- Appeared in the Salt-N-Pepa video, “Whatta Man”
- Died on a Friday the 13th
- Kidada Jones, daughter of Quincy Jones and fiance of Tupac, has a tattoo of Tupac on her arm.
- At the Baltimore School of the arts, Tupac met Jada Pinkett, who would become a close friend of his
- While he was with Digital Underground, someone once shoved a 12 gauge shotgun in Tupac’s face because of a dispute over a woman at a Martin Luther King Jr festival.
- Wrote a song about his mother called “Dear Mama” while in prison.
- Renamed Tupac Amaru Shakur in 1972 by his mother after Tupac Amaru, an Inca who was sentenced to death by the Spaniards. Tupac Amaru, in the Inca language, means “shining serpent”.
- Tupac’s first appearance ever was on Digital Underground’s Same Song where he raps wearing West African war clothes in the video.
- When Tupac was 12 years old, his mother enrolled him in Harlems 127thSt Ensemble. He played Travis in “A Raisin in The Sun” in his first acting role.
- Son of black panther Afeni Shakur; grew up in Harlem, Baltimore, and Marin County, California.
- He had the words “thug life” tattooed across his abdomen.
- Was engaged to Kidada Jones
- Was going to play the role of Malik in Higher Learning (1995)
- More of his music has been released since his death than was while he was alive.
- Founding Member of the Outlawz
- Used the name Makaveli which is an altered spelling of Machiavelli, about whom he read while in prison.
- In the song “Life Goes On” from the “All Eyez on Me” album, he rhymes about his own funeral.
- As a young man, Tupac also studied dance, including ballet.
- Tupac is listed as the most successful gangsta MC in the “Guinness Book of World Records.”
- Grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
- Was cast in the movie Woo (1998), but was shot five days before principal photography began.
- He was offered a record contract at the age of 13. However, his mother refused to let him sign anything at such a young age. She felt he had a lot to learn about the world before joining the music industry.
- He read for the part of “Bubba” in Forrest Gump (1994).
- 10 albums have been released after his 1996 death; all have gone platinum.
- He was voted the 86th Greatest Rock ‘n Roll Artist of all time by Rolling Stone.
- In November 1994, he was robbed and shot five times by a pair of muggers in the lobby of a New York recording studio. Tupac survived the attack, and afterwards frequently boasted of his durability in his lyrics.
- Was originally cast in Menace II Society (1993) but was fired after a physical altercation with director Allen Hughes.
- As a teenager, he studied drama at Baltimore’s School for the Arts, where he rhymed under the name MC New York.
- When he was 12 years old, his mother enrolled him in Harlem’s 127th St Ensemble. He played Travis in “A Raisin in The Sun” in his first acting role
- Started his career on Tommy Boy/Warner Bros. Records with Digital Underground.
- As a young man, he also studied ballet and dance
- His 1996 song “Ghetto Gospel” was released in 2005, with some vocals by Elton John, and went to #1 in the UK, despite the fact he had been dead for eight years.
- Was a good friend of fellow hip-hop MC M.C. Hammer, who also was from Oakland, California, USA.
- His albums have sold 38 million copies in the USA alone.
- Has been rapping since 18 (1989).
- Tupac studied drama at Baltimore’s School For The Arts, where he rapped under the name MC New York.
- According to Guiness Book of Records 2004, he is the highest selling rap/hip-hop artist selling over 67 million copies worldwide
- In a 2005 Rolling Stones Magazine Vote, Tupac was named #6 of the ‘100 immortal artists of all time’ behind the likes of Elvis and Lennon
- He is the first rap/hip-hop artist in history to have a wax model of himself set to be placed in Madamme Tussaud’s in Las Vegas
- Appeared on Forbes’ “Top Earning Dead Celebrities” list in 2002, 2003 and 2004 with earnings of $7 million, $12 million and $5 million in each respective year.
- Wrote a song, but died before he could finish it. Rap artist Eminem finished the song with his own lyrics and released it shortly afterwards.
- First music artist to have a #1 LP while being in jail
- Biological Father Is Billy Garland.
- The harmonica in “So Many Tears” is a sample from Stevie Wonder’s song “That Girl”, which spent 9 weeks at number one on the R&B charts in 1982.
- His song “Hit ‘Em Up”, which Shakur considered a “classic battle record” is scathing attack on one-time friend Notorious BIG, Bad Boy Records, and Puff Daddy. In addition, Shakur claimed that he slept with Faith Evans (Notorious BIG’s wife) in the song’s lyrics.
- Was a fan of actor Tim Roth and was delighted to learn he would work with him on “Gridlock’d”, released after Shakur’s death.
- Read the article in “Entertainment Weekly” about his “Me Against The World” album’s debut at number one, while incarcerated. The album’s title song also appeared in Michael Bay’s 1995 film “Bad Boys”, which opened in March– while Shakur was behind bars.
- Cited Prince as an inspiration and sampled his music on the “All Eyez On Me” album. Shakur mentioned in an MTV interview that “he [Prince] loves women like I love women.”.
- Used an interpolation of the 1984 El Debarge song “A Dream” for his hit “I Ain’t Mad At Ya”. Tupac’s version, however, is at a faster tempo than the original.
- Recorded much of his vocals of the “All Eyez On Me” album with a Neumann U87 microphone. In addition, entire album was recorded on analog tape. This was considered somewhat archaic by 1995 recording standards, as much of the recording industry had transitioned to digital recording. (However, it should be noted that Dr. Dre, who produced two songs for the album still uses analog tape to record his music, as of late 2006).
- The song “To Live and Die in LA”, was called by Shakur (who recorded the song under the name “Makaveli”, for the “Seven Day Theory” album) “California Love, part 2– without gay-ass Dre.” It is unknown if “gay-ass Dre” is serious slur against Dr. Dre, who left Shakur’s label Death Row records shortly after producing two tracks for “All Eyez On Me”.
- Shakur considered singer Don McClean (best known as the singer/songwriter of the 1972 hit “American Pie”) and Kate Bush as two influences in his life. Shakur also saw McClean’s hit “Vincent” (a tale of painter Vincent Van Gogh) as one particular inspiration. In addition, Shakur cited African-American poet Maya Angelou and William Shakespeare as being equally important to him.
- Gang member Orlando Anderson, often cited as Tupac’s killer, was later murdered himself during an altercation at a LA car wash, on May 29th 1998. It should be noted that Anderson was never charged in the slaying.
- Tupac is understood to have been offered a record deal at the age of 13, only for Afeni to turn it down as she thought he was to young for such a things.
- Tupac listened to artists from various different genres of music such as; Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters and Jimmy Hendrix.
- Biggie Smalls used to call Tupac ‘duke’.
- When Tupac was young and living in Baltimore, he studied ballet and dance and the local performing arts school.
- Kidada Jones, daughter of Quincy Jones and fianc? of Tupac, has a tattoo of Tupac on her arm.
- Tupac was a huge fan of Jim Carrey.
- Porn Star, Spontaneous XXXStacy, has a tattoo on her arm of Tupacs name along with the title of “Keep Ya Head Up”.
- When Tupac first moved to California he was homeless for 2 years and was living in shelters.
- Tupac’s favourite Food was Fried Chicken Wings with Hot Sauce.
- His favourite drink was Orange Pop.
- His favourite colours were Black and Gold.
- Tupac intended for “R U Still Down?” to be released.
- Before becoming famous Tupac was part of the local Baltimore TV news Special. The program, called “Saturday Night Specials,” was on a type of gun. Tupac spoke with great knowledge on the guns, speaking on how they were poorly and cheaply made.
- The video tape named “Tupac and Jada Home video” which appears on Tupac: Resurrection, was recorded at King’s Dominion Amusement Park.
- Herbie Lovebug, manger of “Salt-N-Peppa,” was once asked by Tupac’s group Born Busy to hear one of their raps. Herbie told them “Naw, I aint got time for this shit I gotta be on a plane in ten hours!” Years later when Tupac was at the opening of “Juice,” Herbie approached him and expressed a desire to work with him. Tupac’s reply wasn’t one Herbie was looking for.
- Tupac turned up at a ball at the Baltimore School Of The Art’s dressed as Shaka Zulu. His roommate and close friend John Cole dressed as his white slave. Tupac and John won the best costume award.
- As a child, Tupac’s friends often gave him clothes for Christmas and birthdays, because they were aware of the poverty in which he lived.
- Tupac & Big Saccs both went looting together during the LA Riots. According to Sacc’s, he and Tupac went straight from the studio to the hood and started looting.
- The Tupac poem “Nothing can come between us,” was written for his friend John Cole, whom Tupac nicknamed “White Boy John.”
- For a short time Tupac lived with Linda Pratt, the wife of Gernimo Pratt, in Marin City.
- Tupac’s favorite piece of music was from the play Les Miserables. He went to see the play with his then girlfriend Keisha Morris.
- According to Suge Knight, the song “Never Had A Friend Like Me” was about their relationship because Suge once told Tupac “Your Enemies my Enemies.”
- It was reported by Mike Dyson that the song “Vincent” by Don Maclean was played on repeat during Tupac’s last hours with us.
- Tupac auditioned for the part of “Bubba” in the hit film “Forest Gump” starring Tom Hanks.
- Tupac stood for the code of ‘THUGLIFE’, which stands for “The Hate U Give Lil Infants Fuck Everybody”, the term ‘NIGGA’ stands for “Never Ignorant Getting Goals Accomplished”.
- The ‘Outlawz’ group Tupac formed and was with stands for “Operating Under Thug Laws As Warriors”.
- Tupac met Fredro Starr at the premiere of “Sunset Park.”
- Tupac’s cousin Scott got him the role of Travis in “A Rasin in the Sun.” Scott was also in the New York School for the arts.
- Tupac was planning to go on tour with Snoop Dogg and Tha Dogg Pound in October 1996. The name of the tour was going to be “All Eyez On Us.”
- When Tupac and Keisha Morris got married, during the ceremony when the priest stated the line “with all your worldly possessions…,” Tupac interupted saying, “Well, Keisha can’t have my pool table or my big screen TV.”
- Keisha Morris, when married to Tupac, came to visit him in his hotel room in Atlanta. The hotel-room caught fire and she tried to quickly escape. Tupac was disappointed in her and told her he couldn’t trust her because she didn’t stay with him to fight the fire.
- The song “When Will You Learn” and “U Don’t Wanna Battle Me”, along with a few others, were recorded onto a disc which Tupac lost.
- Tupac and Sanyika Shakur were good friends and Tupac wanted to play him in a movie about Sanyika’s life.
- After Pac had released his debut solo album ’2Pacalypse Now’ he wanted to bring out a group called “Nothing Gold.” He was going to do production for them while they wrote their own lyrics, but it never happened. He was also working with a female artist called “A Sister Named Mister” but she never came out either.
- Tupac and Sanyika Shakur were good friends and Tupac wanted to play him in a movie about Sanyika’s life.
- Before he was famous, Tupac was paid $335 to appear in an advertisement for a local news channel. He used that money to pay for the months rent.
- When Tupac got out of jail Suge arranged a private plane back to L.A, a limo, and five police officers for protection. Suge Knight also gave Tupac money to buy Afeni a house when he came to Suge’s Death Row Records label.
- Tupac and Snoop were supposed to perform “2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted” on Saturday Night Live, an NBC TV-show. Snoop never appeared for the rehearsal, so Tupac and Ice-T performed “Only God Can Judge Me”, “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” (Barbara Streisand cover) and a little skit. Even though he didn’t look it, it is known Pac was embarrassed by the Streisand cover and was really mad at Snoop for not showing up.
- Tupac was cremated by “Davis Mortuary” in Las Vegas.
- Tupac met ‘The Assassin’ and ‘Dee Tha Mad Bitch’ in late ’93. He enjoyed the time he spent working with them so much that he booked a studio for the three of them for an entire week
- Tupac and Sanyika Shakur were good friends and Tupac wanted to play him in a movie about Sanyika’s life.
- Tupac bought Biggie Smalls his first ‘Rolex’ watch.
Somethings You Didn’t Know About Tupac
1994-11-30 / Tupac’s Shooting, New York
On the 29th November 1994, a Manhattan jury had convened to deliberate charges of sodomy, sexual abuse, and weapons possession against Tupac, 23, and his codefendant, Charles Fuller, 24.
See also: The Rape Case: Ayanna Jackson’s Story
They stood accused of molesting a 19-year-old woman (Ayanna Jackson, 2pac’s accuser) in Tupac’s $750-a-night, 38th-floor Parker Meridien Hotel suite on November 18, 1993. After the first day of deliberations, Tupac left for a publicity stop in Harlem, then went on to Times Square’s Quad Recording Studio to record a track with Uptown Records’ Little Shawn. Facing a maximum 25-year sentence, Tupac knew it might be his last recording session for some time.
Excerpt from /The Killing Of Tupac Shakur By Cathy Scott/ Book
On Wednesday November 30, 1994, Tupac Shakur was ambushed and shot inside the lobby of a recording studio in Manhattan’s Times Square. Tupac’s team of criminal attorneys had been in New York with Tupac awaiting a verdict on sexual-assault charges against the rapper. Tupac’s attorneys afterward said the shooting “looks like a setup and smells like a setup.” Later, Tupac publicly blamed Biggie Smalls, who was upstairs in a recording session at the time, in helping to set up the attack.
