Tupac Shakur's Life and Death Conspiracy Theories by MacDonald Asemota

Tupac Shakur.

Is Tupac dead? Tupac was a famous hip-hop artist in the early 1990s and was one of the most successfully marketed artist in the early 1990s before his death in the mid 1990s. He was involved in a beef with fellow hip hop artist Biggie. They had problem for years, and their animosity towards each other was often seen in their songs directed at each other. There are several conspiracy on the death of Tupac. Was Tupac killed by his rival Biggie? Or did he fake his own death and went to live on an unknown island?                                  

Tupac Shakur is an iconic figure in the world. Tupac Shakur spoke about his life and what he went through growing up in most of his music. He is a legend in the black community and the world. He talked about discrimination, police brutality, un-employment and all the horrible oppression the black community he lived in had to go through. One of his relations and closest friends said: “Tupac stood for the black community, he made the public and the entire world aware of the discrimination blacks were still facing in the United States through his music. He called out false Prophets and wasn’t afraid to say the truth when he had to (“Tupac Shakur”). His mother Afeni Shakur said:

Her son was like a beacon of hope, that he had always had the leadership attribute in him right from a young age. She even said at the time when he was about nine years old, a black kid in his class had been treated badly by other kids, even though they were much bigger than him, he wasn’t afraid to protect the black kid by standing up to the other kids. They also described Tupac as has been pure because, he was not afraid to talk about his vulnerabilities through his music to his audience, and he was very open to everybody. (Afeni Shakur)

Much of Tupac Shakur’s anger was because of him been misunderstood. He stood for “hope, honesty, equality, integration and better tomorrow for all,” said his father (Billy Garland). He particularly reacted when people whom he described as outsiders questioned his commitments to the black community. Shakur is held in high esteem by other Rappers. “Every rapper in this generation, and in Tupac’s generation owes something to him,”(Curtis Jackson).

He did it better than the people who came before him. He is the greatest and most influential rapper ever.

Often described as “The rose that grew from concrete”, growing up, he didn’t have much (Jim). He was poor and was raised by a single parent, who was a crack addict. His mother had to raise Tupac and his half sister alone because his father was sent to jail. Tupac didn’t have a stable home. Also, he moved from place to place with his mother and half sister because most of the time they didn’t have money to pay for rent. Tupac said:

            Because I was born into poverty and suffering, people just often assumed that I had to fit into the ghetto, but it wasn’t like that. I still struggled to fit in the ghetto growing up because we always moved from place to place. My mother was working two jobs initially and was fending for me and my sister, but that wasn’t enough for us when we were living in the sub-urban of New York, so we had to leave. We moved to the trenches of New York, my mum got a job as a cleaner and we had a one-room apartment, but we could still only afford to pay for just a month of our rent and the owner of the building wasn’t reluctant either to let us live. (“Tupac Shakur 2”).

Tupac Shakur later moved to Harlem, New York, where his mother met “Leg” who introduced her to crack, which was a worst form of cocaine. As time went on, his mother became addicted to crack, and so Tupac began to lose respect for his mother.

 Tupac was a bright kid growing up, so he did excellently well in school and because he loved art and music, his mother enrolled him in an art and music school. Tupac said “Growing up, because of the absence of a father figure in my life and my mother not being around most of the time because of her crack and alcohol addiction, I had to find something else to look up to, and then I found music and acting” (“Tupac Shakur 3”). Tupac began to write raps and draw inspiration from Irish and English pop. He would save the little money they gave him untill he had enough to buy himself some rap cassette disc. Because of his academic performance in school, Tupac could get a spot at the famous Baltimore school for arts: “At this school, I didn’t struggle to fit in even though the school had lots of white people. They welcomed me wholeheartedly, and I didn’t have to struggle at all. The principal was white and most of my friends were whites, but they didn’t treat me differently as they told me in the ghetto.” (Tupac Shakur 4”).

 Tupac was very smart and poor, but he didn’t let his background stop him from reaching his goals. Tupac was from a poor home and most of the time had no money. His mother said:

After high school, Tupac wanted to go to college. When most of his friends were writing application letters and applying to colleges, Tupac was always crying because he had no money for college. He wanted to go to college so bad, but he knew in his heart that he couldn’t go. Tupac said; It wasn’t my fault that I couldn’t go to college, or my mother’s fault, it is life. Things happen like that all the time. Where I am from, I got used to seeing people finish high school and not go to college because of no money, or see people drop out of high school because they felt that it was a waste of time, since they would not go to college (Afeni Shakur 2).

