Pop Culture Retrospective Episode #2 - Tupac Shakur: The resilient life of one of Hip-Hop's greatest talents

Episode #2 

Tupac Shakur

It was September of 1996.  Alanis Morrisette and the Smashing Pumpkins won big at the MTV video music awards.  The Nintendo 64 video game console debuted.  Hurricane Fran makes landfall in North Carolina, just a few weeks as roughly the same area was hit by Hurricane Bertha.  And on September 13th, the world lost one of it’s most talented and resilient artists after being shot a week prior.  

Hello and welcome to the Pop Culture Retrospective Podcast.  I am your host, Amy and this podcast is dedicated to the memory of my sister, Rebecca and her love for all things pop-culture, especially memories from our childhood and adolescence in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s.  You are tuning in to Episode #2 - Tupac Shakur - a man who lived a pretty extraordinary life in just 25 years.  In today’s episode you will learn how Tupac’s tough childhood inspired his success in adulthood and how compassionate he was even though he was often portrayed differently in the media. 

So kick up your feet, rest your head or focus on the road- here we go!

Tupac Amaru Shakur (birth name Lesane Parish Cooks): born on June 16, 1971

• Born in East Harlem, NY grew up in the ghetto to his Mother - Alice Faye Williams who would later change her name to
  • Ahfeenee Shakur and Lesane to Tupac
• His mother was a revolutionary and some family members were involved with the Black Panthers
• Named after an Inca chief
• Through her involvement with the BPs, she and several others were accused of scheming to set off bombs in public places in NYC
  • She was pregnant with Tupac while she was out of jail on bail and was awaiting trial 
  • She represented herself when she went to trial, she got herself and the others out of trouble.  Her ability to articulate and speak with passion and intensity definitely rubbed off on her son
  • Later became a legal assistant
• Grew up surrounded by single mothers which helped him develop a deep appreciation of mothers
• His father abandoned the family when he was about 4 or 5 years old, Tupac didn’t see him again until he was 23.
• At an early age he became a pretty serious actor
  • At 12 years old he performed his first stage role- Travis in the Raisin in the Sun which was performed at the esteemed apollo theatre for Jessie Jackson’s 1984 campaign
  • He studied arts in high school (including ballet, jazz, acting and poetry). 
  • He participated in a lot of rap competitions and won his school’s award for best rapper
• Mother struggled, she developed a crack cocaine addiction and the family was on welfare and moved around a lot
  • Mom didn’t graduate from high school 
  • By the age of 13 he had moved 20 times
  • When he was a teenager, some of his favorite musicians were Sinead O’Connor, Culture Club and U2.
  • At 15, he moved from NYC to Baltimore, attended the Baltimore School of Arts
    • Stood out for his acting skills and intensity
    • Met Jada Pinkett Smith there, they remained friends
• He later moved to Marin City but didn’t graduate - needed health and PE credit
  • Again stood out for his impressive acting ability
  • He became disconnected from school - he felt school didn’t really align with his viewpoints
• He held down a few jobs
  • Round Table Pizza
  • Bagger at a grocery store - was fired because too often he was caught writing raps at the time clock
• He began recording music in 1989 and attending poetry classes taught by a woman named Leila Steinberg who ran programming for at-risk youth.  He met her in a park when they struck up a conversation about Winnie Mandela.  She later became his manager and helped him get a record deal which eventually led to him joining the rap group Digital Underground, first as a roadie and then he performed on one of their songs.
• When Tupac was a teenager, he reportedly enjoyed listening to music from the Culture Club, U2 and Sinead O’Connor.  

