The Mysterious Death of Tupac Shakur by Essence Redd

A confrontation that ended a famous celebrity’s life too soon? That is what happened when Tupac Shakur, a famous hip hop artist in the 90s, left a boxing match and got shot on the night of September 7th, 1996. There are questions about what happened to Shakur when there were inconsistencies with the stories being told about his death. Since Shakur’s death, many theories have surfaced: he was killed by his entourage, he faked his own death and is hiding in Cuba, or that famous rival Biggie Smalls organized his shooting (Entertain This! Staff) (Chen). Let's examine the theories and try to piece together what really happened to Tupac Shakur.

            Who was Tupac Shakur? Google “talented african american male” and a picture of Tupac Shakur should appear. Tupac wanted to change the world and the way the people viewed him. An article in the newspaper showed a dark-complexed, tatoo covered male whose 5’9” frame weighed in a 149 pounds; his bare head with his signiture bandana wrapped around his it labled him as a thug to others (Philips). Many people have expressed that Tupac was just getting started with his career at the time of his death because many years after, he is still getting earnings from his albums and films. (Payne) 

            Tupac is characterized as preciously talented and successful in the music and film industry. In the music industry, according to Forbes “He has sold over 75 million records worldwide, has two platinum albums, $60 million worth of albums” (Payne). In the film industry according to Forbes, “ In 1992, when he starred in the movie Juice, he pulled in over $20 million in the box office and in 1993 he starred in his second movie with Janet Jackson called Poetic Justice, which pulled in $27 million in the box office” (Payne). One of his albums, “All Eyes On Me” was the biggest release of his career and has sold 10 million copies alone, which was also a double album for the record label Death Row (Lynch). That shows how successful Tupac was, even after his death.

            How did Tupac’s friends describe him? Mike Tyson, one of Tupac’s close friends, had said that he was a “big ball of energy” and that he was an “incredible and special person” (Reid) Mike Tyson spoke highly of his Mcee friend in the MTV news interview. Mike Tyson belived that he protrayed some of the qualities that Tupac had while in the ring with his opponent, which was being “a warrior and fearless” (Reid). Tyson had also exclaimed that they had “purely emotionally intimate talking” and explained that Tupac was very abundant in expressing his feelings (Reid). Tupac being able to express his feelings, was showed in his lyrics. Tupac showed characteristics of being a bright, incredible, and fearless person that wanted to show the world that he had potintial in becoming a rapper.

            Tupac’s high school pal, Jada Pinkett Smith, has decribed the late rapper as an “Icon” (Swertlow). In the Enews interview, it is explained that Jada was expressing her feelings towards the death of her friend, Tupac Shakur, in her new series “Red Table Talk”. She had expressed that she has had “a lot of loss” and that most of her close friends “didn’t make it past 25”, which is refrencing the age the late rapper died at (Swertlow). She had also explained that she felt like “he had left her without saying goodbye” and that she thought “he would be here for the long run” (Swertlow), but then she says that he had made his mark and that “he played his role…he did what he was meant to do…he’s an icon” (Swertlow). Jada expressing the way she felt about Tupac’s death and the way she felt about him, showed that she was deeply affected and is still in the process of mourning.

In the murder of Tupac Shakur, many conspiracy theories are highlighted. In the first conspiracy theory, it was brought to Suge Knight’s attention that Tupac was going to leave Death Row Records and according to LAPD Detective Russell Poole” You cannot leave Death Row Records and get away with it”(Entertain This! Staff). The first conspiracy theory is that Tupac’s entourage had set him up to be killed. Tupac wanted to start his own record label and Suge Knight didn’t want that because it would block him from gaining some of Tupac’s earnings. With Knight not earning any of the now sensational hip-hop artist’s earnings from Tupac’s work, infuriated him because it gave his record label a bad name. It is also said that when the black BMW pulled up next to Tupac’s and Suge’s vehicle, that “the shooter shot at an angle that could only hit Tupac. No bullet came close to hitting Suge”(Entertain This! Staff).

