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Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2007, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world. The themes of most of Tupac's songs are the violence and hardship in inner cities, racism, other social problems, and conflicts with other rappers during the East Coast – West Coast hip hop rivalry. Shakur began his career as a roadie and backup dancer for the alternative hip hop group Digital Underground.
Tupac Amaru Shakur was born on the East Harlem section of Manhattan in New York City. He was named after Túpac Amaru II, a Peruvian revolutionary who led an indigenous uprising against Spain and was subsequently executed. His mother, Afeni Shakur, and his father, Billy Garland, were active members of the Black Panther Party in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s; Tupac was born just one month after his mother's acquittal on more than 150 charges of "Conspiracy against the United States government and New York landmarks" in the New York Panther 21 court case. Struggle and incarceration surrounded Shakur from an early age. His godfather, Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt, a high ranking Black Panther, was convicted of murdering a school teacher during a 1968 robbery, although his sentence was later overturned. His stepfather, Mutulu, spent four years at large on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list beginning in 1982. Mutulu was wanted in part for having helped his sister Assata Shakurto escape from a penitentiary in New Jersey, where she had been incarcerated for shooting a state trooper to death in 1973.
After completing his second year at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School he transferred to the Baltimore School for the Arts, where he studied acting, poetry, jazz, and ballet. He performed in Shakespeare plays, won most of the many rap competitions that he participated in and was remembered as one of the most popular kids in his school because of his sense of humor, superior rapping skills, and ability to mix in with all crowds. In June 1988, Shakur and his family moved to Marin City, California. He began attending the poetry classes of Leila Steinberg in 1989.That same year, Steinberg organized a concert it led to him being signed with Atron Gregory who set him up as a roadie and backup dancer with the young rap group Digital Underground in 1990.
Shakur's professional entertainment career began in the early 1990s, when he debuted his rapping skills in a vocal turn in Digital Underground's "Same Song" from the soundtrack to the 1991 film Nothing but Trouble Shakur appeared in the accompanying music video. After his rap debut, he performed with Digital Underground again on the album Sons of the P. Later that year , he released his first solo album, 2Pacalypse Now.
2Pacalypse Now did not do as well on the charts as future albums, spawning no top ten hits. On his second record, Shakur continued to rap about the social ills facing African-Americans, with songs like "The Streetz R Deathrow" and "Last Wordz". He also showed his compassionate side with the anthem "Keep Ya Head Up", while simultaneously putting his legendary aggressiveness on display with the title track from the album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z.. In late 1993, Shakur formed the group Thug Life with a number of his friends, including Big Syke, Macadoshis, his stepbrother Mopreme Shakur, and Rated R. The group released their only album Thug Life: Volume 1
The contradictory themes of social inequality and injustice, unbridled aggression, compassion, playfulness, and hope all continued to shape Shakur's work, as witnessed with the release of his incendiary 1995 album Me Against the World. In 1996, Shakur released All Eyez on Me. Many of these tracks are considered by many critics to be classics, All Eyez on Me was a change of style from his earlier works. While still containing socially conscious songs and themes, Shakur's album was heavily influenced by party tracks and tended to have a more "feel good" vibe than his first albums.
Shakur continued to produce hundreds of tracks during his time at Death Row, most of which would be released on his posthumous albums R U Still Down? (Remember Me), Still I Rise, Until the End of Time, Better Dayz, Loyal to the Game and Pac's Life. On June 4, 1996, he and Outlawz released the diss track "Hit 'Em Up", a scathing lyrical assault on Biggie and others associated with him. In the track, Shakur claimed to have had sexual intercourse with Faith Evans, Biggie's wife at the time, and attacks Bad Boy's street credibility. Though no hard evidence suggests so, Shakur was convinced that some members associated with Bad Boy had known about the '94 attack on him. Shakur aligned himself with Suge, Death Row's CEO, it added fuel to building an East Coast-West Coast conflict. Both sides remained bitter enemies until Shakur's death.
While incarcerated in Clinton Correctional Facility, Shakur read and studied Niccolò Machiavelli and other published works, which inspired his pseudonym "Makaveli" under which he released the album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. The album presents a stark contrast to previous works. Throughout the album, Shakur continues to focus on the themes of pain and aggression, making this album one of the emotionally darker works of his career. Shakur wrote and recorded all the lyrics in only three days and the production took another four days, combining for a total of seven days to complete the album .