• A few years later, in 1991, he released his first solo album called 2pacalypse now
  • Many famous rappers site this as being a source of inspiration
  • Touches on economic disadvantages, life on the street and premonitions about his death (reoccuring theme in many of his songs and during interviews)
  • Dan Quayle VP at the time really questioned the album's release but Tupac defended himself saying he was just trying to portray the struggles of young black men, at the time, many fingers were pointed at him but he was often misunderstood.  Album sold half a million copies.
• 1992 he starred in the movie Juice - tells the story of 4 young black men growing up on the streets of Harlem.
• 1993 he started in Poetic Justice opposite Janet Jackson but her name ain’t baby, it’s Janet if you’re nasty! 
  • Movie tells the story of a young woman who is coping with the tragic loss of her boyfriend.  She and some friends, along with Tupac end up going on a road trip.
  • Romantic scene between the two of them, he was allegedly told to take an AIDs test by multiple people 
  • Had chemistry off and on the set, but JJ changed her phone number at the end of filming.
  • Wasn’t a big hit at the box office, but his acting ability was apparent and it remains a cult favorite
• Second album released in 1993, called Strictly for my…..which featured famed rapper Ice Cube.  Included songs like “I get around” and “Keep ya head up” which is an ode to female empowerment and how much society degrades them at times.  Sold over a million copies.
• Also in 1993, he got into a shootout with 2 off-duty police officers in GA
  • Same year, limo driver accused him of using drugs in his vehicle
  • Spent 10 days in jail after taking a swing at a rapper from Michigan
• He became the poster child of everything wrong with Gangsta Rap and was often referred to as a Thug - and he said he was a thug, he came from the gutter, he wasn’t trying to promote it.  He just wrote and rapped about it.  
• In 1994, he starred in Above the Rim which is a story about a young man who is a star on his high school basketball team and the friendship he has with a man who is a security guard at his high school.  He too was once a promising basketball player but he ends up being a drug dealer (side note, the film has an excellent soundtrack including the hit song - Regulate by Warren G. one of my favorite songs from the mid 1990s.  Someone took the time to dub this song over clips of Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street.  I am not sure how I tumbled on this on YouTube, but it was well worth the 3 minutes it took to watch it!  It is the most random mashup, but it works better than you’d think! Side note- someone also did a mashup of Sesame Street with Outkast’s Ms. Jackson and it’s pretty brilliant. 
• In 1994 was accused of assaulting a woman in a nightclub
  • Many of his close female friends were interviewed, female friends that had known him for a long time, feel that this accusation was false
  • People would say stuff to him while he was walking in the street, and it really hurt him
• In November of 1994 while on trial, he was robbed and shot, as he was entering a music studio
  • Shot 5 times, 2 shots to his head, manager was also injured
  • he accused P Diddy (then known as Puff Daddy) and the Notorious BIG
    • Bit of rivalry between Tupac and BIG, dis tracks at each other
  • Said that this started the East Coast/West Coast rivalry 
  • He attended his court hearing the same day that he was shot, he didn’t want the jury to think it was a publicity stunt.  He was wheeled into the court room in a wheelchair. 
  • Was convicted of assault charges, he was acquitted of more serious charges
  • He spent 9 months in jail
    • People assumed him going to jail was sort of an ego thing or a self fulfilling prophecy since so many people viewed him as a gangsta rapper- he actually felt like prison killed his spirit
    • He wrote a screenplay while in prison
    • Read a lot, including works by Maya Angelou
    • He spent his days working out, listening to music and reading
    • Tony Danza wrote him a letter while in prison - who’s the boss went off the air 4 years prior in 1992.
• While in jail, his third album was released and is described as Tupac’s masterpiece. Entitled “me against the world.”  He was the first artist in history to have a #1 Billboard album while in prison.  Considered one of most influential albums of all time and sold almost. 250 thousand copies during its first week of release.  It includes one of his most famous songs- “Dear Mama” which is another ode to women, but this time it was his mother.  Tupac wrote this song after he received a 9 page letter from his mom while she was in rehab.  While he had been hurt and neglected by his mother as a child, he still respected her and what she had been through.  This was probably my sister’s favorite songs by Tupac, and she would often rap some of the lyrics to my mom (though as charismatic as my sister is, she definitely would never have made a career out of rapping!)
  • Here are some of the lyrics: 