Earlier in the evening, Tupac had been invited by Ron G., a deejay in New York, to record with him. Tupac had agreed to do the recording for free, as a favor to the young rapper, whom he wanted to help out. (He usually charged other rappers a fee to record on their albums.)
Based on statements made to police by witnesses to the shooting, it went down like this. After finishing the taping session, Tupac was paged by a rapper named Booker, who asked him to tape a song with Little Shawn, an East Coast rapper. Tupac told him he’d do it that day, for $7,000. Booker agreed and told Tupac it was to take place at Quad Studios, at 723 Seventh Avenue between 48th and 49th streets in Times Square. While heading out to the studio, Tupac got a second call from Booker asking why he was taking so long. Then came a third call telling Tupac they didn’t have the money to pay him. Tupac told Booker he wouldn’t record unless he was paid, and hung up. Finally, Tupac got a fourth call from Booker telling him that Uptown Entertainment would take care of the fee, which would be waiting for him when he finished recording. Tupac headed for the studio. By that time, it was just after midnight.
At 12:16 a.m., according to Detective George Nagy with the NYPD’s Midtown North 18th Precinct, Tupac, along with his manager Freddie Moore, his common-law brother-in-law Zayd Turner, fellow rapper Randy “Stretch” Walker, and his half-sister Sekyiwa arrived at Quad Studios. They left their car in a parking garage at 148 West 48th Street. Then they walked the short distance, around the comer, to the studio on Seventh Avenue.
Nine minutes later, Tupac and his group arrived in front of the studio, a police report said. Standing on a small terrace overlooking 48th Street, for a smoke break, were a couple of teenage members of J.U.N.I.O.R. Mafia, a group Biggie Smalls was sponsoring. They hollered down to Tupac to say hello, then went back inside to tell everyone that Tupac had arrived.
Upstairs, it was a party atmosphere. It was a large studio and a lot of people were there that night. Word had spread that Tupac would be recording there. People
were excited in anticipation of the popular rapper’s arrival. Also there to record, but on a different floor from where Tupac was scheduled to record, were Biggie Smalls and Puffy Combs. They were working on Biggie’s “Warning” video. At the time, Quad had recording studios and equipment on five different floors.
Back on the street, on Seventh Avenue, as Tupac and the others approached the entrance to Quad Studios, they could see two black men, near the elevator, wearing Army fatigues, recognized by Tupac as gang garb worn mostly in the Brooklyn area; a third man, also black, was in the lobby, pretending to read a newspaper. Tupac and his group didn’t think twice about the men.
Tupac pressed the intercom button. The four were buzzed in. As they walked toward the elevator, Tupac, according to the police report, was ambushed by the three men, including the man who had been standing just outside the lobby. Two of the three men pulled identical handguns, NYPD Detective George Nagy said.
They went straight for Tupac, ordering him to the floor and demanding he give up all his jewelry and money. When Tupac went for his own gun stashed in his waistband, they shot him. A round hit him in the groin area and passed through his thigh. That bullet cost him a testicle. Then the gunmen began beating him. They ripped his jewelry off him, then shot him again, hitting him in the chest. Tupac was shot five times: twice in the head, twice in the groin area, and once in his left hand. Freddie was shot once in his abdomen. None of the wounds were life-threatening. The men also snatched jewelry from Freddie Moore as they continued holding guns on the others, Nagy said.
All told, Tupac had $35,000 worth of gold taken from him. Stolen were a diamond-and-gold ring, a gold bracelet, and several heavy gold chains. Freddie had $5,000 worth of jewelry stolen, which consisted of a gold bracelet and several gold chains.
Two years later, in one of the last interviews he gave to Vibe magazine, Tupac spoke to a reporter about what it felt like to get shot. /The Killing Of Tupac Shakur By Cathy Scott/
Little Caeser had yelled down to Tupac’s crew from the top of the recording studio so Tupac knew Biggie was there and felt safe thinking that these men were his security. However the man gets up from the desk as two other men (also black) walk through the door. The three men follow Tupac’s entourage until they get to the elevators. At this point the group pull out their guns and yell at Tupac and his peers, “Give up the jewelry, and get on the floor!”, with this Tupac’s entourage quickly gets on the floor but Tupac, curses at the gunmen and makes a lunge for one of their guns. This resulted in Tupac been shot five times, and his manager Freddie Moore, was also shot once.
The robbers nabbed $5,000 worth of Moore’s jewelry, as well as Tupac’s $30,000 diamond ring and $10,000 in gold chains, but they left Tupac’s diamond-encrusted gold Rolex, resulting in them taking around $40,000 worth of jewelry. Freddie Moore gave chase to the robbers, collapsing in front of a strip club next door, due to his shot wound. During this time Tupac was dragged into the elevator and taken upstairs to the eighth-floor studio to administer first aid, this floor is where there was several well known individuals including Bad Boy Records’ Biggie Smalls and Sean “Puffy” Combs. Tupac would later describe the scene of when he came out of the elevator as very strange. He said that nobody even got up to help him but only stared at him as if they were surprised he was alive. Tupac said that the only person showing any emotion was ‘Little Shawn’ who was crying. Because of this, Tupac believed Biggie and Puffy new about the arranged shooting and either didnt let him know or set it up themselves.
Tupac reportedly had someone roll him a joint as he made a call to either his girlfriend or his mother, and then he called 911. When the cops showed up, Tupac again saw some familiar faces. Two of the first four police officers on the scene were William Kelly and Joseph Kelly (no relation), and “seconds later, Officer Craig McKernan arrived. McKernan had supervised the two Kellys in Tupac’s arrest at the Parker Meridien and had just testified at the rape trial. “Hi, Officer McKernan,” ‘pac sputtered, lying naked in a pool of his own blood. “Hey Tupac, you hang in there,” McKernan responded, as an EMS team secured a brace around Tupac’s neck and strapped him to a board. The stretcher didn’t fit into the elevator, so he had to be propped upright. McKernan helped carry him out past a waiting photographer. “I can’t believe you’re taking my picture on a stretcher,” Tupac groaned, flipping the middle finger at them (see pic)!
Tupac was rushed to Bellevue Hospital. “He was hit by a low-caliber missile,” says Dr. Leon Pachter, chief of Bellevue’s trauma department. “Had it been a high-caliber missile, he’d have been dead.” Tupac continued to bleed heavily all day, so at 1:30 pm, Pachter and a 12-doctor team operated on the damaged blood vessel high in his right leg. At 4 pm, he was out of surgery. At 6:45 pm, against the numerous complaints of his doctors, he checked himself out of the hospital. Dr. Pachter said: “I haven’t seen anybody in my 25-year professional career leave the hospital like this,”. Tupac’s mother Afeni, who had flown up from Atlanta, wheeled the heavily bandaged Tupac out the back door, fighting through a crowd of reporters.
The next day, Tupac made a surprise appearance in the Manhattan courtroom where his fate was being decided. He was wheeled in by Nation of Islam bodyguards, his charmed Rolex that the robbers didnt take on his right wrist, his left wrist wrapped in gauze, and his bandaged head and leg covered by a wool-knit Yankees hat and a black Nike warm-up suit (see pic).
Tupac later did an interview with Vibe Magazine about the shooting and aftermath, click below to read it. He also would mimic the whole scene of him going up to the eigth floor after the shooting and seeing Biggie and Puffy, in a music video in which he walks from the elevator covered with blood as Biggie begs for his life blaming Puffy for the set up. This was perhaps Tupac’s view of the incident.
”Mr. Shakur, who was struck twice in the head, twice in the groin and once in one hand, was taken to Bellevue Hospital Center where he was listed in guarded condition, said Wes Anglin, a hospital spokesman.” / nytimes.comCommanding officer of Manhattan Detectives Assistant Chief John Hill speaks to the mob of reporters, including one from MTV News, and evident by the amount on microphones, holds a simple diagram on the shooting. Behind Hill is Lt. George Pagan, Commander of the Midtown North Detectives. October 30, 1994. (Photo by Charles Wenzelberg / (c) NYP Holdings, Inc. via Getty Images)
Tupac speaks on his influence on Biggie and getting shot at Quad studios.
2PAC’S INTERVIEW WITH VIBE ON HIS ’94 SHOOTING
The following is a geniune transcript of an interview with Tupac on his shooting in New York on November 30th, 1994. The interview was first published by Vibe magazine in April 1995 and is one of the best accounts of the events of the shooting, given by the man himself. Tupac gives his views on who was behind the shooting and tells us exactly what happened that night, when and why. The interview was conducted by Vibe Magazine, and is therefore property of Vibe Magazine. © Kevin Powell/1995 Time Publishing Ventures Inc.
Vibe: Can you take us back to that night at Quad Recording Studios in Times Square?
Tupac: The night of the shooting? Sure. Ron G. is a DJ out here in New York. He’s, like, “Pac, I want you to come to my house and lay this rap down for my tapes.” I said, “All right, I’ll come for free.” So I went to his house-me, Stretch, and a couple other homeboys. After I laid the song, I got a page from this guy Booker, telling me he wanted me to rap on Little Shawn’s record. Now, this guy I was going to charge, because I could see that they was just using me, so I said, “All right, you give me seven G’s and I’ll do the song.” He said, “I’ve got the money. Come.” I stopped off to get some weed, and he paged me again. “Where you at? Why you ain’t coming?” I’m, like, “I’m coming, man, hold on.”
Did you know this guy?
I met him through some rough characters I knew. He was trying to get legitimate and all that, so I thought I was doing him a favor. But when I called him back for directions, he was, like, “I don’t have the money.” I said, “If you don’t have the money, I’m not coming.” He hung up the phone, then called me back: “I’m going to call [Uptown Entertainment CEO] Andre Harrell and make sure you get the money, but I’m going to give you the money out of my pocket.” So I said, “All right, I’m on my way.” As we’re walking up to the building, somebody screamed from up the top of the studio. It was Little Caesar, Biggie’s [the Notorious B.I.G.] sideman. That’s my homeboy. As soon as I saw him, all my concerns about the situation were relaxed.
So you’re saying that going into it…I felt nervous because this guy knew somebody I had major beef with. I didn’t want to tell the police, but I can tell the world. Nigel had introduced me to Booker. Everybody knew I was short on money. All my shows were getting canceled. All my money from my records was going to lawyers; all the movie money was going to my family. So I was doing this type of stuff, rapping for guys and getting paid.
Who’s this guy Nigel?
I was kicking it with him the whole time I was in New York doing Above the Rim. He came to me. He said, “I’m going to look after you. You don’t need to get in no more trouble.”
Doesn’t Nigel also go by the name of Trevor?
Right. There’s a real Trevor, but Nigel took on both aliases, you understand? So that’s who I was kicking with-I got close to them. I used to dress in baggies and sneakers. They took me shopping; that’s when I bought my Rolex and all my jewels. They made me mature. They introduced me to all these gangsters in Brooklyn. I met Nigel’s family, went to his kid’s birthday party-I trusted him, you know what I’m saying? I even tried to get Nigel in the movie, but he didn’t want to be on film. That bothered me. I don’t know any nigga that didn’t want to be in the movies.
Can we come back to the shooting? Who was with you that night?I was with my homeboy Stretch, his man Fred, and my sister’s boyfriend, Zayd. Not my bodyguard; I don’t have a bodyguard. We get to the studio, and there’s a dude outside in army fatigues with his hat low on his face. When we walked to the door, he didn’t look up. I’ve never seen a black man not acknowledge me one way or the other, either with jealousy or respect. But this guy just looked to see who I was and turned his face down. It didn’t click because I had just finished smoking chronic. I’m not thinking something will happen to me in the lobby. While we’re waiting to get buzzed in, I saw a dude sitting at a table reading a newspaper. He didn’t look up either.
These are both black men?
Black men in their thirties. So first I’m, like, These dudes must be security for Biggie, because I could tell they were from Brooklyn from their army fatigues. But then I said, Wait a minute. Even Biggie’s homeboys love me, why don’t they look up? I pressed the elevator button, turned around, and that’s when the dudes came out with the guns-two identical 9 mms. “Don’t nobody move. Everybody on the floor. You know what time it is. Run your shit.” I was, like, What should I do? I’m thinking Stretch is going to fight; he was towering over those niggas. From what I know about the criminal element, if niggas come to rob you, they always hit the big nigga first. But they didn’t touch Stretch; they came straight to me. Everybody dropped to the floor like potatoes, but I just froze up. It wasn’t like I was being brave or nothing; I just could not get on the floor. They started grabbing at me to see if I was strapped. They said, “Take off your jewels,” and I wouldn’t take them off. The light-skinned dude, the one that was standing outside, was on me. Stretch was on the floor, and the dude with the newspaper was holding the gun on him. He was telling the light-skin dude, “Shoot that motherfucker! fuck it!” Then I got scared, because the dude had the gun to my stomach. All I could think about was piss bags and shit bags. I drew my arm around him to move the gun to my side. He shot and the gun twisted and that’s when I got hit the first time. I felt it in my leg; I didn’t know I got shot in my balls. I dropped to the floor. Everything in my mind said, Pac, pretend you’re dead. It didn’t matter. They started kicking me, hitting me. I never said, “Don’t shoot!” I was quiet as hell. They were snatching my shit off me while I was laying on the floor. I had my eyes closed, but I was shaking, because the situation had me shaking. And then I felt something on the back of my head, something real strong. I thought they stomped me or pistol-whipped me and they were stomping my head against the concrete. I saw white, just white. I didn’t hear nothing, I didn’t feel nothing, and I said, I’m unconscious. But I was conscious. And then I felt it again, and I could hear things now and I could see things and they were bringing me back to consciousness. Then they did it again, and I couldn’t hear nothing. And I couldn’t see nothing; it was just all white. And then they hit me again, and I could hear things and I could see things and I knew I was conscious again.