 But even so, that didn’t stop him from chasing his dreams of one day becoming a famous musician. “He sometimes had to work two jobs, even as a high school senior and balanced school and work at the same time. It seemed not Possible, but he could do it, he looked like superman to us all” (Jim 2). With his earnings, he would pay for recording sessions and record all day long in the studio.

 If Tupac wasn’t at school, then he was at work. If he wasn’t at work, then he was at the recording studio and that was Tupac’s teenage life: “Most of the time, I didn’t have money to pay for recording sessions and I had to take loans from drug dealers in our neighborhood and promise to pay them back. Most of which I haven’t been able to pay back because the guys whom I loaned money from, aren’t here today” (“Tupac Shakur 5”). “Tupac Shakur was incredible and it’s a shame he had to die so young” (Afeni Shakur 3).

         

Often considered the greatest rapper of all time.

     Who killed Tupac Shakur?   

Until today, there is still an argument of who might have killed the greatest rapper of all time. The first conspiracy theory proposes “Biggie” killed Tupac Shakur. Biggie was also a famous rapper in the 90s whose success was parallel to that of Tupac’s. They were arguably the biggest rappers from the early 90s to the mid-90s. They had successes in their respective arts, and the hip-hop fans loved both of the rappers. Tupac publicly accused biggie of being involved in his shooting in Manhattan on November 30, 1994. Ben Westhoff reported that this is what primarily led to their beef. He said:

            “Tupac arrived to record a song in Times Square on November 30, 1994. He felt comfortable when Biggies affiliated rapper Lil’ Cease told him Biggie was upstairs recording. But before Tupac knew what was up, he got shot and he played dead so the assailants left”. (“How Tupac and Biggie went from Friends to Deadly Rivals”)

They went back and forth in their songs making beef music directed at each other. This led to the famous East and West Coast War in the Mid 1990s. Tupac was shot on September 7, 1996, and died six days later. After his death, most of the hip-hop fans started to point fingers at Biggie because their beef was still in its peek when Tupac got shot. Chuck Phillips wrote an article on how Vegas police floundered on Tupac Shakur’s case and implicating Biggie in Tupac’s death. He said: “The Gun used in Tupac’s death was supplied by New York rapper Biggie, who agreed to pay a million dollar to the assassin for killing Tupac Shakur”. (PHILIPS 1) 

Did Suge Knight, “Tupac’s boss”, kill Tupac? He was in the same car as Tupac when Tupac got shot four times, and Suge Knight escaped from the same car Tupac was in with no scratch. Tupac made his will of leaving Death Row Records to go start up his own record label after his record deal with Death Row Records ended. Tupac generated so much money for Death Row Records and was the leading artist in both music sales and touring in Death Row Records. This is a good ground for Suge Knight to hire mercenaries to assassinate Tupac because of jealousy, and the assassination was well staged if he in fact killed Tupac Shakur. Documentary film maker Nick Broomfield said:   

“Suge Knight killed Tupac Shakur not Biggie. He knew how much money Tupac generated for both the record label and himself, and he didn’t want to let that go. That was why he had Tupac Shakur killed”. (WENN 1)

A survey of twenty-five people revealed 60% agreed that Suge Knight killed Tupac Shakur, while 30% agreed that Biggie killed Tupac Shakur.   

  

       

Makaveli The Don.

  

    Is Tupac dead? Or, did he fake his own death to promote his music sales? Is he living on an island somewhere enjoying his riches in peace and quietness while the world still wonders if he is dead or alive? These, and so many more, are the most commonly asked questions about Tupac Shakur in the world today. After his death, his music sales sky rocketed. He was rich and famous while he was alive, but the time died, he became exceedingly rich and famous. People who didn’t know about him before knew him through friends or relations or via social media. His album sales increased, his music sales increased, so he garnered more fame worldwide.

