24 years ago, we lost a hip hop icon, Tupac Shakur.

Here's a thread of his career to cherish the GOAT.

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

Only twelve years old, Shakur starred in Harlem’s famous “127th Street Ensemble.” His first major role was as Travis in A Raisin in the Sun.

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.

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“.

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.

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“

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.

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.

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 in a prison sentence.

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 concentrated on acting.

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.

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. [FUCCK THAT WOULD'VE BEEN EPIC]

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.

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.

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

2Pac is 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 US.

Many fans, critics, and industry insiders rank him as one of the greatest
rappers ever.

This is all a summary of this dope article. https://2paclegacy.net/tupac-shakur-biography/