When I was young me and my mama had beef

Seventeen years old kicked out on the streets

Though back at the time, I never thought I'd see her face

Ain't a woman alive that could take my mama's place

Suspended from school, and scared to go home, I was a fool

With the big boys, breaking all the rules

I shed tears with my baby sister

Over the years we was poorer than the other little kids

• Controversy
  • Lyrics could sometimes contradict each other, i.e. praise women, then defame them, crime and violence being bad, then glorifying it 
• 1996 saw the release of All Eyez on Me which would be the last one released during his lifetime. Features some of his more well known songs such as “How do U want it?” and “California Love” - which was probably my sister's favorite songs as she dreamt of one day living in California and got the chance to do so for several years. 
• Aside from his music
  • He was truly an artist and a “pavement poet,” as described by biographer- NAME HERE would write lyrics in a car.  
    • He would have his driver stop at a store and he’d go in, grab a notepad and pen and start writing.  Later in the day he would record lyrics over beats.
  • He also said his heart was huge. 
  • Once received a letter from parents of a dying boy named Joshua.  He flew to Maryland as they said it was their son’s last wish to meet him. He took the young boy to a basketball game. He named his publishing company after him.  
  • One young girl was supposed to meet Janet Jackson through the make a wish foundation. Young girl was a parapalegic.  Janet had to switch locations for their meeting which didn’t work for the young girl’s family and the meeting wasn’t going to be very long as JJ had a busy schedule.  Decide to change and have the young girl spend the day with Tupac. Although he had an incredibly busy schedule, she got to spend the day with Tupac at home, in the studio or on a movie set (depending on the timing).  While she was in the studio she had a chance to try her hand at rapping in the booth. Not an hour - all day!
    • The celebrities get to decide how long they spend with the child. 
  • He bought his mother a home, even though she had her short comings, he still wanted to help her and see her living somewhere nice & safe
  • Just before his passing, he was working on the development of a celebrity youth football league, where the celebrity would essentially sponsor a youth sports league, but their uniforms, hire coaches, etc.
  • He put together a benefit concert to help a new non-profit organization called a Place Called Home, works to empower at-risk youth
  • It was reported that he was financially supporting many, many family members while he was alive 
• September 6, 1996 (day before Tupac was shot)
  • Bodyguard checked into a hotel in Vegas to be there in advance of Tupac
  • Had a security meeting ahead of the Mike Tyson fight which Tupac and other famous people would be attending 
  • Guards were told not to bring weapons with them into the club, so their plan was to leave them in their vehicles - this had never been a directive before unless they were getting on an airplane 
• September 7th, 1996
  • Tupac arrives and asks his bodyguard if they could go to MGM to hang out, gamble, etc. He was winning pretty big!
  • Got into a fist fight with someone, body guard broke it up. A medallion he had recently purchased broke during the fight.  It had a black angel of death on it. 
  • Later after the Mike Tyson fight, Tupac was shot while driving as a passenger in Shug Knight’s car (Shug Knight was a music executive with Death Row Records).  He died 7 days later.  He was only 25. 

Tupac often discussed the potential for him to have his life cut short in his songs

• He was asked by a reporter from Vibe- where do you see yourself in 20 years?  He replied “If God gives me breath from 20 years, I want to change the world.” 

After he passed away

• Mom sued Death Row Records for royalty payments
  • Death Row said Tupac owed them money for advanced payments that he used for jewelry and cars 
  • Father wanted half of his estate even though he abandoned him when was 4
• Has at least 170 unreleased songs and poetry, several hundred poems
• A lot of people felt like he was still alive
• Las Vegas police feel like they know who shot Tupac 
• Remember him as communicator not instigator
• He has sold a combined total of 75 million records both during his life and posthumously
• Several albums have been released following his death 
• Following his death, a movie Bullet was released which he starred in.
• Many consperosies about him still being alive have been proposed.  Someone referred to him as the “New Elvis.”  Kim Kardashian claims that she saw him in 2012. 
• My favorite postumus song by Tupac has to be “Until the end of Time” the song is brilliantly sampled over Mister Mister’s masterpiece -“Broken Wings.”  Lyrics are written like a beautiful poem. The hook really hits home for me, tear up everytime I listen to it and think about my sister:

Take these broken wings

I need your hands to come and heal me once again

(Until the end of time)

So I can fly away, till the end of time

• On April 7, 2017, Tupac was was inducted into the Rock and Roll Music Hall of Fame. Seems very fitting. 

Frank Alexander, Tupac’s bodyguard- “I’ll always remember the night they took my homeboy, I try to black it out but it keeps replaying again and again.  In my heart is where I will keep Tupac and now half of my heart is filled with death. To Tupac, I’ll always miss you.  You were the voice of our generation.  If there’s one thing, I want all of his fans to know, it is this:  Tupac had a truly loving heart.  No matter what you hear or what you read, believe me, when I tell you, his heart was filled with love.  I know why so many of you, want to believe he is still alive in this world.  You’re all hoping to hear from again, in his music.  The truth is, he is in a better place, a place where his heart is trouble free.” 

I hope you have enjoyed this look back on the life and impact of Tupac Shakur. It is inspiring what he was able to overcome in his early years and how determined he was to be a rapper despite being dealt such a tough hand. Although he died at such a young age, I think his legacy will live on for generations to come. I have spent a lot of time listening to his music lately and I now understand why he is such a well respected musician, writer and rapper.  I now also understand why my sister enjoyed his music and his story.  I think there were some aspects of his life that she could relate to or empathize with. She knew what it was like to be an underdog that was misunderstood yet at the same time being discreetly brilliant.

I hope you will consider subscribing to the show on whatever platform you use to listen to podcasts.  I also hope you will join me for my next episode where we will discuss the short-lived but impactful TV show from 1994 that had many adolescent girls across the country dying their head red (including my sister) My So Called Life.

For now though, be kind, be safe and hold on to your memories.