It's no secret that rap has declined since the death of Tupac and Biggie. Their deaths maybe have been a consequence of lifestyle, and there are many theories such as the Suge and Orlando theories. But there is one theory that people seem to be overlooking. What role has the government and government officials played in the life, and quite possibly the death of Tupac ? I believe the government to be more involved in all aspects of life than people choose or want to believe. The governent's view of rap has never been in question. They wanted it stopped when it first began. They tried to convince people and themselves that it was only a phase that would soon end, but it has proven to prevail. Still they are actively trying to censor it. Why would they want it stopped, banned, censored ? Because it allows people to speak their mind ? Because it brings truth to the masses ? In this article I will show you how the government has affected Tupac's Life and how and why they may have wanted to end it.

"My words are weapons and I'm stepping to the silence, but you, claim that I'm violent." - Tupac Shakur

From Tupac's first album 2Pacalypse, the government has tried to silence him. Tupac talked about the struggles of "Young Black Males" and the government returned the response, "This album, has no place in our society" - Dan Quale. Who's society is he talking about ? Who's he to say what we can and can't listen to ? Tupac's retaliation in Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z attacked the government, especially Quale. "Vice President Dan Quayle Eat a Dick Up", and also government officials in songs such as "Souljah'z Story". Tupac had this to say about the album, "When this song came out (Brenda's Got a Baby), no male rappers at all anywhere were talking about problems that females were having, number one. Number two, it talked about child molestation, it talked about families taking advantages of families, it talked about the effects of poverty, it talked about how one person's problems can affect a whole community of people. It talked about how the innocent are the ones that get hurt. It talked about drugs, the abuse of drugs, broken families...how she couldn't leave the baby, you know, the bond that a mother has with her baby and how...women need to be able to make a choice." In a deposition refering to the album he stated "You don't have to agree with me, but just to understand what I'm talking about. Compassion, to show compassion." In Tupac's early albums he rapped about the need for black unity, "Nigga," in Tupac's lexicon, stood for "Never Ignorant Getting Goals Accomplished."

Not long after the controversy surrounding the album, Tupac was harassed by 2 OFF DUTY Police officers claiming Tupac was J-Walking. Tupac retaliated by shooting the officers in the behind, and later filing a counter suit against the officers.

"The charges were dropped when it emerged that the policemen had been drinking and had initiated the incident, and when the prosecution's own witness testified that the gun one of the officers threatened Tupac with had been seized in a drug bust and then stolen from an evidence locker." - A REPORTER AT LARGE, THE TAKEDOWN OF TUPAC BY CONNIE BRUCK.

The Charges were not only dropped but Tupac was also awarded his counter suit. This you'd imagine would have made government and officials angry.

Tupac's next release was Thug Life vol. 1, the idea of the album was to release multiple volumes, each with different rappers, and allow gang members to get rid of the gang life by becoming musicians, as you can see his albums were an attempt to help the black community.

Not long after the release of Thug Life vol. 1, just prior to the Release of the album, Me Against the World, Tupac was convicted of a rape, sodomy and gun possesion in NY. Tupac claimed that he did not rape her, that he left the room and went to sleep, but that the men he was with may have harmed her, not guilty for rape, he claimed, he shouldn't have left her alone. As for the guns (there were more than 1), he stated they also belonged to the other men he was with. The day before trial, November 30th, 1994. At 12:20 a.m, he was entering a New York Recording studio. He was with his entourage of 3 men, Puffy, Biggie and Lil' Cease were also there. The 3 men rushed pac as everybody else with Tupac dropped to the floor, Tupac was shot 5 times and robbed of $40000. It's rather peculiar that Tupac was the only one shot because Tupac was the smallest of the men there, and odd that he was the only one robbed because he was not the only one wearing jewelry. Tupac was taken upstairs where he called his mother, and then called 911. Strangely, the police took a long time to arrive, and when they did arrive on the scene, they were the same officers which had not only arrested, but also testified against him in the sexual assault case.

"First cop I looked up to see was the cop that took the stand against me in the rape charge," Tupac said. "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'."

The police did little to solve the shooting. There were no arrests and no serious leads ever pursued.

"Police did little to locate and interview independent witnesses. Police also displayed little interest in possible motives for an attempted murder of Shakur. When questioned about the case two years later, NYPD detectives were ill-informed, even about basic details of the 1994 shooting. On police reports, the NYPD listed the stolen items as "assorted bracelets or rings with no value," in contrast to press accounts placing the jewelry's worth at $40,000. Police were not even sure how many times Shakur was shot or how many gunmen there were." - Tupac & the Cops: Tale of Death & Distrust By Joel Domhoff, Scott Menscher & Joe Stevens

The next day, when Tupac appeared in court, the rape and gun charges were dismissed, and Tupac was conviced of, touching her rear end, and sentenced to 4 years in a maximum security prison. This seems like a fairly high jail sentence.

Tupac, as all leads placed Bad Boy as the setup men for the ambush, claimed it was infact Bad Boy that set him up. Bad Boy, however, even after Shakur's death, denies ever having set him up. Tupac's next album, All Eyez on Me, after serving 8 months of his jail sentence, was a part from any of his past albums. Although in my opinion, one of the best albums of all time, it didn't have the black unity that his past albums had. You only need to look at the first two songs, "Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z" became "Ambitionz az a ridah" and "Brenda's got a Baby became "All About U". Tupac became bitter from the prison time and events he'd endured. This is when the East and West Coast began to split. In a letter Mutulu Shakur wrote to Biggie's Family, he mentions a similar incident in the past in which the government killed a certain prominent political figure which lead to the death of another, causing a tear in the unity of East and West. With rappers becoming more and more like black political figures you can see what I'm getting at. I believe it's possible that the government initiated not only this setup, but also the killing of Tupac on Sept 13, 1996. Not surprisingly, 6 months after the killing of Tupac, Biggie was also shot and killed in retaliation to the murder of Tupac. The police have done little to solve either of these murders.

"Two of Tupac's associates have come forward to tell the Los Angeles Times that Vegas police never contacted them after initial--and they say hostile--questioning just after the crime. In fact, the two say, they might be able to identify the killers. Singer Malcolm Greenridge told the Times that he was in the car behind Tupac's and saw all four faces in a white Cadillac traveling alongside, the instant before someone in the Cadillac shot into Tupac's car. "I can't promise you I could identify them, but nobody has ever even asked me to try," he said. The driver of the car in which Greenridge was riding, Frank Alexander, identified as Tupac's former bodyguard, says he actually saw the shooter, but also hadn't been shown photos or a lineup. Both said they did not try to contact Las Vegas police because they distrust them. Just after the shooting, "The police shoved guns in our faces and threatened us," Greenridge said. "They made us lay face down in the middle of the street. Even after they realized we were telling the truth, they never apologized." "If you ask me, I don't think they really care who killed Tupac," Greenridge continued. "(He) was just another black man that had a strong opinion--and now he's out of the way." - Witnesses Say Police Blew Tupac Investigation: Jeff B. Copeland

It's easy to see that a split in West and East coast rappers would weaken rap. As Tupac stated "United we Stand, Divided we Fall, They can shoot one Nigga but they can't take us all." It's well known that Tupac and Biggie are and were the most prominent figures in the West and East, and a split between them would cause a split in East and West Coast. The deaths of them would and has sparked retaliation. Whether the government or government police officials are guilty of Tupac's death is anybody's call, but if not guilty they are responsible, guilty of harrassing and not protecting him with the same rights as any member of society diserves. Rap, like Tupac, must prevail.

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