Tupac Shakur
Tupac Amaru Shakur, also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. In addition to his status as a top-selling recording artist, Shakur was a successful film actor and a prominent social activist. He is recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records as the highest-selling rap artist, with over 75,000,000 albums sold worldwide, including over 50,000,000 in the United States. Most of Shakur's songs are about growing up amid violence and hardship in ghettos, racism, problems in society and conflicts with other rappers. Shakur's work is known for advocating political, economic, social and racial equality, as well as his raw descriptions of violence, drug and alcohol abuse and conflicts with the law.
Shakur was initially a roadie and backup dancer for the alternative hip hop group Digital Underground. Shakur's debut album, 2Pacalypse Now, gained critical recognition and backlash for its controversial lyrics. Shakur became the target of lawsuits and experienced other legal problems. Later, he was shot five times and robbed in the lobby of a recording studio in New York City. Following the event, Shakur grew suspicious that other figures in the rap industry had prior knowledge of the incident and did not warn him; the controversy helped spark the East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry. After serving eleven months of his sentence for sexual abuse, Shakur was released from prison on an appeal financed by Marion "Suge" Knight, the CEO of Death Row Records. In exchange for Knight's assistance, Shakur agreed to release three albums under the Death Row label. Shakur's fifth album, the first double-disc release in hip hop history All Eyez on Me, was counted as two albums.
On September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot four times in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, and died six days later of respiratory failure and cardiac arrest at the University Medical Center.
“Out of anger comes controversy, out of controversy comes conversation, out of conversation comes action.”
“Everybody’s at war with different things…I’m at war with my own heart sometimes.”
“Now ain nobody tell us it would be fair no love for my father cause the coward wasn't their" {Tu Pac Shukur}”
“Some say the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juiceI say the darker the flesh then the deeper the roots”
“we wouldn't ask why a rose that grew from the concrete for having damaged petals, in turn, we would all celebrate its tenacity, we would all love its will to reach the sun, well, we are the roses, this is the concrete and these are my damaged petals, dont ask me why, thank god, and ask me how”
“It takes skill to be real. Time to heal each other”
“A coward dies a thousand times, a soldier dies but once.”
“It don't stop 'til the casket drop.”
“Whatever you see you gotta keep a sense of humor; you gotta be able to smile through all the bullshit.”
“For every dark night, there's a brighter day.”
“You can spend minutes, hours, days, weeks, or even months over-analyzing a situation; trying to put the pieces together, justifying what could've, would've happened... or you can just leave the pieces on the floor and move the fuck on.”
“And did you ever stop to think that im old enough to go to war but i aint old enough to drink.”
“Is it a crime to fight for what is mine?”
“The american dream wasn't meant for me, cause lady liberty's a hypocrite she lied to me, promised me freedom,education, and equality never gave me nothing but slavery but now look at how dangerous you made me callin me a mad man because im strong and bold.”
“I believe that everything that you do bad comes back to you. So everything that I do that's bad, I'm going to suffer from it. But in my mind, I believe what I'm doing is right. So I feel like I'm going to heaven”
“Fear is stronger than love”
“In life there are going to be some things that make it hard to smile. Through all the rain and pain you got to keep your sense of humor and smile for me now. Remember that.”
“Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside while still alive. Never surrender.”
“Why am I fighting to live,If I am just living to fight Why am I trying to see. When there aint nothing in sightWhy am I trying to give, When no one gives me a try Why am I dying to live,If I am just living to die?”
“Reality is wrong. Dreams are for the real.”
“I didn't choose the thug life, the thug life chose me.”
“Only God Can Judge MeThat which does not kill me can only make me stronger. I don't see why everybody feel as though that they gotta tell me how to live my life ”
“They Have Money For War But Can't Feed The Poor.”
“Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete? Proving nature's laws wrong, it learned to walk without having feet. Funny, it seems to by keeping it's dreams; it learned to breathe fresh air. Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else even cared.”
“I want to grow. I want to be better. You Grow. We all grow. We're made to grow.You either evolve or you disappear.”
“If you can make it through the night, there's a brighter day.”
“All I’m trying to do is survive and make good out of the dirty, nasty, unbelievable lifestyle that they gave me.”
“I don’t see myself being special; I just see myself having more responsibilities than the next man. People look to me to do things for them, to have answers.”
“There's gon' be some stuff you gon' seethat's gon' make it hard to smile in the future.But through whatever you see,through all the rain and the pain,you gotta keep your sense of humor.You gotta be able to smile through all this bullshit.Remember that.”
“No matter what these people say about me, my music doesn't glorify any image. My music is spiritual when you listen to it. It's all about emotion, I tell my innermost, darkest secrets.”