Remembering Tupac Shakur

Lesane Parish Crooks was born June 16, 1971 in New York City. A revolutionary at heart, Lesane demanded his parents change his name to Tupac at age 2.

In 1984 Tupac moved to Baltimore where he attended The Babe Ruth School of the Arts, where he studied acting, poetry, jazz, and ballet. He joined the bowling, tennis and badminton teams.

2Pacalypse

Tupac’s debut album, ‘2Pacalypse Now’ garnered 3 singles and set the stage for Tupac as a rising new star on the scene. His third album, arriving in March 1995, ‘Me Against the World’, is now hailed as his magnum opus, and commonly ranks among the greatest, most influential rap albums. The album sold 240,000 copies in its first week, setting a then record for highest first-week sales for a solo male rapper.

Remembering Tupac Shakur — Tupac Shakur Illustration By Paul King Art

Shakur sold over 75 million records and was an international superstar. Then came the great East Coast vs West Coast Rap Wars. Tupac Shakur and Biggie both ended up shot to death. This reminds me of the great Motown Wars of the 1960’s when The Temptations shot up The Four Tops.

Throughout time there have been celebrity feuds. Just recently there was the great comedy wars of 2022. Remember when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars for making a joke about Jada’s bald head? Did you know that there is a long history of violence at the Oscars? In 1972, 50 years ago to the day, Sammy Davis Jr. slapped the $hit out of Nipsey Russell for making a funny rhyme about Altovise’s coochie.

No one was ever arrested for the murder but many have said Tupac may have been shot by Hillary Clinton and/or Bill Cosby because he had dirt on both of them. We may never know. RIP Tupac.