Tupac Shakur
Uploaded by lonewolf88 on Oct 26, 2011
This paper examines the influences on Shakur in his early life and how those influences shaped his lyrics.
I Introduction
Gangsta rap icon Tupac Shakur was shot dead in Las Vegas in 1996, but his standing and influence in the world of music is possibly greater now than it was during his lifetime. Part of this cult status is due to his untimely death, but most of it is due to his impact on the industry, and the ways in which his lyrics moved the members of his audience.
What makes a legend? This paper examines the early influences on the rapper, particularly his mother Afeni Shakur and how that early influence shaped his lyrics.
II Brief Biography
Tupac Shakur was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1971 to Afeni Shakur; both she and Shakur’s father, Billy Garland (whom the boy never knew), were active in the Black Panther movement. Afeni had in fact done jail time.
In 1985, Afeni moved the family to Baltimore where Tupac attended the Baltimore School for the Performing Arts; and in 1988, to Marin City, California. (Edwards, PG). (This account is the direct opposite of Kellogg’s article, in which he states that Shakur left his mother in New York.) (PG). Whatever the truth of the matter, the rapper wound up on the Left Coast, and began his career in the music business.
He got his start in the group Digital Underground, but also became involved in petty crime, and wound up in jail several times. His big break came in 1991 with the release of “2Pacalypse Now,” and he continued to release hugely successful albums for the next five years. He also appeared in a half-dozen films. (Kellogg, PG).
Rumors about his death, which remains unsolved, abound, but many sources mention a West Coast/East Coast “feud” among rappers. But the stark fact of the matter is that Shakur was gunned down in Las Vegas in September, 1996.
III Influences on Shakur
Shakur never knew his father, Billy Garland. Afeni married Lumumba Shakur, and she, her husband, and her husband’s brother Muula Shakur were all involved in the Black Panther movement. The family was poor and lived in the inner city, which meant that Shakur grew up with a basic understanding of the plight of poor urban blacks. But his mother’s political activism also meant that he was exposed...