Tupac Shakur:Forever

Pac died when he was 25. Now think about how old you are.Think of all the things you've accomplished. Maybe all of the things you've failed to achieve yet. 25. That's way too young for ANYONE to be dying, yet alone at the time the Biggest Rapper of All-Time. Ask ten different people who Pac was and you're likely to get nine different answers. Tupac was alot of things. Poet, activist, Actor, LEGEND. He was and will remain in my opinion the best to ever grace the Mic. Tupac's ability to vividly capture the everyday strife and struggle of Black with "Brenda's Got A Baby" "Keep Ya Head Up" and "Dear Mama" which was recently inducted into the Library Of Congress. To this day Tupac is only the third MC to be afforded this honor. Organizers of the award said the song was 'a heartfelt homage to mothers struggling with poverty.' Adding 'its end result and cultural impact on Hip-Hop was undeniable.' A touching honor to a career that lasted nearly a decade but was cut short on September 13th. And a violent footnote in the history of Hip-Hop.


'Thug Life' was in itself the driving force and undoing to Tupac's life and his music. The product of numerous inner-city neighborhoods and schools shaped Tupac into what he would later become. His ability to convey what he witnessed on a daily basis was just at that point unheard of. There hadn't been a WILLINGNESS to lift Blacks up through Hip-Hop since Public Enemy. And sadly there hasn't been anyone to follow that up and carry the torch since his untimely death. Tupac didn't just rap or TALK about 'Thug Life'. He LIVED it. He did that up to and including the night of his death. At only twenty-five years old, Shakur had a massive amount of issues swirling around in 1996. His court and legal troubles were well documented. And his growing activism made him a Hero among Blacks and minorities. I will not sit here and pretend to be a Pac historian. Or claim to know Tupac personally. I am more of an observer to the Tupac i grew up watching and his impact on Hip-Hop 14 years later.


ESPN recently aired a documentary profiling the friendship and connection between Mike Tyson and Tupac Shakur. There are definitely parallels between the two. Both grew up in tough New York neighborhoods. Both came from broken families sadly atypical of Black Households. The pair both found different outlets for their often volatile personalities. Tyson through the help of  a trainer found his outlet in Boxing. Tupac found his first through poetry and later through Rap. Tyson entered the ring in Las Vegas to the sounds of Tupac. The MGM Grand was abuzz as the biggest fighter in the world was set to take on challenger Bruce Seldon. Tupac sat ringside with numerous Death Row personnel alongside him taking in and reveling in the festivities. Before the fight Tyson suggested Pac visit him backstage when the fight wrapped. Pac agreed and was escorted back to his ringside seat. That get-together sadly would never happen. 109 seconds later at 8:55 the fight was over. But really it was just beginning.


Shortly after the fight Tupac and members of his security are seen on grainy MGM Grand surveillance video stomping and kicking a man later identified as Orlando Anderson. Apparently weeks prior, Outlawz member Khadafi [who would later be killed in the aftermath of the shooting] reportedly had his Death Row medallion stolen in Los Angeles at Compton's Lakewood Mall. Khadafi confronts Orlando Anderson in the MGM Lobby and believes this is the same man responsible for the robbery. According to reports words are exchanged between the two parties with Khadafi charging Orlando was the one responsible. What happens next has been confirmed by multiple parties which makes it all the more disturbing Pac's killer has never been found.


11:30PM Las Vegas
Pac and label Boss Marion 'Suge' Knight are joined by a stream of cars. Various groupies, label mates and Death Row security personnel follow close behind. The destination is Suge's Club 662 on the Strip where it was decided the Death Row camp would hang out and unwind post-fight. The Strip itself was definitely  packed on this night as the Tyson fight had ended quickly and most spilled out onto the Vegas Strip and into neighboring Casinos. Pac sat passenger side in Suge's Black BMW now sporting a Basketball jersey and not the silk shirt he was seen on video wearing. The BMW turned onto Flamingo Road and sat idle at a red light. What follows was confirmed by Las Vegas Police as they claim 'A white Cadillac with California License plates' pulled up alongside the two as they sat at the red light. An unknown shooter fires a 40 Glock caliber pistol into the BMW's side door. Somewhere between 10 and 12 shots are fired with Tupac taking multiple gunshot wounds to the torso. Witnesses say they jump out after the shots and quickly give chase to the Cadillac now speeding away down Flamingo but to no avail.


Shakur, now slumped over is bleeding profusely from his chest. Suge then heads to the hospital but is stopped by Las Vegas Police a mile down the road. Now in the emergency room Doctors frantically try to stabilize Shakur but find it tough. A lung is removed in the first surgery and Doctors have given an estimate of 20% as to Tupac'sLas Vegas Police are trying to gather information on the shooting and actively begin looking for suspects. Members of the Death Row camp who had been following behind Pac and Suge give their accounts of what happened. 