Did you ever hear them say their names?
No. No. But they knew me, or else they would never check for my gun. It was like they were mad at me. I felt them kicking me and stomping me; they didn’t hit nobody else. It was, like, “Ooh, motherf*cker, ooh, aah”-they were kicking hard. So I’m going unconscious, and I’m not feeling no blood on my head or nothing. The only thing I felt was my stomach hurting real bad. My sister’s boyfriend turned me over and said, “Yo, are you all right?” I was, like, “Yes, I’m hit, I’m hit.” And Fred is saying he’s hit, but that was the bullet that went through my leg. So I stood up and I went to the door and-the sh*t that fucked me up-as soon as I got to the door, I saw a police car sitting there. I was, like, “Uh-oh, the police are coming, and I didn’t even go upstairs yet.” So we jumped in the elevator and went upstairs. I’m limping and everything, but I don’t feel nothing. It’s numb. When we got upstairs, I looked around, and it scared the sh*t out of me.
Why?
Because Andre Harrell was there, Puffy [Bad Boy Entertainment CEO Sean “Puffy” Combs] was there, Biggie… there was about 40 niggas there. All of them had jewels on. More jewels than me. I saw Booker, and he had this look on his face like he was surprised to see me. Why? I had just beeped the buzzer and said I was coming upstairs. Little Shawn bust out crying. I went, Why is Little Shawn crying, and I got shot? He was crying uncontrollably, like, “Oh my God, Pac, you’ve got to sit down!” I was feeling weird, like, Why do they want to make me sit down?
Because five bullets had passed through your body.
I didn’t know I was shot in the head yet. I didn’t feel nothing. I opened my pants, and I could see the gunpowder and the hole in my Karl Kani drawers. I didn’t want to pull them down to see if my dick was still there. I just saw a hole and went, “Oh shit. Roll me some weed.” I called my girlfriend and I was, like, “Yo, I just got shot. Call my mother and tell her.” Nobody approached me. I noticed that nobody would look at me. Andre Harrell wouldn’t look at me. I had been going to dinner with him the last few days. He had invited me to the set of New York Undercover, telling me he was going to get me a job. Puffy was standing back too. I knew Puffy. He knew how much stuff I had done for Biggie before he came out.
People did see blood on you?
They started telling me, “Your head! Your head is bleeding.” But I thought it was just a pistol-whip. Then the ambulance came, and the police. First cop I looked up to see was the cop that took the stand against me in the rape charge. He had a half smile on his face, and he could see them looking at my balls. He said, “What’s up, Tupac? How’s it hanging?”
When I got to Bellevue Hospital, the doctor was going, “Oh my God!” I was, like, “What? What?” And I was hearing him tell other doctors, “Look at this. This is gunpowder right here.” He was talking about my head: “This is the entry wound. This is the exit wound.” And when he did that, I could actually feel the holes. I said, “Oh my God. I could feel that.” It was the spots that I was blacking out on. And that’s when I said, “Oh shit. They shot me in my head.” They said, “You don’t know how lucky you are. You got shot five times.” It was, like, weird. I did not want to believe it. I could only remember that first shot, then everything went blank.
At any point did you think you were going to die?
No. I swear to God. Not to sound creepy or nothing-I felt God cared for me from the first time the niggas pulled the gun out. The only thing that hurt me was that Stretch and them all fell to the floor. The bullets didn’t hurt. Nothing hurt until I was recovering. I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t get up, and my hand was f*cked up. I was looking on the news and it was lying about me.
Tell me about some of the coverage that bothered you. The No. 1 thing that bothered me was that dude that wrote that shit that said I pretended to do it. That I had set it up, it was an act. When I read that, I just started crying like a baby, like a bitch. I could not believe it. It just tore me apart. And then the news was trying to say I had a gun and I had weed on me. Instead of saying I was a victim, they were making it like I did it.
What about all the jokes saying you had lost one of your testicles?
That didn’t really bother me, because I was, like, shit, I’m going to get the last laugh. Because I’ve got bigger nuts than all these niggas. My doctors are, like, “You can have babies.” They told me that the first night, after I got exploratory surgery: “Nothing’s wrong. It went through the skin and out the skin.” Same thing with my head. Through my skin and out the skin.
Have you had a lot of pain since then?
Yes, I have headaches. I wake up screaming. I’ve been having nightmares, thinking they’re still shooting me. All I see is niggas pulling guns, and I hear the dude saying, “Shoot that motherfucker!” Then I’ll wake up sweaty as hell and I’ll be, like, Damn, I have a headache. The psychiatrist at Bellevue said that’s post-traumatic stress.
Why did you leave Bellevue Hospital?
I left Bellevue the next night. They were helping me, but I felt like a science project. They kept coming in, looking at my dick and shit, and this was not a cool position to be in. I knew my life was in danger. The Fruit of Islam was there, but they didn’t have guns. I knew what type of niggas I was dealing with.
So I left Bellevue and went to Metropolitan. They gave me a phone and said, “You’re safe here. Nobody knows you’re here.” But the phone would ring and someone would say, “You ain’t dead yet?” I was, like, Damn! Those motherfuckers don’t have no mercy. So I checked myself out, and my family took me to a safe spot, somebody who really cared about me in New York City.
The Rape Case: Ayanna Jackson’s Story
Ayanna Jackson’ Story
I am the young woman that was sexually assaulted by Tupac Shakur and his thugs. I’ve read Kevin Powell’s interview with Tupac [“Ready to Live,” April], in which I was misrepresented. Up until this point I have only told my story under oath in court; nobody has heard my story, only his side, which is much different than what Tupac stated is the true story.
A friend of mine took me to Nell’s, where he introduced me to [the men VIBE identified as] Nigel and Trevor, who later introduced me to their friend Tupac. When I first met Tupac, he kissed me on my cheek and made small talk with me. After a while, I excused myself and started to walk to the dance floor. When I felt someone slide their hands into the back pocket of my jeans, I turned around, assuming it was my friend, but was shocked when I discovered it was Tupac. We danced for a while, and he touched my face and his body brushed mine. Due to the small dance floor and the large number of people, we were shoved into a dark corner. Tupac pulled up his shirt, took my hand, traced it down his chest, and sat it on top of his erect penis. He then kissed me and pushed my head down on his penis, and in a brief three-second encounter, my lips touched the head of his penis.
This happened so suddenly that once I realized what he was trying to do, I swiftly brought my head up. I must reiterate that I did not suck his penis on the dance floor. He pulled his shirt back down and asked me what I was doing later. I told him that I was going home because I had to go to work that day. Then, as people started surrounding him again, he grabbed my arm and said, “Let’s get out of here, I’m tired of people stressing me.” We exited Nell’s, got into a white BMW, pulled up at the Parker Meridien, and went to his suite. We conversed, and he rolled up some blunts. We started kissing, and then we had oral and vaginal sexual intercourse several times.
He called my house a couple nights later and gave me his SkyPager number and told me he wanted to see me tomorrow. That evening after work, I paged him, and his road manager called me back and informed me that Pac really wanted to see me but he had a show to do in Jersey, so I should call a car service and take it to the Meridien and he would pay for the cab. Once I got to the hotel, I met Charles Fuller for the first time; he paid for the cab and led me upstairs. Inside the suite, Tupac, Nigel, and Trevor were seated in the living room, smoking weed and drinking Absolut. Tupac told me to come in and pointed to the arm of the sofa near him, and I sat down. After about 20 minutes, Tupac took my hand and led me into a bedroom in the suite. He fell onto the bed and asked me to give him a massage. So I massaged his back, he turned around, and I started massaging his chest.
In this VladTV exclusive clip, Vlad sat down with Ayanna Jackson, a woman who accused 2Pac and his associates of rape in 1993.
Just as we began kissing, the door opened and I heard people entering. As I started to turn to see who it was, Tupac grabbed my head and told me, “Don’t move.” I looked down at him and he said, “Don’t worry, baby, these are my brothers and they ain’t going to hurt you. We do everything together.” I started to shake my head, “No, no, Pac, I came here to be with you. I came here to see you. I don’t want to do this.” I started to rise up off the bed but he brutally slammed my head down. My lips and face came crashing down hard onto his penis, he squeezed the back of my neck, and I started to gag. Tupac and Nigel held me down while Trevor forced his penis into my mouth. I felt hands tearing my shoes off, ripping my stockings and panties off. I couldn’t move; I felt paralyzed, trapped, and I started to black out. They leered at my body. “This bitch got a fat ass, she’s fine.” While they laughed and joked to one another, Nigel, Trevor, and Fuller held me in the room, trying to calm me down. They would not allow me to leave.
Finally, I got to the elevators, which had a panel of mirrors. Once I caught sight of myself, I sank down on the floor and started to cry. They came out, picked me up, and brought me back into the suite. Tupac was lying on the couch. In my mind I’m thinking, “This motherfucker just raped me, and he’s lying up here like a king acting as if nothing happened.” So I began crying hysterically and shouting, “How could you do this to me? I came here to see you. I can’t believe you did this to me.” Tupac replied, “I don’t have time for this shit. Get this bitch out of here.”
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
The aforementioned is the true story. It was not a setup, and I never knew any of the thugs he was hanging with. Tupac knows exactly what he did to me. I admit I did not make the wisest decisions, but I did not deserve to be gang-raped.
See also : Tupac’s Shooting New York 1994
KILLuminati And The Connection With Tupac
The Don Killuminati : The 7 Day Theory was the final album finished before Tupac Shakur’s death and the first to be released after his death. Tupac had complete creative input on the album from the name of the album to the cover which Tupac chose to symbolize how the media has crucified him. The album was completely finished in a total of seven days (lyrics were written and recorded in only three days and the production only took four more days) during the month of August of 1996 and these are among the very last songs he recorded before his fatal shooting on September 7, 1996.
Death Row released this posthumous album under the name of Makaveli, a pseudonym derived from the Italian politician Niccolo Machiavelli, who supposedly faked his own death and reappeared seven days later to take revenge on his enemies. Shakur was greatly inspired by Machiavelli’s works, including The Prince, which he had read while in prison.
The Don. The next part of the title means, simply, in Italian terms, the leader or boss of an organization.
Killuminati As you can see, Tupac decided to attach the word Kill, or letter K to Illuminati. I am assuming the reader knows about the Illuminati, but, in short, they are believed to be infiltrating political, economic, educational, and religious institutions in an effort to initiate plans of a world dictatorship.
Tupac’s connection:
Tupac obviously believed in this and publicly took his stand against it, as did Martin Luther King, they both died for doing so, now is this coincidence, or the fact that the Illuminati do really rule the world? If we but all the meanings together in English we see that, The meaning of Tupac’s album title is, “Tupac: The Leader Of Killers Of The Illuminati”
So this clearly means that Tupac thought of himself as been the leader of the Killuminati cult, against white dominance, not racist, but to give all people a fair stab at life and not be blinded by what the Illuminati, rulers and government tell us. I leave it for you to dwell on, visit the links below for full info, as I’ve only scratched the surface.
For Tupac and his following, Killuminati represented a global revolutionary change. A spiritual awareness, a mental change, and a change in the destiny of AFRIKAN people. They believed in the Illuminati and that all non white people were being held down by this force. Killuminati initiates change in the mind, the body, and the spirit of AFRIKANS, while being conscious of the enemy the Illuminati. They believe that the Illuminati are the same elite group who brought black people to slavery, the same people thought by many to run the world today, with the same values and goals. They have since only changed faces and improved upon their methods of exploitation. Killuminati was created to do away with the nonchalant, regressive attitudes of AFRIKAN people world wide. And that this attitude stems from the worst crimes in world history Imperial/Colonial invasions of the free world, and the AFRIKAN slave trade. Killuminati stands to end this cycle of exploitation and oppression. Tupac wanted his people to emerge and place the highest focus upon formal education, specialized training, and political, cultural, and spiritual cultivation.
Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, JFK, John Lennon, Tupac Shakur. Tupac’s 1996 murder was easily explained by the media as a byproduct of the ongoing East Coast/ West Coast feud. But since his death, those that have followed Tupac’s career with much passion have learned this was not the case. His life was one filled with controversy, and it is quite fitting that his death be just as controversial. Like the before mentioned names, his influence and following was very strong – and it was for this reason he was a threat to the ruling elite. It is believed that Tupac first learned about the Illuminati while in prison. In his later years, Tupac became more and more interested in the group. And of course, the Illuminati became more and more interested in Mr. Shakur. In fact, his lyrics began to make mention of the Illuminati, and on many albums tried to expose those watching him. Born in prison to a Black Panther, Tupac’s bold and dissenting voice would eventually lead him to a fate identical to the revolutionaries above.
