scholar Mark Anthony Neal assessed his death as
leaving a "leadership void amongst
hip-hop artists", as this "walking
contradiction" helps, Neal explained, "make being an intellectual accessible to ordinary people."
Tracing Shakur's mythical status, Murray Forman discussed
him as "O.G.", or "Ostensibly Gone", with fans,
using digital mediums, "resurrecting
Tupac as an ethereal life force." Music scholar Emmett Price, calling
him a "Black folk hero",
traced his persona to Black American folklore's tricksters, which, after
abolition, evolved into the urban "bad-man".
Yet in Shakur's "terrible sense
of urgency", Price identified instead a quest to "unify mind, body, and spirit."
Graffiti of Tupac
Shakur
Multimedia releases
In 2005, Death Row released on DVD, Tupac: Live at the House
of Blues, his final recorded live performance, an event on July 4, 1996. In
August 2006, Tupac Shakur Legacy, an "interactive
biography" by Jamal Joseph, arrived with previously unpublished family
photographs, intimate stories, and over 20 detachable copies of his handwritten
song lyrics, contracts, scripts, poetry, and other papers. In 2006, the Shakur
album Pac's Life was released and, like the previous, was among the recording
industry's most popular releases. In 2008, his estate made about $15 million.
On April 15, 2012, at the Coachella Music Festival, rappers
Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre joined a Shakur "hologram"
(Although the media referred to the technology as a hologram, technically it
was a projection created with the Musion Eyeliner), and, as a partly virtual
trio, performed the Shakur songs "Hail
Mary" and "2 of Amerikaz Most
Wanted". There were talks of a tour, but Dre refused. Meanwhile, the
Greatest Hits album, released in 1998, and which in 2000 had left the pop
albums chart, the Billboard 200, returned to the chart and reached No. 129,
while also other Shakur albums and singles drew sales gains.
Film and stage
The documentary film Tupac: Resurrection was released in
November 2003. It was nominated for Best Documentary at the 2005 Academy
Awards.
In 2014, the play Holler If Ya Hear Me, based on Shakur's
lyrics, played on Broadway, but, among Broadway's worst-selling musicals in
recent years, ran only six weeks. In development since 2013, a Shakur biopic,
All Eyez on Me, began filming in Atlanta in December 2015. It was released on
June 16, 2017, on Shakur's 46th birthday, albeit to generally negative reviews.
In August 2019, a docuseries directed by Allen Hughes,
Outlaw: The Saga of Afeni and Tupac Shakur, was announced.
Unpublished works
On March 30, 2022, one of Shakur's earliest pieces of
writing, an unpublished booklet of haiku poetry, was auctioned by Sotheby's
estimated at $200,000 to $300,000 and hammered down at $302,400 plus buyer
premium. Shakur was 11 years old when he wrote and illustrated the booklet for
Jamal Joseph and three other Black Panther Party members while they were
incarcerated at Leavenworth Prison. Even at his young age, Shakur's writing
dealt with themes such as black liberation, mass incarceration, race, and
masculinity. The booklet features a self-portrait of Shakur sleeping, pen in
hand, dreaming of the Black Panthers being freed from prison, and signed with a
heart and the phrase "Tupac Shakur,
Future Freedom Fighter".
A dream is lovely.
You drift to another
land.
I dream in the night.
Awards and honors
In 2002, Shakur was inducted into the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame.
In 2004, Shakur was among the honorees at the first Hip Hop Honors.
In 2006, Shakur's close friend and classmate Jada Pinkett
Smith donated $1 million to their high school alma mater, the Baltimore School
for the Arts, and named the new theater in his honor. In 2021, Pinkett Smith
honored Shakur's 50th birthday by releasing a never before seen poem she had
received from him.
In 2009, drawing praise, the Vatican added "Changes", a 1998 posthumous
track, to its online playlist. On June 23, 2010, the Library of Congress added "Dear Mama" to the National
Recording Registry, the third rap song.
In 2015, the Grammy Museum opened an exhibition dedicated to
Shakur.
In his first year of eligibility, Shakur was inducted into
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 7, 2017.
In January 2022, the exhibition Tupac Shakur: Wake Me When
I'm Free opened at The Canvas at L.A. Live in Los Angeles.