It's thought that Orlando Anderson had to have been the trigger man but for reasons unknown or maybe lack of credible evidence L.V.P.D drags its feet in bringing in key witnesses and interviewing multiple suspects. Following the shooting Las Vegas Police finally locate and interview Death Row honcho Suge Knight who was behind the wheel and possibly the best witness to what happened that night. Sadly no new information surfaces. Informants who claimed to have info would agree to testify only to recant their statements. Possibly out of fear. Multiple witnesses and possible suspects are gunned down in Las Vegas and Los Angeles in the following days of the shooting. To this day, Tupac's murder remains an open case and no shooter actual or in theory have been found. With so many people implicated in the case and many others staying mum its no wonder people quietly demand answers.


Among them is Author John Potash who claims among many things Pac was not murdered but assassinated. In his book "The FBI War On Tupac Shakur & Black Leaders" Potash theorizes Pac was targeted mainly because of his political ties to the Black Panther Party and his strong cultural influence on Blacks and Hip-Hop in general. In the book Potash claims LAPD officer Russell Poole got himself assigned to the Biggie murder by chance and stumbled upon numerous reports of LAPD Officers on the Death Row payroll. A potential scandal in itself since the LAPD ALSO had reports of guns, drugs and among many other things Money laundering that they knew about going on at Death Row. This would help explain why Las Vegas Police seemed "slow" in dragging its feet on the Tupac murder. 


I'm not a big fan of conspiracy theories. But i know Tupac was. Tupac read a lot. A LOT. Tupac claims he tried to or has read about two books a day. His love for books and authors allowed Tupac the freedom to craft his own stories reflecting life he encountered in his upbringing. Among one of Pac's favorite philosophers and influences was the great enigma himself Machiavelli. Machiavelli's works had a profound impact on the life and music of Tupac Shakur. Among them was Tupac Amaru Shakur taking on a play of the moniker by adopting the name Makaveli for himself. Some people believe fourteen years later Tupac's death was an elaborate plan. Or that despite reports to the contrary former Death Row Boss Suge Knight was in on the hit. To this day Pac's death remains something of a mystery to many. You know what i'm talking about. The so-called smoking gun reports, supposed fudged Autopsy reports. We've seen the TMZ reports. Tupac spotted in Antigua. Tupac found in Las Vegas. Is this Pac? [insert Pac look-alike here]. Enough. Truth is people...Tupac is gone. His body cremated shortly after his death and his ashes swept out to sea by his mother Afeni. Those are the facts and sadly after fourteen years we're still struggling to fill the void.


Tupac Shakur may be long-gone fourteen years later but never forgotten. His teachings and his tremendous vast library of music live on and helped shape an entire Generation. In 2009, Death Row Records which was forced into bankruptcy was sold to investment group wideAWAKE Entertainment. Now known as wideAwake Death Row Records, The company is run inside the same Death Row offices in Los Angeles by original Death Row engineer John Payne. "There should be a new Tupac album out by Christmas" says Payne adding "this was work from around the All Eyez On Me days...i believe it to be his best work."  This would be the latest posthumous release from Tupac since 2006's 'Pac's Life' which commemorated the 15th Anniversary Of his death.  


Through Tupac's Amaru Foundation which was founded after his death and run by mother Afeni Shakur provides New York inner-city youths from troubled homes with Arts and Summer Camp programs. Afeni's Amaru Entertainment which was also founded after the rapper's death gives upcoming writers and artists an opportunity to realize their dreams through workshops and Studio access. Afeni herself has largely decided to stay out of the spotlight. In 1999 Afeni joined fellow patriarch Voletta Wallace who saw her son Christopher 'Biggie' Wallace die amid a haze of gunfire in Los Angeles a year after Shakur in 1997. The two pleaded on-stage for the violence to stop and as a result effectively put an end to the West Coast/East Coast feud that dominated the landscape of Hip-Hop and News for years. Since that night at the MTV Video Music Awards, Afeni has mainly shied away from major public appearances. But Afeni found herself in a bit of legal trouble herself and thrust back into the spotlight in April as she was arrested and booked on charges of Felony Possession of Marijuana in North Carolina. Made more troubling by the well-documented admissions of her previous Drug Abuse of Crack. 


Sadly the one event i wish Tupac could see happen but of course never did was the election of a Black President in Barack Obama. "And although it seems heaven sent We ain't ready, to see a black President," -Tupac 'Changes'. And he was right. I think it's a shame Tupac has done more in DEATH than some Black Leaders who are ALIVE. I also believe the Current State Of Hip-Hop is a joke. It's also sad that after the groundwork MC's like Pac Biggie and Pun have laid down. Legacies in the game that we have to listen to such fuckery. Tupac's teachings although violent and crude at times were only a microcosm of the man Tupac strived to be. How many poems on Love and character have we seen from Pac? How many videos urging us to Keep our Heads up? Tupac once said "Change is Hard, but if you want it. You gotta fight for it. You gotta take it" When will we see a return to MEANINGFUL Hip-Hop? WILL we ever see a return to that? Somewhere Pac is nodding....but in which direction?


Death Row Records


MTV- Afeni Shakur Arrested

Amazon- Buy "The FBI War On Tupac Shakur & Black Leaders "