On the night of September 7, 1996, Shakur attended the Mike Tyson–Bruce Seldon boxing match at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. After leaving the match, one of Suge's associates spotted 21-year-old Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson, a member of the Southside Crips, in the MGM Grand lobby and informed Shakur, who then attacked Anderson. Shakur's entourage, as well as Suge and his followers, assisted in assaulting Anderson. After the brawl, Shakur went to rendezvous with Suge to go to Death Row-owned Club 662
At 10:55 pm, while paused at a red light, Shakur rolled down his window and a photographer took his photograph. At around 11:00–11:05 pm, they were halted on Las Vegas Blvd. by Metro bicycle police for playing the car stereo too loud and not having license plates. The plates were then found in the trunk of Suge's car; they were released without being fined a few minutes later. At approximately 11:15 pm, a white, four-door, late-model Cadillac with an unknown number of occupants pulled up to the sedan's right side, rolled down one of the windows, and rapidly fired a volley of gunshots at Shakur, who was standing up through the sunroof; bullets hit him in the chest, pelvis, and his right hand and thigh. One of the rounds apparently ricocheted into Shakur's right lung. 6 Days later he died of complications, though he was sure the Cribbs gang colluding with Biggie were responsible no one has been charged and his is another unsolved murder.
After his death, three of Shakur's completed films, Bullet, Gridlock'd and Gang Related, were released and his star continued to rise as sales of his greatest hits went diamond and a whole string of posthumus albums were released in the years that followed.
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All Eyez On Me was released February 13, 1996 on Death Row Records and Interscope Records. The album is frequently recognized as one of the crowning achievements of 1990s rap music. It is easily the best production 2Pac's ever had on record and was certified 5× Platinum after just 2 months in April 1996 and 9× platinum in 1998. The album featured the Billboard Hot 100 number one singles "How Do U Want It" and "California Love". It featured 5 singles in all, the most of any 2Pac album. Moreover, All Eyez On Me made history as the first double-full-length original hip-hop studio album released for mass consumption—in this case, it was issued on two compact discs and a record four vinyl discs.
The songs on All Eyez On Me are, in general, unapologetic celebrations of living the "Thug Lifestyle". Though there is the occasional reminiscence about past and present friends, it is a definite move away from the social and political consciousness of 2Pacalypse Now. The hit single "2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted" is a collaboration with Snoop Dogg.
All Eyez On Me came about after Suge Knight, CEO of Death Row Records, bailed 2Pac out of jail in exchange for signing to Death Row, fulfilling part of 2Pac's brand new contract. This double-album served as the first two albums of his three album contract. The day he got out of jail, he didn't go to the clubs. He didn't go try to meet women. He went straight to the studio like he was on a mission, 2Pac re-emerged hardened and hungry, as he recorded "Ambitionz Az A Ridah" and "I ain't Mad At Cha." fresh out of jail. A legend in his own time, and All Eyez On Me stands as 2Pac's magnum opus.
2Pac - All Eyez On Me 1 ( 171mb)
101 Ambitionz Az A Ridah 4:39
102 All Bout U 4:37
103 Skandalouz 4:09
104 Got My Mind Made Up 5:13
105 How Do U Want It 4:47
106 2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted 4:07
107 No More Pain 6:14
108 Heartz Of Men 4:43
109 Life Goes On 5:02
110 Only God Can Judge Me 4:57
111 Tradin War Stories 5:29
112 California Love (Remix) 6:25
113 I Ain't Mad At Cha 4:53
114 What'z Ya Phone # 5:10
2Pac - All Eyez On Me 2 ( 154mb)
201 Can't C Me 5:30
202 Shorty Wanna Be A Thug 3:51
203 Holla At Me 4:56
204 Wonda Why They Call U Bytch 4:19
205 When We Ride 5:09
206 Thug Passion 5:08
207 Picture Me Rollin' 5:15
208 Check Out Time 4:39
209 Ratha Be Ya Nigga 4:14
210 All Eyez On Me 5:08
211 Run Tha Streetz 5:17
212 Ain't Hard 2 Find 4:29
213 Heaven Ain't Hard 2 Find 3:58
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While incarcerated in Clinton Correctional Facility, Shakur read and studied Niccolò Machiavelli and other published works, which inspired his pseudonym "Makaveli" under which he released the album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. The album presents a stark contrast to previous works. Throughout the album, Shakur continues to focus on the themes of pain and aggression, making this album one of the emotionally darker works of his career. August 1996 Shakur wrote and recorded all the lyrics in only three days and the production took another four days, combining for a total of seven days to complete the album . The intro and the album foreshadows his impending death, i'm sure he felt his time was up.
Makaveli – The Don Killuminati (The 7 Day Theory) ( 140mb)
01 Intro 4:57
02 Bomb First (My Second Reply) 5:09
03 Hail Mary 5:09
04 Toss It Up 5:06
05 To Live & Die In L.A.4:33
06 Blasphemy 4:38
07 Life Of An Outlaw 4:54
08 Just Like Daddy 5:08
09 Krazy 5:15
10 White Man'z World 5:38
11 Me And My Girlfriend 5:08
12 Hold Ya Head 3:58
13 Against All Odds 4:37
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2 comments:
Rap music is a lot like listening to an evangelist. Always perpetrated by a fraud with a redundant fantastical message and story only understood and accepted by sheep that are lost.
Well that explains it's current populairity, still there's a very big difference with an evangelist, they really sell snakeoil, sigars from your own box. Rap has a very materialistic outlook. In 2Pacs case he's certainly politically and poetically in his own league.
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