2Pac

2Pac possessed an instinctive knack for drawing in both pleasure seekers and those driven by radical change, paired with magnetic presence and fearless edge, which positioned him among the era's most compelling and commercially dominant rappers during the 1990s. His distinctive delivery, widely copied yet unmatched in its execution, ensured his continued sway over hip-hop long after his untimely passing. He first surfaced in 1991 as a supporting player with Digital Underground on the group's Top Ten R&B/hip-hop single "Same Song," then quickly built a reputation as a provocative voice through his well-received solo debut 2Pacalypse Now by year's end. Early 1992 brought further visibility via his breakout turn in the crime thriller Juice, the initial entry in an extensive run of prominent film parts. Within just a few additional years he accumulated multiple varied Top 20 pop successes including "I Get Around," "Keep Ya Head Up," "Dear Mama," and the chart-topping "California Love," while issuing a run of platinum albums such as Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. (1993), Me Against the World (1995), and All Eyez on Me (1996). Despite the chaotic path he followed, his shooting in September 1996 proved devastating. Posthumous output exceeding half a dozen Top Ten entries, his 2017 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, and the Emmy-nominated documentary miniseries Dear Mama (2023) have since amplified his stature.

Born Tupac Amaru Shakur in New York City to a pair of Black Panther members, he entered the world after his parents had already parted; his activist mother Afeni subsequently relocated him and his sister across numerous states throughout much of their youth. The household often hovered near poverty, yet Shakur secured entry to the renowned Baltimore School of the Arts in his teens. There his artistic impulses thrived as he started crafting rhymes and exploring performance. Prior to completing his studies, the family relocated to Marin City, California, when he turned 17. In the ensuing period he navigated street life and began hustling until crossing paths with Shock-G, Digital Underground's leader. The Oakland outfit took him on as a dancer and roadie; while traveling with them he developed his own recordings. January 1991 marked his recorded debut as 2Pac on "Same Song," a number seven R&B/hip-hop track from the collective's This Is an EP Release, followed by an appearance on their sophomore album Sons of the P that October. One month later Interscope Records issued his first solo project 2Pacalypse Now, which climbed to number 63 on the Billboard 200 and later earned gold status aided by "Brenda's Got a Baby," a single that reached number 23 on the R&B/hip-hop chart. Additional scrutiny arrived when Vice-President Dan Quayle publicly denounced the lyrics of "Soulja's Story" during his re-election campaign.

His stature grew markedly after an acclaimed performance in Ernest Dickerson's Juice, which paved the way for a starring role in John Singleton's Poetic Justice the next year. By the time that film reached screens, he had dropped his second album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., a platinum seller that hit number four on the R&B/hip-hop chart (number 24 on the Billboard 200) and yielded the Top Ten R&B/hip-hop singles "I Get Around" and "Keep Ya Head Up," which landed at numbers 11 and 12 on the Hot 100. Late 1993 saw him appear in the basketball drama Above the Rim. While moving units and receiving acclaim for his recordings and screen work, 2Pac encountered repeated legal troubles, facing multiple criminal and civil proceedings; in 1994 he was convicted of sexual assault. The day prior to the ruling he suffered a robbery, beating, and shooting by three assailants in a New York City studio lobby. February 1995 brought an 18-month to four-and-a-half-year prison sentence, which he began serving that month. Me Against the World arrived in March while he remained incarcerated, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 and marking him as the first artist to achieve that feat from behind bars. From jail he accused the Notorious B.I.G., Puffy Combs, Andre Harrell, and his close associate Randy "Stretch" Walker of involvement in the New York attack. Suge Knight of Death Row Records secured his release after eight months by arranging parole and posting bond. By year's end 2Pac was free and preparing his Death Row debut; he also earned his initial pair of Grammy nominations, with Me Against the World contending for Best Rap Album and the ballad "Dear Mama," a number nine pop hit, nominated for Best Rap Solo Performance.

All Eyez on Me, his February 1996 Death Row debut, became hip-hop's first double-disc of original material, entering the Billboard 200 at number one and reaching quintuple-platinum certification by autumn. Despite another chart-topping album, the number one pop single "California Love" with Dr. Dre, and three further Grammy nods, he grew weary of rap and turned greater attention toward acting. Summer 1996 saw him finish the thriller Bullet and the dark comedy Gridlock'd alongside Tim Roth, plus additional Death Row sessions amid the label's instability following Dr. Dre's departure and Suge Knight's deepening legal entanglements.

Indications surfaced that he contemplated departing Death Row, and possibly rap altogether, when he was fatally shot four times in September 1996 after an altercation at the MGM Grand Las Vegas lobby while riding in Knight's sedan. Admitted to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, he succumbed to his injuries six days later on September 13. Crowds gathered at the hospital upon the news, and the wider entertainment community expressed collective grief; though the case yielded no immediate leads, many hoped the incident would conclude the East Coast/West Coast rivalry. Six months afterward the Notorious B.I.G. met a similar fate. 2Pac's visibility expanded further through a sequence of Top Ten posthumous releases beginning with Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (issued as Makaveli in 1996), R U Still Down? (Remember Me) (1997), Still I Rise (1999), and the Top 40 Grammy-nominated single "Changes," followed in the ensuing decade by Until the End of Time (2001), Better Dayz (2002), Loyal to the Game (2004), and Pac's Life (2006).

More than a dozen documentaries underscore his enduring resonance, most prominently the Academy Award-nominated Tupac: Resurrection and the Emmy-nominated miniseries Dear Mama directed by Allen Hughes, which examined the lives of both 2Pac and Afeni Shakur. He has also anchored the Grammy Museum exhibit All Eyez on Me: The Writings of Tupac Shakur and the Los Angeles exhibition Tupac Shakur: Wake Me When I'm Free. In 2017 he became the first solo rapper inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with Snoop Dogg delivering the induction speech. An indictment and arrest connected to the murder occurred only in 2023.