KILLUMINATI:
So now we know a brief, and I stress brief, knowledge about the THEORIES surrounding a group called the Illuminati, we im hoping we can now work out what Killuminati means in this case. KILLUMINATI is Global Revolutionary change. A spiritual awareness, a mental change, a physical change, an a change in the destiny of AFRIKAN people. They believe in the Illuminati and that all non white people are being held down, hence there has been no black presidents in the richest countries of the world etc. KILLUMINATI initiates change in the mind, body, and spirit of AFRIKANS, while being conscious of the enemy, the Illuminati. A website states that “The Illuminati are the same group of elitists who brought black people to slavery, the same people who are thought by many to run the world today, with the same values and goals. They have since only changed faces and improved upon their methods of exploitation. KILLUMINATI is a path way to Traditional Spiritual Communal Overstanding. KILLUMINATI is here to do away with the nonchalant regressive attitudes of AFRIKAN people world wide. This attitude stems from the worst crimes in world history, Imperial/Colonial invasions of the free world, and the AFRIKAN slave trade. KILLUMINATI stands to end this cycle of oppression and exploitation. The slave trade and slavery of AFRIKANS has cast an unsolved problem on AFRIKANS. We must emerge and place the highest focus upon formal education, specialized training and political, cultural and spiritual cultivation.”
Tupac’s Tattoos
The outspoken nature of Tupac was also evident in the ink he wore on his skin. Messages of his faith and spiritual station could be found in the burning Christ on the cross on Tupac’s left bicep beside the quote – ”Only God Can Judge Me”, most noted tattoo the ”Thug Life” on his stomach and the acronym it stood for'( The Hate U Give Little Infants Fuck Everybody) – goes misinterpreted by his detractors to this day.
(1) “Makaveli” (wrote on his neck)
(2) Neferetiti with: “2 Die 4″ wrote underneath
(3) “2PAC”
(4) A Skull
(5) Skull And Crossbones with: “Heartless” written above
(6) “Notorious” on forearm
(7) The now famous “Thug Life” across his stomach, the “i” is replaced with a bullet
(8) AK-47 with: “50 Niggaz” (representing all niggaz in all 50 states)
(9) A Black Panther, to show respect to his families ties to the Black Panthers
(10) Jesus on burning cross in crown of thorns with: “Only God Can Judge Me”
(11) “Outlaw” representing his group
12) A Cross, with the bible verse “Exodus 18:11″, which reads: “Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them.”
(13) Face with “Smile Now” written below
(14) “Ballin”
(15) Crown with “Boss Playaz”
(16) “Fuck The World” across shoulders
(17) Face with “Cry Later” written below
(18) “MOB” on back of his right arm. Representing ‘Money Over Bitches’
(19) ”DADA” tattoo on his inner left forearm.
1. 2Pac
Left side of his chest
Tupac was 18 years old, he got his first tattoo, a simple “2Pac” inscription on his left chest.
Meaning: In 1989, at the age of eighteen, Tupac got his very first tattoo. He had ‘2PAC’ tattooed on the left of his chest. Born Lesane Parish Crooks, Afeni renamed him after the last Incan ruler, Tupac Amaru II. With this being his first stage name, it was inevitable that he would put it on his body.
2. Nefertiti 2 Die 4
Right chest
This chest piece, Queen Nefertiti, symbolizes black grace and excellence and represents his love for his mother Afeni Shakur. Queen Nefertiti is a symbol for strong women. The text comes from the lyric above in his song ‘Something 2 Die 4’ – “You know what my momma used to tell me. If ya can’t find something to live for…. then you BEST, find something ta die for” – from ”Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z…” album.
3. 50 Niggaz
Below chest
50 Niggaz: 50 Niggaz stands for 1 black from every state of the USA, all them niggaz would be stronger than every weapon, if they would be united. This tattoo specifically symbolized black unity. Tupac believed that if one black person from every state joined together with him, they’d be stronger than an AK-47. In his song ”Holla at me” from “All eyez on me” album, Tupac sang “I want members across tha fifty states”. He got this tattoo done with his stepbrother, Maurice “Mopreme” and Dana Smith aka Mouse Man.
Tupac’s most famous tattoo, on his abs, reads “Thug Life.” Directly above it is another one, which reads “50 Niggaz.” Those are both social movements, and the latter inspired the former. “50 represented states,” Mopreme said. “If we had one good nigga in every state, we could accomplish anything.” 50 Niggaz developed and morphed into Thug Life, he went on, adding that when their friend Big Kato was murdered in 1993, it set Thug Life into overdrive. “It was really supposed to be about saving thugs’ lives,” Mopreme added. “A lot of people got the message, but a whole lot didn’t.”
4. Thug Life
Stomach
Tupac got his “Thug Life” tattoo in December, 1992 at Dago’s Tattoo in Houston. ‘THUG LIFE’ – an acronym for ‘The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everybody’ is the most recognizable tattoo in music. ‘”Inside my mind, couldn’t find a place to rest. Until I got that THUG LIFE tatted on my chest.” -2Pac
The “I” in “Life” was replaced with a bullet. In late 1993, Tupac formed the group called Thug Life with a number of his friends, including Big Syke (Tyruss Himes), Macadoshis (Diron Rivers), his stepbrother Mopreme Shakur, and the Rated R (Walter Burns). The group released their only album Thug Life: Volume 1 on September 26, 1994, which went gold.
5. Celtic cross and Exodus 1831
Right below his neck
Tupac had a massive Cross tattoo on his whole back which has the shape of a Celtic cross. The tattoo artist Dennis “Dago” Coelho told in an interview that Tupac came to him and asked for a symbol on his back that he could take with him for the rest of his life and ended up having the cross tattoo which is often referred as Tupac cross. He had the words “Exodus 1831” tattooed inside the cross. Among the fans there are two possible meanings of Tupac’s EXODUS 1831 tattoo. One group believes that it refers to a verse from the bible. But the problem with that theory is that in the bible, chapter 18 finishes with Verse 27 so Exodus verse 18:31 is non-existent.
The other group believes that Tupac was inspired by the heroic courage of Nat Turner an African-American slave who led a two-day rebellion of slaves and freed the blacks in Southampton County, Virginia on August 21, 1831. The rebellion caused the death of approximately sixty white men, women and children. Whites organized militias and called out regular troops to suppress the uprising. In addition, white militias and mobs attacked blacks in the area, killing an estimated 120, many of whom were not even involved in the revolt. Nat turner was later captured and hanged.
The meaning of Exodus is a mass departure of people. Tupac Cross represents many things like faith, god, injustice, fight against corruption and human rights.
6. Fuck the world
Right below his neck
Tattoo on the back of his shoulders read “Fuck the world”, one of the tracks from his third studio album “Me against the world” released on March 1995. He expressed raw anger on “Fuck the World” and that was his message when he felt the whole world was conspiring against him. Tupac’s life was full of ups and down, so he got inked FUCK THE WORLD tattoo on his back to express his anger towards everyone.
7. ‘Smile now’ and ‘Cry later’
Left and Right of his back
Tupac had a happy face mask tattoo on the left side of his back, under it says “smile now” and a sad face mask tattoo on the right side of his back, below it says “cry later”. The masks are also known as the Comedy and the Tragedy masks derived from the symbols used in ancient Greek theater. The tattoos represent the good and bad times in life.
On Scarface’s song “Smile”, Tupac said: “There’s gonna be some stuff that you’re gonna see / That’s gonna make it hard to smile in the future / But whatever you see / Through all the rain and pain / You gotta keep a sense of humor / Gotta be able to smile through all this bullshit. “.
8. Ballin
Lower back
Ballin is a word often used and heard as a slang, especially in the black community. It is originated from the term ‘having a ball’. Tupac had this tattoo on his lower back. This tattoo is the tenth track ”Str8 Ballin” from his album Thug Life: Volume 1(1994), in which he rapped, “I would share the definition of ballin’ with you white folks, but now the game is to be sold not told so fuck y’all.”
9. Panther Head
Top of left Arm
Tupac had inked a black panther head on his left arm. Panther tattoos are basically sign of power and strength. Tupac had inked black panther head on his left arm as a tribute to The Black Panther Party, in which his mother Afeni Shakur was an active member. The Black Panther Party was founded on October 15, 1966 with the aim of protecting black people and giving them justice in every field. Many members of Shakur family were involved in this party, some of whom were even imprisoned for serious criminal offenses, including his mother Afeni Shakur.
10. Jesus on burning cross in crown of thorns with: “Only God Can Judge Me”
Tupac had got Jesus on burning cross tattoo with a text ‘Only God Can Judge Me’ on th left side of his arm. He believed that he was answerable to only God and no one else in this world. He also has a song titled ‘Only God Can Judge Me’ from the album ‘All Eyez On Me‘(1996) featuring Rappin’ 4-Tay.
11. Outlaw
Left Arm
Outlaw can be defined as a person who is excluded from the benefit or protection of the law. It is an acronym of ‘Operating Under Thug Laws As Warriors’. This tattoo represents Tupac’s hip hop rappers group which he formed in late 1995 right after he got released from prison. This group called Outlawz was officially known as Outlaw Immortalz and Dramacydal.
12. Be Ambitious With Love While Young
Upper Right arm
Tupac’s right shoulder tattoo explained…(this tattoo is located above the Heartless skull tattoo.) .Tupac was saying that while he’s young he wants to be ambitious with love using both ambition and love to catapult his success.The writing says “Be Ambitious with Love while young” in cursive…The scale at the bottom looks to represent both youth and fortune as you can see gold in the right scale and a baby infant in the left scale…the scale are being held up by money tied to the goon as it is a balance of “life and fortune” “young and fortunate” or young and successful”,the skull goon has a beanie on his head with a sideways dollar sign “$” on the front which could mean “head of currency” hence the goon being the vicious hustler for money.There is also a worn bandanna over the skull goon’s mouth…Tupac had a true philosophy about being successful while young.This is the tattoo 2pac fans spent many years wondering about.On the right next to the actual photo is a 100% accurate illustration of Tupac’s right shoulder tattoo…On the left is a cropped up close photo of Tupac’s actual right shoulder tattoo,they’re brought side by side to break down the tattoo description.
14. Skull and Crossbones with HEARTLESS / “My only fear of death is coming back reincarnated”.
Right side of his arm
Tupac had a Skull and Crossbones tattoo on his right shoulder. Above the Skull and Crossbones tattoo he had “HEARTLESS” written in the memory of his late friend “Strech” from the Live Squad – HEARTLESS. Under the Skull and Crossbones, he had a tattoo that read “My only fear of death is coming back reincarnated”.
15. NOTORIOUS
Right forearm
The word notorious basically means famous for bad quality or deed. Tupac Shakur had inked the word notorious on his right forearm in an old English font. This tattoo was in the memory of his best friend Big Kato who was murdered in 1993.
16. MOB
Backside of the right arm
Tupac had “MOB” tattoo on the back of his right arm that stands for “Money over Bitches”.
The word mob means a large crowd of people usually get together to cause trouble and violence. Mob has many different acronyms but for Tupac, it meant ‘Money Over Bitches’ which he had described in his songs ‘Blasphemy’ (The Don Killuminati: the 7-day Theory,1996) and ‘MOB’ (Until the End of Time,2001). Later he described the word mob as ‘Money, Organization, and Business’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkrQqMyjaBQ
17. “TRUST NOBODY”
Inner right forearm
Tupac had a 7-point crown tattoo on his right forearm that said “Trust Nobody”. The crown is a traditional symbol of immortality. Tupac became quite paranoid, especially after being shot at the Quad Studios in New York in November 1994. He was convinced that it was a set-up by the people that were close to him. On All Eyez On Me’s ‘Holla at Me’, he rapped: “When me and you was homies / No one informed me / It was all a scheme / You infiltrated my team / And sold a nigga dreams / How could you do me like that?”.
Tattoo Studio: Andy Neville’s Tattoo Asylum on October 27, 1995, Venice Beach
18. Makaveli
Right side of his neck
Tupac had “Makaveli” tattooed on his neck. Tupac released his 5th studio album “The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory” under his alternative stage name Makaveli. Tupac created the alias “Makaveli” from Renaissance Italian philosopher and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli, whose writings inspired him in the prison.
Machiavelli, a political theorist from Italy, wrote the book in the 1500s with the work of his is to be the first works of modern philosophy. Writing about how you can get an advantage over your enemies and political tactics to deceive, Machiavelli paved the way in philosophy. Loving the way he viewed topics, ‘Pac analysed the life and writings of Machiavelli. His first posthumous album was released under the alias Makaveli.