In 2010, Forbes reported that Shakur’s estate earned “$3.5 million estimate, part of the money have come from mostly his albums sales”. (Payne 1)

 Tupac realized that he was losing the beef he had with Biggie, and because of this, thus losing his fan base. Tupac Shakur was tired of all the unnecessary hate he was receiving from the press and media, and maybe this has something to do with him faking his own death. Probably, he was also losing millions in money because of this, and he felt if he faked his own death, he would get back to his glory days and it did happen.

There have been sightings of Tupac in Hawai, Mexico, Cuba and other different countries. Much of this speculation has been fueled by Tupac’s former boss “Suge”. When asked in an interview recently if Tupac was still alive, he said:

“With Tupac Shakur, you will never know. There used to be a time when he got so tired from the hate he was receiving from the media, and gave a hint about faking his own death, so you will never know”. (“Suge Knight Reveals Tupac Spoke About Faking His Own Death.”) 

A survey of twenty-five people reveal that 10% agreed that Tupac Shakur faked his own death and is still alive and living his life happily somewhere. 

Conclusion

            Tupac Shakur was a famous hip-hop artist, who was shot on September 7^th, 1996, in a drive by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada in the United States of America. He reportedly died six days later in the University Medical Center of Las Vegas, Nevada. The unsolved death of Tupac Shakur has led to several conspiracy theories which includes:

1.        Who killed Tupac Shakur?

2.        Did Tupac Shakur fake his own death and is still alive?

In 2019, the twenty-third-year anniversary of the unsolved case, the truth about Tupac Shakur’s dead or alive conspiracy theory remains a mystery. After a long examination of the conspiracy theories, evidence points to Tupac Shakur being killed by an assassin hired by his friend turned rival Biggie.

"404." BET.com, 1 Apr. 2016, www.bet.com/music/photos/2011/09/50-most-influential-rappers.html#!2011-topic-tu-pac-crop

"Tupac Shakur – Rolling Stone." Rolling Stone – Music, Film, TV and Political News Coverage, www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/tupac-shakur/biography.

 "Tupac Shakur(1971–1996)." African American Almanac, Lean'tin Bracks, Visible Ink Press, 1st edition, 2012. Credo Reference, https://ezproxy.com.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/topic/shakur_tupac_1971_1996?institutionId=5089. Accessed 24 Jun. 2019.

 "Tupac Shakur." Biography, www.biography.com/musician/tupac-shakur.

 "Tupac Shakur." The Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music, Phil Hardy, Faber and Faber Ltd, 3rd edition, 2001. Credo Reference, https://ezproxy.com.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/ffcpop/2pac_shakur/0?institutionId=5089. Accessed 24 Jun. 2019.

Works Cited
  

 "Tupac Shakur: "I'm Not A Threat To You Unless You Are A Threat To Me"." YouTube, 19 Sept. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8sy-v1iC1w.

 "Tupac's Father Speaks Out On Son's Anger, "He Would Get So Upset When People Tried To..." – SOHH.com." SOHH.com, 21 Sept. 2015,www.sohh.com/2pacs-father-speaks-out-on-sons-anger-he-would-get-so-upset-when-people-tried-to/.

 "How Tupac and Biggie Went from Friends to Deadly Rivals." Vice, 12 Sept. 2016, www.vice.com/en_us/article/gqkqz3/tupac-biggie-friends-to-foes.

 Payne, Ogden. "20 Years Later: Tupac Shakur's Legacy By The Numbers." Forbes, 13 Sept. 2016, www.forbes.com/sites/ogdenpayne/2016/09/13/20-years-later-tupac-shakurs-legacy-by-the-numbers/#62e74dc449a0.

 PHILIPS, CHUCK. "Who Killed Tupac Shakur?" Latimes.com, 2 Mar. 2019, www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-sep-06-fi-tupac6-story.html.

 "Suge Knight Reveals Tupac Spoke About Faking His Own Death." The Daily Beast, 21 Dec. 2018, www.thedailybeast.com/suge-knight-reveals-tupac-spoke-about-faking-his-own-death.

 WENN. "Nick Broomfield Startled over Creepy Encounter with Suge Knight." Hollywood.com, 28 2019, www.hollywood.com/general/nick-broomfield-startled-over-creepy-encounter-with-suge-knight-59548001/.