Section of McArthur
Boulevard named Tupac Shakur Way
On May 16, 2023, Oakland City Council voted to name the
section of MacArthur Boulevard between Grand Avenue and Van Buren Avenue "Tupac Shakur Way".
On June 7, 2023, Shakur received a star on the Hollywood
Walk of Fame. His half-sister, Sekyiwa "Set"
Shakur, accepted the award in his honor.
Rankings
2002: Forbes magazine ranked Shakur at 10th among top-earning
dead celebrities.
2003: MTV's viewers voted Shakur the greatest MC.
2005: Shakur was voted No.1 on Vibe's online poll of "Top 10 Best of All Time".
2006: MTV staff placed him second on its list of "The Greatest MCs Of All Time".
2012: The Source magazine ranked him No. 5 among "The Top 50 Lyricists".
2007: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame placed All Eyez on Me
at No. 90 and Me Against the World at No. 170.
2010: Rolling Stone magazine placed Shakur at No. 86 among the
"100 Greatest Artists".
2020: All Eyez on Me was ranked No. 436 on Rolling Stone's
list of the "500 Greatest Albums Of
All Time".
2023: Billboard ranked Shakur at number 4 of the top 50
rappers.
Discography
Studio albums
2Pacalypse Now (1991)
Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z... (1993)
Me Against the World (1995)
All Eyez on Me (1996)
The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (1996) (as Makaveli)
Posthumous studio albums
R U Still Down? (Remember Me) (1997)
Until the End of Time (2001)
Better Dayz (2002)
Loyal to the Game (2004)
Pac's Life (2006)
Collaboration albums
Thug Life, Volume I with Thug Life (1994)
Posthumous
collaboration album
Still I Rise with Outlawz (1999)
Filmography
1991 Nothing but
Trouble Himself (in a fictional
context) Brief appearance as part of
the group Digital Underground
1992 Juice Roland Bishop First starring role
1993 Poetic
Justice Lucky Co-starred with Janet Jackson
1993 A Different
World Piccolo Episode: Homie Don't Ya Know Me?
1993 In Living
Color Himself Season 5, Episode: 3
1994 Above the
Rim Birdie Co-starred with Duane Martin. Final film release during his
lifetime
1995 Murder Was
the Case: The Movie Sniper Uncredited; segment: "Natural Born Killaz"
1996 Saturday
Night Special Himself (guest host) 1 episode
1996 Saturday
Night Live Himself (musical guest) Episode: "Tom
Arnold/Tupac Shakur"
1996 Bullet Tank Released
one month after Shakur's death
1997 Gridlock'd Ezekiel
"Spoon" Whitmore Released four months after Shakur's
death
1997 Gang Related Detective Jake Rodriguez Shakur's last performance in a film
2001 Baby Boy Himself Archive footage
2003 Tupac:
Resurrection Himself Archive footage
2009 Notorious Himself Archive footage
2015 Straight
Outta Compton Himself Archive footage
2017 All Eyez on
Me Himself Archive footage
2023 Transformers:
Rise of the Beasts Himself Archive footage
Portrayals in film
2001 Too Legit:
The MC Hammer Story Lamont
Bentley Biographical film
about MC Hammer
2009 Notorious Anthony Mackie Biographical film about the
Notorious B.I.G.
2015 Straight
Outta Compton Marcc Rose Biographical film about N.W.A
2016 Surviving
Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel'le Adrian
Arthur Biographical film about
Michel'le
2017 All Eyez on
Me Demetrius Shipp, Jr. Biographical film about Tupac Shakur
Documentaries
Shakur's life has been explored in several documentaries,
most notably the Academy Award-nominated Tupac: Resurrection (2003).
1997: Tupac Shakur: Thug Immortal
1997: Tupac Shakur: Words Never Die (TV)
2001: Tupac Shakur: Before I Wake...
2001: Welcome to Deathrow
2002: Tupac Shakur: Thug Angel
2002: Biggie & Tupac
2002: Tha Westside
2003: 2Pac 4 Ever
2003: Tupac: Resurrection
2004: Tupac vs.
2004: Tupac: The Hip Hop Genius (TV)
2006: So Many Years, So Many Tears
2015: Murder Rap: Inside the Biggie and Tupac Murders
2017: Who killed Tupac?
2017: Who Shot Biggie & Tupac?
2018: Unsolved: Murders of Biggie and Tupac?
2021: The Life & Death of Tupac Shakur
2023: Dear Mama
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