19. Boss Playaz
Back of his neck
2Pac tattooed ‘Boss Playaz’ on the back of his neck along with a three-point crown. On the A three-point crown with the text “Boss Playaz”. For Tupac, “boss playa” is the next level a “thug nigga” should try to reach. In an interview Tupac said, “Coming from the ghetto, our development as men begins with a dust kicker, a thug nigga then finally a boss playa. […] [Many] never survive the next level of Thug Life. […] He used the term in 1995 when writing to former publicising at Death Row, Nina Bhadreshwar, while in prison. In the letter he elaborated; “A Boss Playa is a thinker, a leader, a builder, a moneymaker, a Soulja, a teacher and most of all a man!”
20. DADA
Left arm
Tupac had inked this last tattoo on his inner left forearm. It is a crown with a word DADA under it. It was believed that this tattoo was dedicated by Tupac Shakur to his fiance, Kidada Jones, daughter of the legendary jazz musician and record producer Quincy Jones Jr. as a token of his love towards her.
Tupac Shakur Biography
Tupac Amaru Shakur was an American rapper. In addition to his status as a
top-selling recording artist, Shakur was a successful film actor and a
prominent social activist. He is recognized in the Guinness Book of World
Records as the highest-selling rap artist, with over 75,000,000 albums
sold worldwide, including over 50,000,000 in the United States alone. Many fans, critics, and industry insiders rank him as one of the greatest
rappers ever. 
Tupac Amaru Shakur was born in the East Harlem section of Manhattan in New York City, New York. He was named after Tupac Amaru II, an Incan revolutionary who led an indigenous uprising against Spain and subsequently received capital punishment. The names “Tupac Amaru” and “Shakur” mean Shining Serpent or Royal Serpent in Quechua and Thankful (to God) in Arabic, respectively.
His mother, Afeni Shakur, was an active member of the Black Panther Party in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s; Tupac was born just one month after her acquittal on more than 100 charges of “Conspiracy against the United States government and New York landmarks” in the New York Panther 21 court case Tupac grew up around nothing but self-delusion. His mother, thought she was a “revolutionary. ” She called herself “Afeni Shakur” and associated with members of the ill-fated Black Panther Party, a movement that wanted to feed school kids breakfast and earn civil rights for African Americans.
During her youth she dropped out of high school, partied with North Carolina
gang members, then moved to Brooklyn: After an affair with one of Malcolm X’s bodyguards, she became political. When the mostly white United Federation of Teachers went on strike in 1968, she crossed the picket line and taught the children herself.
After this she joined a New York chapter of the Black Panther Party and fell in with an organizer named Lumumba. She took to ranting about killing “the pigs” and overthrowing the government, which eventually led to her arrest and that of twenty comrades for conspiring to set off a race war. Pregnant, she made bail and told her husband, Lummuba, it wasn’t his child. Behind his back she had been carrying on with Legs (a small-time associate of Harlem drug baron Nicky Barnes) and Billy Garland (a member of the Party). Lumumba immediately divorced her.
Tupac said, “I never knew where my father was or who my father was for sure.” His godfather, Geronimo Pratt, was also a high-ranking Panther. His step-father, Mutulu, was a drug dealer who, according to Tupac, was rarely present to give him the discipline he needed.
Tupac had a half-sister, Sekyiwa, two years his junior, and an older stepbrother, Mopreme “Komani” Shakur, who appeared on many of his recordings.
At the age of twelve, Shakur enrolled in Harlem’s famous “127th Street Ensemble.” His first major role with this acting troupe was as Travis in A Raisin in the Sun. In 1986 Tupac’s mother brought him and his sister to live in Baltimore, Maryland. The Shakurs lived on Greenmount Ave. in East Baltimore. There, Tupac was disliked because of his looks, name, and lack of trendy clothing. He attended Roland Park Middle School, then spent his freshman year at Paul Lawrence Dunbar High.
For his sophomore year Tupac was accepted to the Baltimore School for the Arts. He enjoyed his classes there, studying theater, ballet, and other arts. It was during this time that Tupac became close friends with another student named Jada Pinkett. Even at this young age, Tupac was outspoken on the subject of racial equality. His teachers remembered him as being a very gifted student. He was an avid reader, delving into books on eastern religions, and even entire encyclopedia sets. Hiding his love of literature from his peers, he gained the respect of his peers by acting like a tough guy. Tupac composed his first rap in Baltimore under the name “MC New York”. The song was about gun control and was inspired by the fatal shooting of one of his close friends.
From childhood, everyone called him the “Black Prince.” For misbehaving, he had to read an entire edition of The New York Times. But she had no answer when he asked about his daddy. “She just told me, ‘I don’t know who your daddy is.’ It wasn’t like she was a slut or nothing’. It was just some rough times. “When he was two, his sister, Sekyiwa, was born. This child’s father, Mutulu, was a Black Panther who, a few months before her birth, had been sentenced to sixty years for a fatal armoured car robbery.
With Mutulu away, the family experienced hard times. No matter where they moved-the Bronx, Harlem, homeless shelters Tupac was distressed. “I remember crying all the time. My major thing growing up was I couldn’t fit in. Because I was from everywhere. I didn’t have no buddies that I grew up with.”
At the age of twelve, Tupac enrolled in Harlem’s 127th Street Repertory Ensemble and was cast as the Travis Younger character in the play A Raisin in the Sun, which was performed at the Apollo Theater. In 1986, his family moved to Baltimore, Maryland. After completing his second year at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, he transferred to the Baltimore School for the Arts. There he studied acting, poetry, jazz, and ballet. He performed in Shakespeare plays, and in the role of the Mouse King in the ballet The Nutcracker.
In June 1988, a drug-addicted Afeni was having trouble finding work (her Panther past did not help, either). She uprooted the family again and brought Tupac and Sekyiwa to live with a family friend in Marin City, California, where Tupac attended Tamalpais High School. He joined the Ensemble Theater Company (ETC) to pursue his career in entertainment.
Tupac move into Leila Steinberg’s home with his friend Ray Luv at the age of seventeen and he eventually dropped out of high school. Leila Steinberg acted as a literary mentor to Tupac, an avid reader.
In August of 1988, Tupac’s stepfather Mutulu was sentenced to sixty years in prison for armed robbery after being on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list for several years. Shakur soon moved in with a neighbor and started selling drugs on the street, but also made friends who helped spark his interest in rap music. One of these was Ray Luv, and with a mutual friend named DJ Dize (Dizz-ee), they started a rap group called Strictly Dope. Their recordings were later released in 2001 under the name Tupac Shakur: The Lost Tapes. Their neighborhood performances brought Tupac enough acclaim to land an audition with Shock G of Digital Underground.
Steinberg has kept copies of the books that he read, which include J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, Jamaica Kincaid’s At the Bottom of the River, Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, Eileen Southern’s Music of Black Americans, and the feminist writings of Alice Walker and Robin Morgan. Most of these books were read before the age of twenty. It has been said that Tupac was, in fact, more well-read and intellectually well-rounded at that age than the average student in the first year class of most Ivy League institutions In 1989, Leila Steinberg organized a concert with Tupac’s group, Strictly Dope. The concert lead to him being signed with Atron Gregory who set him up with Digital Underground.
Tupac’s professional entertainment career began in the early 1990s, when he debuted his rapping skills on “Same Song” from the Digital Underground album ”This is an EP Release”. He first appeared in the music video for “Same Song“. After his rap debut, Tupac performed with Digital Underground again on the album ”Sons Of The P”.
Later, he released his first solo album, 2Pacalypse Now. Initially he had trouble marketing his solo debut, but Interscope Records‘ executives Ted Field and Tom Whalley eventually agreed to distribute the record.
Tupac claimed his first album was aimed at the problems facing young black males, but it was publicly criticized for its graphic language and images of violence by and against law enforcement.In one instance, a young man claimed his killing of a Texas-based trooper was influenced by the album. Former Vice President Dan Quayle publicly denounced the album as having “no place in our society” 2Pacalypse Now did not do as well on the charts as future albums, spawning no top ten hits.
His second record, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z…, was released in 1993. The album, produced mostly in part by Randy “Stretch” Walker (Shakur’s closest friend and associate at the time) and the Live Squad, generated two hits, “Keep Ya Head Up” and “I Get Around“, the latter featuring guest appearances by Shock G and Money-B of the Digital Underground.
Shakur’s profile was raised considerably by his acclaimed role in the Ernest Dickerson film Juice, which led to a lead role in John Singleton’s Poetic Justice the following year. By the time the film hit theaters, 2Pac had released his second album, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z…, which became a platinum album, peaking at number four on the R&B charts and launching the Top Ten R&B hit singles “I Get Around” and “Keep Ya Head Up,” which peaked at number 11 and 12, respectively, on the pop charts. Late in 1993, he acted in the basketball movie ”Above the Rim”. Tupac was filming ”Menace II Society” in the summer of 1993 when he assaulted director Allen Hughes; he was sentenced to 15 days in jail in early 1994. Although Tupac was selling records and earning praise for his music and acting, he began having serious altercations with the law; prior to becoming a recording artist, he had no police record.
By the time he was twenty, Tupac had been arrested eight times, even serving eight months in prison after being convicted of sexual abuse. In addition, he was the subject of two wrongful-death lawsuits, one involving a six-year-old boy who was killed after getting caught in gang-war crossfire between Tupac’s gang and a rival group.
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 first and only record album Thug Life Vol. 1 on September 26, 1994. The group usually performed their concerts without Tupac.
The concept of “Thug Life” was viewed by Tupac as a philosophy for life. He developed the word into a backronym standing for “The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everybody“. He declared that the dictionary definition of a “thug” as being a rogue or criminal was not how he used the term, but rather he meant someone who came from oppressive or squalid background and little opportunity but still made a life for himself and was proud.
In 1994, he was found guilty of sexual assault. The day after the verdict was announced, he was shot by a pair of muggers while he was in the lobby of a New York City recordings studio. Shakur was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison on February 7, 1995.
On the night of November 30, 1994, the day before the verdict in his sexual abuse trial was to be announced, Tupac was shot five times and robbed after entering the lobby of the Quad Recording Studios in Manhattan, New York City, New York, by two armed men in army fatigues. He would later accuse Sean Combs, Andre Harrell, and Biggie Smalls whom he saw after the shooting of setting him up. Shakur also suspected his close friend and associate, Randy “Stretch” Walker, of being involved in the attempt.
According to the doctors at Bellevue Hospital, where he was admitted immediately following the incident, Shakur had received five bullet wounds; twice in the head, twice in the groin and once through the arm and thigh. He checked out of the hospital, against doctor’s orders, three hours after surgery. In the day that followed, Shakur entered the courthouse in a wheelchair and was found guilty of three counts of molestation, but innocent of six others, including sodomy.
On November 30, 1995, exactly one year to the day of the shooting, Stretch was killed in an execution-style murder in Queens.
Shakur began serving his prison sentence at Clinton Correctional Facility on February 14, 1995. Shortly afterwards, he released his multi-platinum album Me Against the World. Shakur is the only artist ever to have an album at number one on the Billboard 200 while serving a prison sentence. The album made its debut on the Billboard 200 and stayed at the top of the charts for five weeks. The record album sold 240,000 copies in its first week, setting a record for highest first week sales for a solo male rap artist at the time.
He married his long-time girlfriend, Keisha Morris, while serving his sentence. This marriage was later annulled. While imprisoned, Shakur read many books by Niccolo Machiavelli, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War and other works of political philosophy and strategy.
Read for Keisha Morris, here.
He also wrote a screenplay titled ”Live 2 Tell” while incarcerated, a story about an adolescent who becomes a drug baron.
In October 1995, Shakur’s case was on appeal but due to all of his legal fees he could not raise the $1.4 million bail.
After serving eleven months of his one-and-a-half year to four-and-a-half year sentence, Tupac was released from the penitentiary, due in large part to the help and influence of Marion “Suge” Knight, CEO of Death Row Records. Knight posted $1.4 million bail pending appeal of the conviction, in exchange for which Shakur was obligated to release three albums for the Death Row label.
2Pac’s Death Row debut, ”All Eyez on Me”, was the first double disc of original material in hip-hop history.
It debuted at number one upon its February release, and would be certified quintuple platinum by the fall. Although he had a hit record and, with the Dr. Dre duet “California Love,” a massive single on his hands, Shakur was beginning to tire of hip-hop and started to concentrate on acting. During the summer of 1996, he completed two films, the thriller Bullet and the dark comedy Gridlock’d, which also starred Tim Roth. He also made some recordings for Death Row, which was quickly disintegrating without Dre as the house producer, and as Knight became heavily involved in illegal activities.
While incarcerated in Clinton Correctional Facility, Shakur read and studied Niccolo Machiavelli and other published works, which inspired his pseudonym “Makaveli” under which he released the record album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory.
The album presents a stark contrast to previous works. Throughout the album, Tupac continues to focus on the themes of pain and aggression, making this album one of the emotionally darker works of his career. Tupac 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 (hence the name). The album was completely finished before Shakur died and Shakur had complete creative input on the album from the name of the album to the cover, which Shakur chose to symbolize how the media had crucified him. The record debuted at number one and sold 663,000 copies in the first week. Tupac had plans of starting Makaveli Records which would have included Outlawz, Wu-Tang Clan, Big Daddy Kane, Big Syke, and Gang Starr.
