Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971 - September 13, 1996) was an American rapper and sometimes actor, also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, who sold many records. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2010. Shakur began his career as a roadie, backup dancer, and MC for the alternative hip hop group Digital Underground as "MC New York". He eventually branced off as a solo artist. He became a West Coast hip hop icon after the release of his first album, 2Pacalypse Now, in 1991.
He was born in East Harlem, New York. Tupac moved to Baltmore in 1984. Then, he moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1988. Later in his music career, this experience in school becomes his personality of his own music style. He was the son of Afeni Shakur and Billy Garland, who were members of the Black Panther party. His family was struggling with poverty. They moved homes often, sometimes they even had to stay in shelters.
Tupac was involved in the East Coast-West Coast hip hop feud. On September 13th, 1996, Shakur died after being shot four times by an unknown assailant in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 7th that same year. Since Shakur's death, seven more albums have been released. They have all been certified platinum.
Shakur acted in eight movies.
He holds the Guinness World Record for the highest selling rap/hip hop artist, selling 165 million worldwide and 43 million in the US alone. Shakur was convicted of assault and sexual assault in separate incidents.
His work of music had very big influences on the Hip-hop/rap industry in the US.
In 2014, a biographical movie about Tupac was announced. The movie, titled All Eyez on Me, was released on June 16, 2017.