4 of 14

Write now Article Tools

With a first name that means "shining serpent" and a last name which means "Thankful to God", Tupac Shakur was born with a mystifying contradiction which he embodied most of his life. Some of us who knew about Pac and listened to his music, can actually recall where we were the night he was killed on September 7, 1996. What led to this very unfortunate event involves a variety of experiences and influences and then his death as the career move which changed people's perceptions of him like a pebble hitting the waters and causing ripples to spread out.

The night was crisp and unusually dark, and I just came back from cheerleading practice with my friends and I got into my aunt's car. When the radio popped on I heard some static, but the verdict was clear: "Tupac, dead after four gunshot wounds" Truthfully as one who listened to R&B and Gospel mostly, I still knew who he was and knew the hooks to most of his songs and seen him in a few movies. I felt myself slump in the car and then I dared to reflect back on his career and his life and what led to this.

Tupac was born to Black Panther Party members Afeni Shakur, and Billy Garland. His mother, who was jailed on bombing charges while pregnant, decided to name him Tupac Shakur, his father at this time was not present. (www.rollingstone.com/artists/ tupacshakur). Even though born in the midst of this negativity and violence, something promising was happening with Tupac. He attended the Baltimore School of the Arts for a short while then dropped out, and became a dancer and "roadie" for Digital Underground before releasing his own album, 2Pacalypse Now in 1992, which was #13 on R&B charts.

To add to his burgeoning successes, he appeared in Juice in 1992 and opposite Janet Jackson in Poetic Justice in 1993. I've watched these movies and watched his contradictions then: he was hard and unapproachable in Juice, while a warm person full of love and sadness in Poetic Justice. This is the side I believe many people have seen of Pac. In poetic Justice he completely shed his armor and let down his guard as a boyfriend for Janet Jackson. The two lit up the screen, and I and many of my friends saw him as cute.

What happened next was Tupac's rising success off of "gansta rap", here, the myriad of personalities were very evident. While younger, I hadn't realized the misogynistic messages rappers were promoting then and now, yet Tupac did this and more. He did songs like "Hit Em Up" to encouraging songs about life like "Brenda's Got

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about Celebrity irony: Death as a career move?
We want to hear your view. Write now!