On the night of September 7, 1996, Shakur attended the Mike Tyson – Bruce Seldon boxing match at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. After leaving the match, one of Suge Knight’s associates spotted 21 year-old Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, a member of the Southside Crips, in the MGM Grand lobby and had Shakur aware. Shakur immediately rushed Anderson and knocked him to the ground. Shakur’s entourage, as well as Knight and his followers assisted in beating down Anderson. The fight was captured on the hotel’s video surveillance. A few weeks earlier, Anderson and a group of Crips robbed a member of Death Row’s entourage in a Foot Locker store, precipitating Shakur’s onset. After the brawl, Shakur went to rendezvous with Knight to go to Death Row-owned Club 662 (now known as restaurant/club Seven).
He rode in Knight’s 1996 black BMW 750i sedan as part of a larger convoy with some of Tupac’s friends, Outlawz, and bodyguards.
At 10:55 p.m., while paused at a red light, Shakur rolled down his window and a photographer took their photo at around 11:00-11:05 p.m., they were halted on Las Vegas Blvd. by Metro bicycle cops for playing the car stereo too loud and not having license plates. The plates were then found in the trunk of Knight’s vehicle; they were released without being fined a few minutes later.
At about 11:10 p.m., while stopped at a red light at Flamingo Road near the intersection of Koval Lane in front of the Maxim Hotel, a vehicle occupied by two women pulled up on their right side. Shakur, who was standing up through the sunroof, exchanged words with the two women, and invited them to go to Club 662. At approximately 11:15 p.m., a white, four-door, late-model, Cadillac driven by unknown person(s) pulled up to the sedan’s right side, rolled down one of the windows, and rapidly fired around twelve to thirteen shots at Tupac.
He was struck by four rounds; one hit him in the chest, the pelvis, and his right hand and thigh. One of the rounds apparently ricocheted into Shakur’s right lung. Knight was hit in the head by shrapnel, though it is thought that a bullet grazed him. According to Knight, a bullet from the gunfire had been lodged in his skull, however, medical reports later contradicted this statement.
At the time of the drive-by, Tupac was riding alongside Knight, with his bodyguard following behind in a vehicle belonging to Kidada Jones, Shakur’s then-fiance. The bodyguard, Frank Alexander, stated that when he was about to ride along with the rapper in Knight’s car, Shakur asked him to drive Kidada Jones’ car instead just in case they were too drunk and needed additional vehicles from Club 662 back to the hotel. Shortly after the assault, the bodyguard reported in his documentary, ”Before I Wake”, that one of the convoy’s cars drove off after the assailant but he never heard back from the occupants.
After arriving on the scene, police and paramedics took Knight and a fatally wounded Shakur to the University Medical Center. According to an interview with one of Shakur’s closest friends and music video director Gobi, while at the hospital, he received news from a Death Row marketing employee that the shooters had called the record label and were sending death threats aimed at Shakur, claiming that they were going there to “finish him off”.Upon hearing this, Gobi immediately alerted the Las Vegas police, but the police claimed they were understaffed and no one could be sent.Nonetheless, the shooters never arrived.At the hospital, Shakur was in and out of consciousness; heavily sedated, breathed through a ventilator and respirator, was placed on life support machines, and was ultimately put under a barbiturate-induced coma after repeatedly trying to get out of the bed.
Despite having been resuscitated in a trauma center and surviving a multitude of surgeries (as well the removal of a failed right lung), Shakur had gotten through the critical phase of the medical therapy and had a 50% chance of pulling through Gobi left the medical center after being informed that Shakur made a 13% recovery on the sixth night.While in Critical Care Unit on the afternoon of September 13, 1996, Shakur died of internal bleeding; doctors attempted to revive him but could not stop his hemorrhaging.
Tupac’s Family
Afeni Shakur – Mother
Afeni, a member of the infamous Black Panther Party, was Tupac’s birth mother. Tupac was very close to his mom and was very thankful for the way in which she successfully beat the struggle to raise him right. This is portrayed in the classic joint that is ‘Dear Mama’, from the ‘Me Against The World’ album. Afeni was involved in the famous ‘Panther 21′ incident, in which she along with 20 others were convicted of plotting to blow up banks and department stores.
In 1968 at the age of 21, she changed her name to Afeni Shakur, Afeni meaning “lover of people” and Shakur being Arabic for “thankful to god,” respectively.
She was pregnant with Tupac whilst in jail on these bombing charges. Tupac found out that Afeni was taking drugs whilst on tour with Digital Underground in 1990. Afeni now owns the rights for all of Tupac’s unreleased material and also the use of material such as his name and brand names etc.
After the death of her first husband Lumumba Abdul Shakur, she was married to his brother Mutulu Shakur from 1975 to 1982, then to Dr. Gust D. Davis Jr. since 2004, and has a total of six children/step-children: 2pac, Mopreme, Chinua, Ayize, Sekiywa and Nzingha.
William Jefferson “Billy” Garland – Biological father
This was Tupac’s biological father, he did very little to help raise young ‘pac, only seeing him a few times up until Tupac was around the age of 5. He didnt see Tupac again until Tupac was starring in the movie ‘Juice’ in 1992. He later visited Tupac in Bellevue Hospital when pac was shot in ’94. Tupac belived that his father was dead or just simply didnt want to see him, and he also portrayed this through many of his songs. The best example is again in ‘Dear Mama’; “Now ain’t nobody tell us it was fair, No love for my daddy cause the coward wasn’t there, He passed away and I didn’t cry, cause my anger, wouldn’t let me feel for a stranger, They say I’m wrong and I’m heartless, but all along I was lookin for a father he was gone.”
After Tupac’s death Billy Garland disrespected his son by taking Afeni to court wanting half of Tupac’s estate, but was denied. The case ended in a settlement of around $540,000 plus legal fees which totaled just over $350,000.
Lumumba Shakur – Afeni’s first husband
Lumumba Abdul Shakur was Afeni’s first husband. He was also the brother of Mutulu Shakur by adoption. He was a Black Panther member and the lead defendant in the ‘Panther 21′ case where he and 20 others, including Afeni, were convicted for allegedly plotting to blow up banks and department stores. He was found dead in Louisiana a few days before Mutulu was arrested. Mutulu suspected that his brother was murdered by someone like a police informant, who learned of Mutulu’s whereabouts, and then decided to kill two birds with one stone.
Mutulu Shakur – Step-father
Mutulu married Tupac’s mom Afeni and was Tupac’s step-father, he was Lumumba’s adopted step-brother. Mutulu was arressted as the suspected mastermind behind the Brinks robbery of 1981, in which an armored car was robbed, two New York policemen left killed along with a Brinks guard. Mutulu was then sentenced to 60 years in prison for allegedly conspiring against the US government in 1986. Mutulu however still maintains his innocence. He was an activist in the MOVE organisation and was a key figure in the historic gang truce between the Crips and Bloods in Lompoc Penitentiary. Tupac and his step-father designed the code that is THUG LIFE which consisted of rules discouraging unprovoked violence among gangsta rappers. Mutulu is mentioned in many of Tupac’s songs, throughout his career. Mutulu also wrote to the family of The Notorious B.I.G. when he was murdered in 1997.
Geronimo Pratt – Godfather
Again another member of the Black Panther Party and he was also Tupac’s Godfather. Tupac had a lot of respect for Pratt and referred to him in a few songs, even dedicating a song to him. Geronimo was recently released from prison after serving 27 yrs of a 25 to life sentence for allegedly murdering an LA teacher. Evidence surfaced that supported a destruction of some evidence in the case which provecd he was no where near the scene of the crime. He won a large sum of compensation as a result of his false imprisonment.
Sekyiwa Shakur – “Set” – Half sister
Born on October 03, 1975, Sekyiwa aka Set is Tupac’s half sister, two years his junior. Tupac and Sekyiwa lived with Afeni in the Bronx, Harlem, New York. Tupac referred to his sister in a few of his songs as “Set”. Not much was known about Set until more recently when she gave an interview with AllHipHop in which she expalined her low profile. “I kind of like my privacy. Because [as seen with] my brother, his real name was his stage name, he couldn’t escape into a private world. I didn’t want my identity out there.” Set also revelaed she had her first child in her late teens and since pac’s death she has kept hold of one of his jackets and a Rolex watch “Soon as I got to California and saw one of his jackets, I wrapped my arms around it. I still have that coat. I have one of his Rolex bracelets, and I had it promised to give to one of my children.” Set has also launched her own clothing line called Madamevelli.
Read more! | Official Facebook Profile
Mopreme Shakur – Step-brother
Mopreme Shakur, (born Maruice Harding) is Tupac’s elder step-brother as his mother is Sharan Harding and his dad is Mutulu (Tupac’s Step-father). The two divorced shortly after Mopreme was born and Mutulu remarried with Afeni Shakur, who already had a son and a daughter,(Tupac and Sekyiwa). Mopreme’s first appearance on wax, under the alias Mocedes, was on Tony Toni Ton?’s hit single “Feel’s Good” in the year 1990. His first collaboration with 2Pac was on the single “Papaz Song” under the name ‘Wycked’, from Tupac’s 1993 album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. Mopreme was part of Tupac’s group ‘Thug Life’, as well as a premier member of Outlawz. Mopreme, as well as Big Syke dropped out of the group but was never signed to Death Row Records.
Yafeu Akiyele Fula aka Yaki Kadafi – Godbrother
Born on Oct 9th 1971 in New Jersey Yafeu Fula was Tupac’s godbrother. Yafeu’s parents were both members of the Black Panther Party along with Tupac’s mother Afeni Shakur. Both families formed a strong bond and Tupac and Kadafi became inseparable friends growing up together living in the same households at times. When Tupac was incarcerated in 1995 Yafeu would visit Tupac daily, and it was there in one of those visits that they decided to form the rap group “Outlawz” in which Yafeu would use the alias of Yaki Kadafi. The alias Yaki come from the first letters of his first and last name, and Kadafi refers to American enemy Col. Gadafi. When Tupac was released from prison, Kadafi met with pac to sign with Death Row Records. On September 13, 1996 Tupac died after being shot in a drive-by shooting on the Las Vegas Strip. Kadafi was in the car directly behind ‘pac and claimed he could identify one of the shooters. Kadafi was stunned by his loss, and immediately returned to New Jersey before any detectives had the chance to interview him due to fearing for his own life. On 10th November 1996 he was shot once to the head area, he was found dead sometime later slumped against a wall on the third floor of an appartment block in New Jersey, at the young age of 19 with his bulletproof vest still on him. Outlawz member Napoleon had admitted to hip hop magazine The Source that his cousin Roddy had shot Yaki Kadafi whilst the two of them were intoxicated with alcohol and drugs.
Katari Terrance Cox aka Kastro – Cousin
Kastro is Tupac’s cousin, born Katari Cox in Manhatten, New York on December 30, 1976. He was part of the rap groups ‘Dramacydal’ and Tha Outlawz’. He featured alongside Tuapc in many songs on his later albums. They met through their mothers who were close friends. After moving to New Jersey Kastro and E.D.I. became friends with Yafeu “Kadafi” Fula. In 1992, they formed a trio, Kastro went under the alias K-Dog and the trio went under name Young Thugs. By now Tupac had became a rap star and let the trio guest appear on “Flex” on his “Holler If Ya Hear Me” single which was released on February 4, 1993. In 1994, Mutah “Napoleon” Beale joined the group now known as Dramacydal. On April 5, 1995, Tupac’s LP, Me Against The World, was released. They guest appeared on the tracks “Me Against The World” and “Outlaw.” In 1995, Tupac, Bruce “Fatal” Washington, Kadafi, Kastro and Napoleon formed the group the Outlaw Immortalz, later changed to the Outlawz. Tupac gave each member of the group an alias from an enemy of America, he gave K-Dog the alias Kastro after Cuban president Fidel Castro.
Assata Shakur – Step-aunt
Assata Shakur was Tupac’s step-aunt as she is the sister of his stepfather, Mutulu Shakur. She is arguably the most famous of the Shakur family behind Tupac. She is currently living in Cuba, due to her involvement in a highly controversial case in which she was convicted of murder in a shoot-out in New Jersey 1973. Tupac’s uncle, Zayed Shakur, along with an officer were both killed. The third person in the vehicle Sundiata Acoli, has so far served over 20 yrs of her sentence and has been denied parole for another 20. Assata was also shot in the back, taken to the hospital and tortured while questioned. This resulted in her having a broken clavicle and a paralyzed arm. Despite forensic evidence proving she could not of possibly fired a weapon she was sentenced to life plus 30 yrs in prison, howver she later escaped and fled to Cuba where she lives to date under granted asylum from Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. There are many campaigns to free Sundiata and prevent the US’s attempts to extrodite Assata from Cuba. There are many books written about her and a lot of info on the web.
Takerra Allen – Half-sister
A day doesn’t go by that Takerra Allen doesn’t think about her deceased brother, Tupac Shakur.
Allen, a budding author and Tupac’s younger half-sister who shares the same father [Billy Garland] as the rap legend, says every day, especially major holiday and family get together, is full of memories of ’Pac. Unfortunately, the New Jersey native never got a chance to meet her famous older half-brother, only holding onto recollections from one short conversation she had with ’Pac when he was incarcerated in Upstate New York in 1995, when she was only a child.
