Tupac Shakur (Pac's Life Goes On)

Tupac Shakur
Also known as	2Pac ♦ Makaveli ♦ MC New York
Born	Lesane Parish Crooks June 16, 1971 New York City, New York
Genres	Hip-hop, rap
Occupations	Rapper ♦ actor ♦ songwriter ♦ producer
Years active	Rapping: 1990-2004, 2010-present Acting: 1991-present
Labels	Death Row (1995-2000), Aftermath, Interscope
Associated acts	Outlawz ♦ Thug Life ♦ Dr. Dre ♦ Notorious B.I.G. ♦ Eminem ♦ Kendrick Lamar ♦ Ice Cube ♦ Kanye West

Tupac Shakur, born Lesane Parish Crooks, and known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. As a rapper, he is considered to be instrumental in the early West coast hip-hop scene, and is considered one of the greatest rappers of all time.

Career

1995-1997: Makaveli

After the success made following the highly successful All Eyez on Me and performing numerous venues, work on Shakur's album began in August 1996. During that month, roughly 30 songs were recorded for the potential album, however, due to the lack of presence from most of his usual producers, much of the album was produced by mostly unknown producers at the time.

After work was made in August, Shakur would only record new material for the album in the beginning of January of the following year, and with that, Makaveli was finished.

Makaveli featured minimal artists compared to All Eyez on Me, and although it sold over 500,000 copies its first week and become number one on the Billboard 200, it received mixed reviews from critics. Many critics pointed towards it's lack of diversifying content in the hip-hop genre much like his prior album did, while many other critics enjoyed it's more dark and brutal tone.

Following the release of Makaveli, Shakur would begin furthering his acting career by staring in the film Baby Boy, alongside fellow label mate Snoop Dogg. Shakur would additionally provide much of the material for the soundtrack of the same name. His acting in the film would be praised highly by critics.

1997-1998: Until The End of Time and departure from Death Row

After finishing the Makaveli4Life Tour, Shakur would once again begin working on his sixth studio album. Until The End of Time was released in November 1998. Tthe album received mostly positive reviews from critics upon release, and went on to sell over 765,000 copies within it's first week and topping the Billboard 200. Until The End of Time is a politically-charged album in it's base form, with a majority of the album featuring Shakur speaking on modern politics and continued racism within the African-American community. Other themes on the album include isolation, vulnerability due to fame, and depression. Many critics and fans alike saw the album as a more personal record for Shakur. The track "Everything They Owe" continued the East-West coast rivalry, with much of the lyrics being seen as subliminal disses aimed at The Notorious B.I.G.

After the release of Until The End of Time, Shakur and Knight's friendship began to dissolve. Much of this was due to creative differences and royalties, and soon rumors began speculating that Shakur was planning to leave Death Row while Knight was in prison for violating probation. A drive-by shooting near one of Death Row's recording studios occurred on March 9th, 1999, with the primary target being Shakur since had been recording in the studio that day. Although there were no injuries or deaths, Shakur saw this and his damaged relationship with Knight as a reason to announce his leaving of Death Row shortly after. Shakur would leave Death Row in early May 1999.

1999-2004: Aftermath and Rezurrekkktion

In July 1999, Shakur would end up signing to Aftermath Entertainment, a hip-hop label operated by former collaborator Andre Young "Dr. Dre" under Interscope. During this time, Shakur and Young would reconcile and end their short hip-hop beef that occurred as a result of Young having left Death Row in 1996. Shakur would appear on "Big Ego's" along with Hittman off 2001, Young's sophomore studio album. Shakur would star in the film In Too Deep later that year.

In early 2000, Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. would end their hip-hop beef and the overall East-West coast hip-hop rivalry upon the release of B.I.G.'s third studio album Born Again, where Shakur would be featured on the song "Dangerous MC's" alongside Busta Rhymes. The end of their rivalry would be further confirmed after both artists appeared on the cover of the September issue of XXL, as well as them both appearing in an MTV interview together in December. Regarding the question of whether or not Shakur would release new music soon, Shakur would state that he was still actively recording music, but did not know when he would release a new album in particular.

In 2001, Shakur would star in Training Day and Scary Movie 2. Shakur would also appear on Jay-Z's sixth album The Blueprint on the song "Hola' Hovito", and Busta Rhymes' fifth album Genesis on the song "Truck Volume".

In March 2003, Shakur would announce that his next album would be released soon, titled Rezurrekkktion, and that it would be executively produced by Dr. Dre, who would also go on to produce much of the album's material alongside Eminem. Rezurrekkktion was released on July 5th, 2003 to widespread acclaim from both fans and critics alike, topping the US Billboard 200 charts and selling over 950,000 copies in it's first week. The first official single, "Til I Die" featuring Eminem and 50 Cent, peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100. The album would be nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album that same year. Shakur would also be featured on the remixes of "In da Club" and "P.I.M.P." by 50 Cent, which would be released later that year. Shakur would accompany his label mates Eminem and 50 Cent on the Anger Management Tour during the year and most of 2004.

2005-2012: Further acting and music hiatus

Shakur would announce that he would be taking a break from music in order to further his acting career. Shakur would make appearances in Batman Begins and Sin City in 2005. He would also be credited as a co-writer for Beauty Shop, and in 2006, would make a guest appearance in the film Rocky Balboa.

Discography

Studio albums

• 2Pocalypse Now (1991)
• Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z... (1993)
• Me Against The World (1995)
• All Eyez On Me (1996)
• Makaveli: The 7-Day Theory [as Makaveli] (1997)
• Until The End of Time (1998)
• Rezurrekkktion (2003)
• Greatest Of All Time (2014)
• The Second Coming [as Makaveli] (2018)
• TBA (2020)