Tupac Amaru Shakur was born June 16, 1971 in New York, USA. Due to his parents separating, Tupac and his sister were brought up by his mother, a Black Panther activist. During his childhood, Tupac was into theatre, music, art and dancing. His family moved to Marin City, CA when he was 17, which meant he could not graduate high school.
He turned to the streets and started selling drugs to get by. He got out of that life style by joining Digital Underground, a hip hop group where he started off as a backup dancer. He kept writing his own music and finally got a record out. “Brenda’s got a baby” was his first single and it went gold and reached the R&B top 30 in 1992. Along with rapping, Tupac acted in movies including “Juice” and “Poetic Justice”.
During his time with the record label Death Row, Tupac got into some trouble with the law and was sentenced to 4 ½ years in prison. The record label put up a $1.4 million bond and he was released after the first year. In 1994 he was shot 5 times during a robbery and the thieves made off with $40,000 of his jewellery. He survived his wounds and the incident inspired him to write more records. On September 7, 1996 Tupac was shot 2 times in a drive by shooting, while accompanied by his record label president, Suge Knight. Six days later, Tupac died from his injuries.
Records by Tupac have been released even up to 10 years after his death, totalling in 19 released albums. After his death, a book called “The Rose That Grew From Concrete” was released. This is a book of poems that Tupac wrote between the ages of 18 and 20; before the fame and everything that came along with it. Not only was Tupac a song writer and an actor, but he was a great poet. He used an assortment of similes and metaphors to talk about the struggles he faced growing up, and the hard life he lived.
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The Rose That Grew From Concrete
Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete?
Proving nature's law is wrong it learned to walk without having feet.
Funny it seems, but by keeping it's dreams, it learned to breathe fresh air.
Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else ever cared.
Ambition over Adversity
Take ones adversity
Learn from their misfortune
Learn from their pain
Believe in something
Believe in yourself
Turn adversity into ambition
Now blossom into wealth
Take ones adversity
Learn from their misfortune
Learn from their pain
Believe in something
Believe in yourself
Turn adversity into ambition
Now blossom into wealth
Works Cited
"2pac Shakur's Biography." Thugz Network. Web. 05 July 2011. <http://www.thugz-network.com/Tupac~Shakur~Biography.php>.
Keep Ya Head Up. Perf. 2pac. YouTube. YouTube, 12 Feb. 2006. Web. 05 July 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfXwmDGJAB8>.
Photograph. Montreal Hip Hop.Net. 30 July 2009. Web. 5 July 2011. <http://www.montrealhiphop.net/d/node/321>.
Photograph. Sabotage Times. Sabotage Times, 16 June 2011. Web. 5 July 2011. <http://www.sabotagetimes.com/music/tupacs-bodyguard-points-the-finger/>.
Shakur, Tupac. "2Pac Poems from The Rose That Grew From Concrete." The Rose That Grew From Concrete. MTV, 1999. 2Pac2K.de - The #1 2Pac Community. Web. 05 July 2011. <http://www.2pac2k.de/poems.html>.
"Tupac Shakur Biography." Biography.com. A & E Television Network, LLSC. Web. 05 July 2011. <http://www.biography.com/articles/Tupac-Shakur-206528>.
"Tupac Shakur Biography." Starpulse.com: Your Entertainment Destination. All Movie Guide, LLC. Web. 05 July 2011. <http://www.starpulse.com/Music/Shakur,_Tupac/Biography/>.