Here, Allen tells XXL about family resemblances to Tupac, how her first impression of him was through the movie Juice and writing her books. —Mark Lelinwalla
XXL: How do you think September 13, the 15th anniversary of Tupac’s passing, will be for your family?
Takerra Allen: It’s always bittersweet. It’s always good when I go on the Internet, radio, Facebook and people are playing his music and they’re talking about him every time his birthday or anniversary comes around. That’s the sweet part, but it’s also a deep thing knowing he’s gone and not coming back and knowing there hasn’t been no real closure to what happened to him. Every year that passes, it hurts my family a little more. We wish there would be some kind of justice, but it’s good to know that people still remember him and love him.
Your dad looks exactly like Tupac. Are there strong resemblances throughout the rest of the family?
My dad has strong genes. Sometimes we have family cookouts and we’re looking at my brother and it’s like seeing him. I flip out sometimes because if Tupac could have been here and seen my whole family, he would have flipped out to see how everyone looks just like him. It’s crazy.
How much is Tupac brought up when the family is together?
Oh, all the time. On our Fourth of July cookout, we played nothing but Tupac music. My dad was telling stories about him. We have a cousin that shares the same birthday [as Tupac], so we celebrate both their birthdays. This past June 16, our uncle passed on that day and it was such a raw, emotional day. It was crazy.
What do the rest of your siblings do?
My brother Landon is in Florida. I believe he works a very regular job with the cable. My brother Malik is an electrician. He’s in Jersey. My brother Billy is in Florida as well. He actually was incarcerated, but got out recently. He went to school to be a dental technician, I believe. My sister N’Neka, she lives in California. She’s my older sister. She actually looks like Tupac a lot and works for ABC, one of the soap operas. My brother Billy, he’s a spitting image [of Tupac] and his personality. Landon is also a spitting image, but you got to give it to Billy because of his mannerisms and everything. It’s crazy sometimes being around him.
So, you were one of how many children on your dad’s side?
My dad has six, so one of six. Three had the same mother and Tupac had his mom and my other brother had his mom. My dad always kept us close. He always made sure that everyone stayed like family and we all grew up knowing each other.
What was the age difference between Tupac and yourself?
In ’96 when he passed, he was 25 and I was 12, so we were 13 years apart.
Tupac’s sister, Takerra Allen, shares tales of her first and only phone conversation with her half-brother Tupac Shakur and the memories she holds dear of her famous sibling…
Tupac’s sister, Takerra Allen, shares tales of her first and only phone conversation with her half-brother Tupac Shakur and the memories she holds dear of her famous sibling…
How did you even first learn that Tupac was your brother?
It was actually when Juice came out back then. They had the advertisement for the movie in the newspaper and my dad came to me and my little brother and said, “I have to tell you guys something. This guy right here is your brother.” He took us to see the movie and he was Bishop, so I was a little scared. Of course I thought he was young and wild and a little intimidating, but even being so young, I remember thinking he stole the show with so much charisma. I remember being glued to him and I don’t know if that’s because I knew he’s my brother. I remember focusing on him and not taking my eyes off him. He was that movie. It was spellbinding to watch him in that. I looked over at my dad and he was crying at the end. I guess it just touched him just seeing what he accomplished and then not seeing him in so long. Now that I’m older, I can watch and see so much talent in that movie, but back then, I was like, “He’s crazy!” I was probably 8 or 9 years old in that movie.
What a way to be introduced to somebody!
[Laughs] A good thing about my dad is he never hid anything. He sat us down and told us the real deal about everything that happened and losing touch with Tupac and his mother. From my understanding, it took my dad a long time to track Afeni down and he wasn’t able to find him. One day he knew where they were and the next he didn’t. He grew up thinking someone else was his father.
Take me from that point on.
From that point on…forgive me, it’s blurry because I was young. But I remember every day after [watching Juice] we were playing his music. I knew all his songs. I was so touched by “Brenda’s Got a Baby.” I made my dad talk to me about certain things because of Tupac’s music. I remember my father telling me we were going to meet him one day and telling me about when he was younger and taking him to the movies. We watched his videos and interviews. I got in touch with him the same way most of the world did—through his art. I don’t think for me personally that the contact came until my dad started visiting him in Upstate New York, when he went to jail. That was ’95 and I was 10 or 11.
How did your contact with him start?
I was in the living room one day and my dad gave me the phone and said, “Somebody wants to speak to you.” I got on the phone with him and I was very shy at first because he was famous and I never spoke to him before. He told me this isn’t the place he wants me to meet him for the first time and that we would have our day to meet. He was just really cool. He was silly and goofy. I told him, “Daddy told me you cheated in Monopoly and you can’t dance” and he said, “Yo, I ain’t cheat and I could dance!” I remember telling him that nobody at school believed me that he was my brother. Tupac told me, “One day you’re not going to care what anybody says to you.” He told me to not believe stuff that I read about him. I think that was our only conversation and we had a couple letters that we shared. I also remember him telling me how he saw pictures of the family and we looked a lot like him and he can’t wait to meet us. I definitely hold onto that conversation.
But unfortunately you never met him?
I was supposed to meet him—I remember my dad told me—that we were all going to meet him Thanksgiving of ’96. We were really excited…and then that happened.
Where were you when the news of Pac’s death hit?
I was living with my mom in New Brunswick, New Jersey and my dad was living in Jersey City. When it happened, my dad went to Vegas. I thought it would be like the first time that he was shot. I thought it would be fine and we’re still going to meet him Thanksgiving. But I remember Friday the 13th and I was watching the Jason marathon and my dad called me. I just knew by his voice what had happened. I couldn’t believe it. That brief conversation and moment I had with him, that was going to be it.
How did you get into writing?
I started my first book when I was 17. It wasn’t meant to be a book. It was more of a personal thing that turned into a book. It’s funny because I recently wrote a couple chapters to a “White Man’s World” and said to myself, “This song is touching so many people in such a short amount of time,” and what I’d do is challenge myself to write like that. I challenge myself to get as deep as him.
2Pac – ”Me Against the World” [Official Album], March 14, 1995
2Pac – ”Me Against the World” [Official Album], March 14, 1995
Tracklist & Producers:
Click for Lyrics & Samples
01 – Intro – Producer (Tony Pizarro, Jill Rose)
02 – If I Die 2nite – Producer (Easy Mo Bee)
03 – Me Against The World – feat.(Dramacydal);- Producer (Soulshock and Karlin)
04 – So Many Tears – Producer (D-Flizno Production Squad (Shock G & Stretch)
05 – Temptations – Producer (Easy Mo Bee)
06 – Young Niggaz – Producer (Moe Z.M.D.)
07 – Heavy In The Game – feat. (Richie Rich); Producer (Mike Mosley, Sam Bostic)
08 – Lord Knows – Producer (Brian G, Moe Z.M.D., Tony Pizarro)
09 – Dear Mama – Producer (Tony Pizarro, DF Master Tee & Moses)
10 – It Ain’t Easy – Producer (Tony Pizarro)
11 – Can U Get Away – Producer (Mike Mosley)
12 – Old School – Producer (Soulshock, Jay-B, Ezi Cut)
13 – Fuck The World – Producer (Shock G)
14 – Death Around The Corner – Producer (Johnny “J”)
15 – Outlaw – feat.(Dramacydal); Producer (Moe Z.M.D.)
Released : March 14, 1995 on Interscope Records
Re-released : 1998 on Amaru/Jive
Highest Chart Position : #1 R&B, #1 Pop
Certified : Gold April 26, 1995; Platinum Aptril 26, 1995; Platinum December 6, 1995, 3x Platinum
Recorded : 1993 – 1994
Length : 65:57
Label : Out Da Gutta Records/Interscope
Producers: Easy Mo Bee, Johnny “J”, SoulShock, Tony Pizarro, Moe Z.M.D., Mike Mosley, Stretch, Shock G
Singles :
“Dear Mama” – Released: February 21, 1995
“So Many Tears” – Released: June 13, 1995
“Temptations” – Released: August 29, 1995
Review :
Perhaps as a result of these circumstances, Me Against the World has become known to many as the most incendiary of Shakur’s releases, expressing an intensely personal mix of emotions and reactions to the events of his life.
In one particular review it was said that Tupac’s uncovered and raw humanity created a flow of inspiration and vibes through all who heard the album, and that it is a remarkable and somewhat insightful musical achievement.
Many believe this album to be the pinnacle of gangster rap albums. 2Pac was deep into marijuana during this period and the album reflects that with messages of paranoia such as ‘If I Die 2Nite‘ and ‘Death Around the Corner‘. On top of the paranoia, the references to organized crime (‘Heavy in The Game‘, the real nihilistic apathy towards the world (‘Fuck the World‘) and especially the reflection on the reprecussions of violence (‘So Many Tearz‘) were a great contrast to the cartoonish thug rap albums of the time. This was unlike any other ‘Gangster Rap’ CD, as it went deep into the meaning of many subjects and also contained several emotional rhymes (‘Dear Mama‘) and personal reflections (‘It Aint Easy‘). It didn’t glorify the lifestyle but brought positive encouragement for people to seek a better lifestyle (‘Young Niggaz‘). Many other gangster rap artists have since failed trying to duplicate the emotional depth and realness of this album.
Thug Life: Volume 1 [Official Album], October 11, 1994
Thug Life: Volume 1 [Official Album], October 11, 1994
Tracklist & Producers:
Click for Lyrics & Samples
1 “Bury Me a G” (feat. Natasha Walker) – 2Pac/Mopreme Shakur/Rated R/Big Syke/Macadoshis – Prod. Thug Music
2 “Don’t Get It Twisted” – Mopreme Shakur/Rated R/Macadoshis – Prod. Jay & Mopreme
3 “Shit Don’t Stop” (feat. Y.N.V.) – 2Pac/Mopreme Shakur/Rated R/Big Syke/Macadoshis Prod. Thug Music
4 “Pour Out a Little Liquor” – 2Pac – Prod. Johnny “J”
5 “Stay True” (feat. Stretch) – 2Pac/Mopreme Shakur – Prod. Thug Music
6 “How Long Will They Mourn Me?” (feat. Nate Dogg) – 2Pac/Rated R/Big Syke/Macadoshis – Prod. Nate Dogg & Warren G
7 “Under Pressure” (feat. Stretch) – 2Pac – Prod. Thug Music
8 “Street Fame” – 2Pac/Mopreme Shakur/Rated R/Big Syke – Prod. Stretch
9 “Cradle to the Grave” 2Pac/Mopreme Shakur/Rated R/Big Syke/Macadoshis Prod. Moe-Z
10 “Str8 Ballin‘” – 2Pac, Prod. Easy Mo Bee
Released : October 11, 1994 on Atlantic Records, Interscope Records & Out Da Gutta Records
Re-released : 1998 on Amaru/Jive
Highest Chart Position : #6 R&B, #42 Pop
Certified : Gold January 24, 1996
Recorded : March 1993 – May 1994
Length : 42:28
Label : Out Da Gutta Records/Interscope
Producer : Stretch / Thug Music, Johnny “J”, Nate Dogg, Easy Mo Bee, Warren G, Mopreme, Syke, Moe Z.M.D.
Single : “Cradle to the Grave” – Released: November 4, 1994
Review :
The album was originally released by Tupac’s label Out Da Gutta Records. Due to heavy criticism on gangsta rap at the time, the original version of the album was scrapped and re-recorded with many of the original songs being cut. Among the notable tracks on the album are “Bury Me a G“, “Pour Out a Little Liquor“, “How Long Will They Mourn Me?” and “Str8 Ballin“. In 1996 Big Syke and Tupac planned to create a Thug Life: Vol. 2 which would have been released on Makaveli Records. Although the album was originally released on Tupac’s label Out Da Gutta, Amaru Entertainment, the label owned by the mother of Tupac Shakur, has since gained the rights to it. Consisting of Tupac Shakur, Rated R, Macadoshis, Mopreme Shakur, Big Syke, and with production and appearances by Stretch the album was originally supposed to be titled Thug Life: Out On Bail. The album was advertised on the liner notes of the single for Tupac’s “Papaz Song“. The single included the first song by Thug Life titled “Cradle to the Grave“. The version that appeared on the “Papaz Song” single was not accepted by Interscope Records as a single and forced Thug Life to submit a remix. The remix was later on used for the album and the video. The title song, “Out on Bail” was rejected and the album’s title was changed to Thug Life: Volume 1; although a remix of the title song by Eminem was used on the posthumous album, Loyal To The Game. The Notorious B.I.G. appeared on the track called “Runnin from the Police“, which was supposed to be track 5 of the album. It was on the Thug Life: Vol. 1 demo tape that was given to Interscope to chop and edit; this demo has recently started circulating the internet. The track was replaced with “Stay True“. The group eventually released their debut album, Thug Life: Volume 1, in September 1994 after it was rejected multiple times by Interscope. It only had ten tracks when dozens more were recorded during the sessions.
Promotion was lacking. The album didn’t sell because few mainstream rap fans knew of its existence. When Shakur was shot and incarcerated later that year, it forced Rated R and Macadoshis to part ways and the group quickly disbanded, although all remain on good terms and often collaborate on each other’s projects.
