Tupac Amaru Shakur (/ˈtuːpɑːk ʃəˈkʊər/ TOO-pahk shə-KOOR; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and briefly as Makaveli, was an American rapper, songwriter, and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His double disc albums All Eyez on Me and his Greatest Hits are among the best-selling albums in the United States. He has been listed and ranked as one of the greatest artists of all time by many magazines, including Rolling Stone which ranked him 86th on its list of The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Consistently ranked as one of the greatest rappers ever, he was ranked number 2 by MTV in their list of The Greatest MCs of All-Time in 2006. 2Pac is also ranked as the most influential rapper of all time.
On September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot multiple times in a drive-by shooting at the intersection of Flamingo Road and Koval Lane in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was taken to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, where he died six days later.
Kendrick Lamar – Mortal Man Lyrics
Aight so let me ask you this then, Do you see yourself as somebody that’s rich Or somebody that made the best of their own opportunities?
I see myself as a natural born hustler, A true hustler in every sense of the word. I took nothin’ I took the opportunities, I worked at the most menial and degrading job And built myself up so I could get it to where I owned it. I went from having somebody manage me To me hiring the person that works my management company. I changed everything I realized my destiny in a matter of five years You know what I’m saying I made myself a millionaire. I made millions for a lot of people now it’s time to make millions for myself, You know what I’m saying. I made millions for the record companies, I made millions for these movie companies, now I make millions for us
And through your different avenues of success How would you say you managed to keep a level of sanity?
By my faith in God, by my faith in the game, And by my faith in all good things come to those that stay true. You know what I’m saying, and it was happening to me for a reason You know what I’m saying, I was noticing, I was punching the right buttons and it was happening. So it’s no problem, you know I mean it’s a problem but I’m not finna let them know. I’m finna go straight through
Would you consider yourself a fighter at heart Or somebody that only reacts when they back is against the wall?
I like to think that at every opportunity I’ve ever been threatened with resistance it’s been met with resistance. And not only me but it goes down my family tree. You know what I’m saying, it’s in my veins to fight back
Aight well, how long you think it take before niggas be like, We fighting a war, I’m fighting a war I can’t win and I wanna lay it all down
In this country a black man only have like 5 years we can exhibit maximum strength And that’s right now while you a teenager While you still strong or while you still wanna lift weights, While you still wanna shoot back. ‘Cause once you turn 30 it’s like they take the heart and soul out of a man Out of a black man in this country. And you don’t wanna fight no more. And if you don’t believe me you can look around, You don’t see no loud mouth 30-year old ***********
That’s crazy, because me being one of your offspring of the legacy you left behind I can truly tell you that there’s nothing but turmoil goin’ on So I wanted to ask you what you think is the future for me and my generation today?
I think that niggas is tired-a grabbin’ **** out the stores And next time it’s a riot there’s gonna be bloodshed for real I don’t think America can know that I think American think we was just playing and it’s gonna be some more playing But it ain’t gonna be no playing. It’s gonna be murder, you know what I’m saying, It’s gonna be like Nat Turner, 1831, up in this ************. You know what I’m saying, it’s gonna happen
That’s crazy man. In my opinion only hope that we kinda have left Is music and vibrations Lotta people don’t understand how important it is. Sometimes I be like, get behind a mic And I don’t know what type of energy I’mma push out, Or where it comes from. Trip me out sometimes
Because the spirits, we ain’t really rappin’ We just letting our dead homies tell stories for us
Damn I wanted to read one last thing to you. It’s actually something a good friend had wrote describing my world. It says
“The caterpillar is a prisoner to the streets that conceived it Its only job is to eat or consume everything around it, in order to protect itself from this mad city While consuming its environment the caterpillar begins to notice ways to survive One thing it noticed is how much the world shuns him, but praises the butterfly The butterfly represents the talent, the thoughtfulness, and the beauty within the caterpillar But having a harsh outlook on life the caterpillar sees the butterfly as weak And figures out a way to pimp it to his own benefits Already surrounded by this mad city The caterpillar goes to work on the cocoon which institutionalizes him He can no longer see past his own thoughts He’s trapped When trapped inside these walls certain ideas start to take roots Such as going home, and bringing back new concepts to this mad city The result? Wings begin to emerge, breaking the cycle of feeling stagnant Finally free, the butterfly sheds light on situations That the caterpillar never considered, ending the eternal struggle Although the butterfly and caterpillar are completely different They are one and the same.”
What’s your perspective on that? Pac, Pac, Pac