The second conspiracy theory is that Tupac isn’t actually dead at all. Many people believe that Tupac never actually died and that he is now living in Cuba in hiding. They also have found some inconsistencies with his death to further back up the claim that the famous rapper is still alive. First, “Tupac’s bodyguards were supposed to ride with both stars the night of the shooting, but at the last minute Tupac told them to ride with his girlfriend” (Kelly). Secondly, “Tupac was shot two years prior and would wear a bulletproof vest after that event, but on this particular night, he was not wearing one” (Kelly). Tupac also became infatuated with a political philosopher named Niccole Machiavelli, who had faked his own death and Tupac also adapted the stage name Makaveli. One of his albums, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, an album that “created an image that Tupac was Jesus Christ” and the album sleeve says “Exit 2Pac, Enter Makaveli” (Entertain This! Staff).

The third conspiracy theory is that Tupac’s famous rival, Biggie Smalls, organized his shooting. It is said that “Biggie offered the ‘Crips’ $1million to kill Tupac Shakur” which was reported by Chuck Philips, but was quickly debunked when a report showed that Philips had falsified FBI reports (Entertain This! Staff).

All three conspiracy theories do not tie together, but the first two have some correlation. When the BMW pulled up next to Tupac’s vehicle, both theories show that in some way Suge was not going to get shot at all. The third conspiracy was proven to not be true, but still had some people put their own evidence together to believe that Biggie did have a part to play in Tupac’s death. The second conspiracy theory is the most believed, in fact, 70% of those polled on the social media app, Snapchat, believe that Tupac is not actually dead and that he is hiding in Cuba.

After examining the case of Tupac Shakur, the results of the murder has led to three conspiracy theories:

1.      He was killed by his entourage

2.      He faked his death and is hiding in Cuba

3.      His famous rival, Biggie Smalls, had organized his shooting

In 2018, twenty-two years after the murder, the murderer is still unknown and unsolved. Many people still think Tupac is alive and is hiding away in Cuba.

Works Cited

 Chen, Joyce. “Tupac Shakur: Music's Most WTF Conspiracy Theories, Explained.” Rolling Stone, Rolling Stone, 25 June 2018, www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/tupac-shakurs-unsolved-murder-musics-most-wtf-conspiracy-theories-explained-118189/.

 Lynch, John. “The Incredible Career Rise and Tragic Murder of Tupac Shakur, Who Died 21 Years Ago.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 13 Sept. 2017, www.businessinsider.com/tupac-life-story-death-2016-9#all-eyez-on-me-shakurs-1996-double-album-for-death-row-would-be-the-biggest-release-of-his-career-selling-over-10-million-copies-to-date-and-the-last-before-his-death-leading-up-to-its-release-shakur-and-east-coast-rapper-notorious-big-became-embroiled-in-a-rap-conflict-over-opposing-diss-tracks-8.

 Payne, Ogden. “20 Years Later: Tupac Shakur's Legacy By The Numbers.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 13 Sept. 2016, www.forbes.com/sites/ogdenpayne/2016/09/13/20-years-later-tupac-shakurs-legacy-by-the-numbers/#1f687d1e49a0.

Philips, Chuck. “Tupac Shakur: 'I Am Not a Gangster'.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times,

          25 Oct. 1995, www.latimes.com/local/la-me-tupac-qa-story.html.

 Reid, Shaheem. “Tupac Shakur Was 'Fearless,' Mike Tyson Says.” MTV News, 16 June 2010,

www.mtv.com/news/1641732/tupac-shakur-was-fearless-mike-tyson-says/.

 Staff, Entertain This! “5 Enduring Conspiracy Theories about Tupac.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 13 Sept. 2016, www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2016/09/13/5-enduring-conspiracy-theories-tupac/90309840/.

 Swertlow, Meg. “Jada Pinkett Smith Reveals How Tupac's Death Changed Her Life.” E! Online, E! News, 14 May 2018, www.eonline.com/news/935198/jada-pinkett-smith-on-the-death-of-friend-tupac-shakur-i-still-get-really-mad.