Mopreme and Big Syke continued to rap with Shakur after his prison time while he was signed to Death Row. At the end of Tupac’s life, he and Big Syke were working on Thug Life: Volume 2, which was to be released on Makaveli Records.
Future volumes were to feature other artists. Unfortunately, a second volume was never released. However, after 2Pac’s death the other artists from this album attempted to release a THUG LAW album which had only mediocore success.
The album only contains 10 tracks, because Interscope records felt many of the other recorded songs were too controversial to release.
Removed songs from the album :
2Pac, Big Syke – “Thug Life” (feat. Prince Ital Joe)
2Pac, Big Syke – “Losin It” (feat. Spice 1)
2Pac, Rated, Macadoshis – “Is It Cool 2 Fuck?” (feat. Y.N.V.)
2Pac feat. Dramacydal, Stretch, & The Notorious B.I.G.) – “Runnin’ from tha Police”
2Pac feat. Richie Rich – “Lie To Kick It”
Big Syke, Mopreme, Macadoshis, Rated R – “Straight Out Da Gutta”
The largest database track list, here.
2Pac – Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z… [Official Album], February 16, 1993
2Pac – Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z…
Tracklist and Producers :
Click for Lyrics & Samples
1. “Holler If Ya Hear Me” – Stretch- 4:38
2. “Pac’s Theme” (Interlude) – The Underground Railroad – 1:56
3. “Point the Finga” – Big D The Impossible – 4:25
4. “Something 2 Die 4” (Interlude) – 2Pac & Big D The Impossible – 2:43
5. “Last Wordz” (featuring Ice Cube & Ice-T) – Bobby “Bobcat” Ervin – 3:36
6. “Souljah’s Revenge” – Bobcat – 3:16
7. “Peep Game” (featuring Deadly Threat) – Bobcat – 4:28
8. “Strugglin‘” (featuring Live Squad) – Live Squad (Stretch, Majesty & K-Lowe) – 3:33
9. “Guess Who’s Back” – Edward “Special Ed” Archer – 3:06
10. “Representin’ 93” – Truman Jefferson – 3:34
11. “Keep Ya Head Up” – Daryl “DJ Daryl” Anderson – 4:22
12. “Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z.” – Larry “Lay Law” Goodman – 5:55
13. “The Streetz R Deathrow” – Stretch – 3:26
14. “I Get Around” (featuring Shock G & Money-B) – The D-Flow Production Squad – 4:19
15. “Papa’z Song” (featuring Wycked & Poppi) Big D The Impossible 5:25
16. “5 Deadly Venomz” (featuring Treach, Apache & Live Squad) – Stretch – 5:13
Released : February 16, 1993 on Interscope Records; 1998 on Amaru/Jive
Certified : Gold September 24, 1993; Platinum Aplril 19, 1995
Recorded : June 1992 – January 1993: Starlight Sound Studio (California); Echo Sound Studio (Los Angeles, California); Unique Recording Studios (New York)
Formats : CD, Cassette, Vinyl
Length : 64:25
Producer : Live Squad (Stretch), 2Pac, Underground Railroad, Atron Gregory, Akshun, D’Flow Production Squad, Big D The Impossible, DJ Daryl, Bobby Ervin, Laylaw, Special K, Bobcat
Singles : “Holler If Ya Hear Me” – Released: January 29, 1993
“I Get Around” – Released: June 10, 1993
“Keep Ya Head Up” – Released: October 28, 1993
“Papa’z Song” – Released: January 17, 1994
Review :
Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z, was a continuation of raw messages from a young black male. Although this album still emphasized 2Pac’s political and social thoughts, the style and production was a lot more hardcore than the debut album. This album was full of sadness, compassion and rage and also carried many disses to then Vice President Dan Quayle in retaliation for his criticism of 2Pacalypse Now.
See also : 2Pac – Troublesome 21 [Strictly For My N.I.G.G.A.Z. Era B-Sides & Unreleased Outtakes]
This album also had a lot more commercial success than 2Pacalypse Now. ‘Keep Ya Head Up‘ got acclaim for it’s social pertinence and its supportive message to single mothers. ‘I Get Around’ was the ultimate party jam of its time. ‘Holler If You Hear Me‘ and ‘Last Wordz‘ continued Tupac’s political attitude in his lyrics. Unfortunately, the raw political messages faded after this album as 2Pac got deeper and deeper into the Thug Life, his marijuana addictions, fame, legal problems, and skepticism from being backstabbed from ‘friends’. They only began to return near and during his recording of Makaveli, shortly before his untimely death.
The production on this album was better than the first.
The original vinyl names:
Side A (tracks 1-8) the “Black Side” and Side B (tracks 9-16) the “Dark Side”.
06. 2Pac – Words of Wisdom – 2Pacalypse Now
06. Words of Wisdom
Producer – Shock G
Lyric :
Killing us one by one
In one way or another
America will find a way to eliminate the problem
One by one
The problem is
The troubles in the black youth of the ghettos
And one by one
We are being wiped off the face of this earth
At an extremely alarming rate
And even more alarming is the fact
That we are not fighting back
Brothers, sisters, niggas
When I say niggas it is not the nigga we are grown to fear
It is not the nigga we say as if it has no meaning
But to me
It means Never Ignorant Getting Goals Accomplished, nigga
Niggas what are we going to do?
Walk blind into a line? Or fight?
Fight and die if we must like niggas
This is for the masses, the lower classes
The ones you left out, jobs were givin’, better livin’
But we were kept out
Made to feel inferior, but we’re superior
Break the chains in our brains that made us fear yah
Pledge allegiance to a flag that neglects us
Honour a man that who refuses to respect us
Emancipation, proclamation, Please!
Lincoln just said that to save the nation
These are lies that we all accepted
Say no to drugs but the government’s kept it
Running through our community, killing the unity
The war on drugs is a war on you and me
And yet they say this is the Home of The Free
But if you ask me it’s all about hypocrisy
The constitution, Yo, it don’t apply to me
And Lady Liberty still the bitch lied to me
Steady strong nobody’s gonna like what I pumpin’
But it’s wrong to keeping someone from learning something
So get up, it’s time to start nation building
I’m fed up, we gotta start teaching children
That they can be all that they want to be
There’s much more to life than just poverty
This is definitely ahhh words of wisdom
AMERIKA, AMERIKA, AMERIKKKA
I charge you with the crime of rape, murder, and assault
For suppressing and punishing my people
I charge you with robbery for robbing me of my history
I charge you with false imprisonment for keeping me
Trapped in the projects
And the jury finds you guilty on all accounts
And you are to serve the consequences of your evil schemes
Prosecutor do you have any more evidence?
Words of Wisdom
They shine upon the strength of a nation
Conquer the enemy on with education
Protect yourself, reach for what you wanna do
Know thy self, teach what we been through
On with the knowledge of the place, then
No one will ever oppress this race again
No Malcolm X in my history text
Why is that?
‘Cause he tried to educate and liberate all blacks
Why is Martin Luther King in my book each week?
He told blacks, if they get smacked, turn the other cheek
I don’t get it, so many questions went through my mind
I get sweated, They act as if asking questions is a crime
But forget it, one day I’m gonna prove them wrong
Now every brother had to smother on the welfare line
The American dream, though it like it’s attainable
They’re pulling your sleeve, don’t believe
‘Cause it will strangle yah
Pulling the life of your brain, I can’t explain
Beg as you can obtain from which you came
Swear that your mother is living in equality
Forgetting your brother that’s living her apology
Thought they had us beaten when they took out King
But the battle ain’t over till the black man sings
Words of Wisdom
But the battle ain’t over till the black man sings
Words of Wisdom
NIGHTMARE that’s what I am
America’s nightmare
I am what you made me
The hate and evil that you gave me
I shine of a reminder of what you have done to my people
For Four hundred plus years
You should be scared
You should be running
You should be trying to silence me
Ha ha
But you cannot escape fate
Well it is my turn to come
Just as you rose you shall fall
By my hands
Amerika, You reap what you sow
2pacalypse America’s Nightmare
Ice Cube and Da Lench Mob America’s Nightmare
Above the Law America’s Nightmare
Paris America’s Nightmare
Public Enemy America’s Nightmare
Krs-One America’s Nightmare
Mutulu Shakur America’s Nightmare
Geronimo Pratt America’s Nightmare
Assada Shakur America’s Nightmare
Samples :
05. 2Pac – Violent – 2Pacalypse Now
05. Violent
Backing Vocals – DJ Fuze , Mac Mone, Money B
Producer – Raw Fusion
Lyric :
[2Pac]
They claim that I’m violent, just cause I refuse to be silent
These hypocrites are havin fits, cause I’m not buyin it
Defyin it, envious because I will rebel against
any oppressor, and this is known as self defense
I show no mercy, they claim that I’m the lunatic
But when the shit gets thick, I’m the one you go and get
Don’t look confused, the truth is so plain to see
Cause I’m the nigga that you sell-outs are ashamed to be
In every Jeep and every car, brothers stomp this
I’m Never Ignorant, Getting Goals Accomplished
The underground railroad on an uprise
This time the truth’s gettin told, heard enough lies
I told em fight back, attack on society
If this is violence, then violent’s what I gotta be
If you investigate you’ll find out where it’s comin from
Look through our history, America’s the violent one
Unlock my brain, break the chains of your misery
This time the payback for evil shit you did to me
They call me militant, racist cause I will resist
You wanna censor somethin, motherfucker censor this!
My words are weapons, and I’m steppin to the silent
Wakin up the masses, but you, claim that I’m violent
[Chorus:]
[1st occurance:] as written
[2nd occurance:] add last three lines again
[3rd occurance:] repeat first five lines twice
[4th occurance:] repeat first five lines twice
[5th occurance:] second to fifth line, first to fifth line
[6th occurance:] emphasis on second line, whole chorus
[7th occurance:] first three lines only
“They claimin that I’m violent” -> Chuck D [cut and scratched]
“Fuck the damn cop!” [cut and scratched]
“Just because we play what the people want..”
“They claimin that I’m violent” -> Chuck D [cut and scratched]
“Fuck the damn cop!” [cut and scratched]
“Just because we play what the people want..”
“They claimin that I’m violent” -> Chuck D [cut and scratched]
“Fuck the damn cop!” [cut and scratched]
[2Pac]
The cops can’t stand me, but they can’t touch me
Call me a dope man, cause I rock dope beats
Jacked by the police, didn’t have my ID
I said, “Excuse me, why you tryin to rob me?”
He had tha nerve to, say that I had a curfew
(Do you know what time it is?
Get out the fucking car, or I’ll hurt you!)
“Get out the car… or I’lI hurt you”
So here I go, I better make my mind up
Pick my nine up, or hit the line-up
I chose B, stepped into the streets
The first cop grabbed me, the other ripped my seat
They grabbed my homie and they threw him to the concrete
(Ay man.. aiyyo.. ay man just c’mon ?)
(“What you doin man?”) They tried to frame me
They tried to say I had some dope in the back seat
But I’m a rap fiend, not a crack fiend
My homie panicked (“I’m out”) he tried to run
(Freeze nigga!) I heard a bullet fire from the cop’s gun
My homie dropped so, I hit the cop
I kept swingin, yo, I couldn’t stop
Before I knew it, I was beatin the cop senseless
The other cop dropped his gun, he was defenseless
(? Arrrrggggh, fuck you! Ungggh!)
Now I’m against this cop who was racist
Given him a taste, of tradin places
And all this, cause the peckerwood was tryin this
frame up, but I came up
Now they claimin that I’m violent
[Chorus]
[2Pac]
As I was beatin on a cop, I heard a gun click (uh-ohh)
Then the gun shot, but I wasn’t hit
I turned around it was my homie with the gun in hand
He shot the cop (damn!) now he’s a dead man
I said, come on, it’s time for us to get away
(Let’s go, we gotta get the fuck outta here)
They called for backup, and they’ll be on their way
Jumped in the car, and tried to get away quick
The car wouldn’t start (damn!) we in deep shit
So we jumped out (C’mon let’s take the cop’s car)
We drove a little ways thinkin that we got far
But I looked up, and all I saw was blue lights
If I die tonight, I’m dying in a gunfight
I grabed the AK, my homie took the 12 gauge
Load em up quick, it’s time for us to spray
We’ll shoot em up with they own fuckin weapons
And when we through sprayin (audi) then we steppin
This is a lesson, to the rednecks and crooked cops
You fuck with real niggaz, get ya fuckin ass dropped
So here we go, the police against us
Dark as dusk, waitin for the guns to bust (What’s next man?)
What’s next, I don’t know and I don’t care
One things fo’ sho’, tommorrow I won’t be here
But if I go, I’m takin all these punks with me
Pass me a clip G, now come and get me
You wanna sweat me, never get me to be silent
Givin them a reason, (a reason) to claim that I’m violent…
[Chorus (3)]
[Chorus (4)]
[Chorus (5)]
[Chorus (6)]
[Chorus (7)]
Samples :
“Pirates Anthem” by Home T, Cocoa Tea and Shabba Ranks
“City Under Siege” by Geto Boys
“Any Colour You Like” by Pink Floyd
“Rebel Without a Pause” by Public Enemy
“Halloween Theme Song” by John Carpenter
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