By: Symone Daniels
HOUSTON — June 16 marks the day a legend and revolutionary in his own right was born. Tupac Shakur was an American rapper and actor. As of 2007, Shakur has sold over 75 million records worldwide. His double disc albums “All Eyez on Me,” which includes “Ambitionz Az A Ridah” and “How Do You Want It? “and his Greatest Hits album are among the best-selling albums in the United States.
Shakur began his career as a roadie, backup dancer and MC for Digital Underground before becoming a solo artist. Most of the themes in Shakur’s earlier songs – like “Brenda’s Got a Baby” — talked about the violence and hardship in the inner cities, racism and other social problems. Both his mom and step dad were members of the Black Panther Party, whose ideals were reflected in his songs.
During the latter part of his career, Shakur was a vocal participant during the East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry, submerged in conflicts with other rappers, producer, and record label staff members, most notably The Notorious B.I.G. In addition to his music career , Pac also acted in films and on TV. He starred in various films in the 1990s, including Juice and Poetic Justice.
Sadly on September 7, 1996, at the age of 25, Pac was shot in a drive-by shooting at the intersection of Flamingo Road and Koval Lane in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was taken to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, where he died from his injuries six days later.
Still to this day, he has been listed and ranked as one of the greatest artists of all time by many publications, including Rolling Stone, which ranked him 86th on its list of “The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.” He is consistently ranked as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time. On April 7, 2017, Shakur was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The legacy he left on this Earth still lives on.
You can check out his life in the “All Eyez On Me” BioPic which is out in theatres everywhere today.
