Subscribers can listen to the audio of this post here.
He was born Lesane Parish Crooks and his name was changed to honor the descendant of the last Incan monarch who led a revolt against the Spanish in 18th century Peru. After his rebellion failed, Túpac Amaru II was drawn and quartered and beheaded by the Spanish in 1781. Rapper Tupac Amaru Shakur also had an untimely death; he was killed by an “unknown” gunman in 1996.
--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: September 7, 1996--
Born in Harlem in 1971, Tupac’s mother changed his name when he was one year old because she wanted him to have the name of a revolutionary; his music would prove it so. Tupac’s family was involved in the Black Panther movement; his mother was tried and acquitted of conspiracy against the United States while eight months pregnant with him.
When he was 13, his family moved to Baltimore and he later enrolled in the Baltimore School for the Arts, studying poetry, acting, ballet, and jazz. He began his music career at 17 and by 21 was a rising star. He introduced social issues into his music at a time when gangsta rap was the rage, and rapidly climbed to superstardom with his 1996 double-disc album All Eyez on Me achieving Diamond sales status. He also acted in numerous films to critical acclaim.
In 1993 Tupac non-fatally shot two drunken off-duty police officers, who, by the sounds of things, had been acting like total dicks and were shooting at him. He was initially charged, then the prosecution said fuck this clusterfuck and dropped it. He spent a short time in jail in 1994 for beating another rapper with a baseball bat. That same year he was convicted of first-degree sexual abuse and sentenced to 1.5 to 4.5 years but was released after eight months on a $1.4 million bond paid by Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight pending judicial appeal. In 1994 Tupac was shot during a robbery attempt and he later blamed rappers P. Diddy and Biggie (and others) for setting it up as part of the growing West Coast vs. East Coast hip hop rivalry.
On the night of September 7, 1996, Tupac attended a Mike Tyson boxing match in Las Vegas. After the match Tupac and his entourage were involved in a fight with Crips gang member Orlando Anderson. Later that evening, while driving to the Death Row Records night club, a white Cadillac pulled up next to Tupac’s BMW and a Cadillac occupant shot Tupac four times with a .40 caliber pistol. Shakur died in hospital six days later at the age of 25. Anderson was the prime suspect, and probably did do it, but was never charged due to lack of evidence.
Conspiracy theories about the murder have run wild, as has Tupac’s legacy. With his posthumous sales he is one of the bestselling musical artists of all time, with over 75 million records sold.
Subscribe for access to cool shit:
Get the book ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY SH!T WENT DOWN