Tupac Amaru Shakur was born in 1971 in the Bronx.
He moved to Baltimore to attend its High School for the Performing Arts,
where he began writing rap. He then moved to Marin City, Calif., near Oakland, and continued to write and record. As a member of the Grammy-nominated group
Digital Underground he appeared in 1991 on the track "Same Song" from
"This is an EP Release" and on the album "Sons Of The P." That same year Shakur
achieved individual recognition with the album "2Pacalypse Now," which spawned
the successful singles "Trapped" and "Brenda's Got A Baby." The album,
with references to police officers being killed, drew notoriety when a lawyer
claimed a man accused of killing a Texas trooper had been riled up by the record.
Then-Vice President Dan Quayle targeted "2Pacalypse Now" in his 1992
battle with Hollywood over traditional values. Shakur followed up in 1993
with the strong selling album "Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z...," which produced
the singles "I Get Around," "Keep Ya Head Up," and "Papa'z Song."
That year he was nominated for an American Music Award as best new
rap hip hop artist. The next year he appeared with Thug Life on the
"Above The Rim" soundtrack and on the group's album "Volume 1."
In a photo on the album liner he framed his face between his two
extended middle fingers. While in prison last year he indicated he was rethinking his
lifestyle. "Thug Life to me is dead. If it's real, let somebody else represent it, because
I'm tired of it," Shakur told Vibe magazine. "I represented it too much. I was
Thug Life. While serving his sentence for sexual abuse, Tupac's third solo release,
"Me Against The World," spent four weeks at number one.
