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— CH. 1 · INTRODUCTION —

Tupac Shakur

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  • Tupac Amaru Shakur was born on the 16th of June 1971, in East Harlem, Manhattan, not yet carrying the name the world would know him by. He was born Lesane Parish Crooks, and was renamed at age one. By the time he died on the 13th of September 1996, he had sold more than 75 million records worldwide, been shot twice in two separate incidents, married and annulled a marriage from a prison cell, starred in six films, recorded an album in seven days that would be released after his murder, and inspired academic courses at Harvard and Berkeley. He was 25 years old.

    What made Tupac Shakur such a singular figure? How did a child raised in poverty by a mother battling addiction, whose godfather spent 27 years wrongly imprisoned and whose godmother was a convicted murderer on the FBI's most wanted list, become someone whom Nas placed beyond Shakespeare and whom the Vatican added to its online playlist? And what do we actually know about the night he was shot in Las Vegas, and the decades of legal proceedings that followed?

  • Afeni Shakur chose her son's name with intention. Tupac Amaru II, the historical figure the name honors, was a descendant of the last Inca ruler who was executed in Peru in 1781 after leading a revolt against Spanish rule. Afeni explained her reasoning plainly: "I wanted him to have the name of revolutionary, indigenous people in the world. I wanted him to know he was part of a world culture and not just from a neighborhood."

    The family surrounding young Tupac was thoroughly shaped by radical politics. His parents, Afeni and William Garland, had been active Black Panther Party members in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s. A month before Tupac's birth, Afeni stood trial in New York City as part of the Panther 21 criminal trial. She was acquitted of over 150 charges. His stepfather, Mutulu Shakur, spent four years on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list before being apprehended in 1986 and convicted for a 1981 Brinks armored truck robbery in which officers and a guard were killed.

    His godfather, Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt, was a high-ranking Black Panther wrongly convicted of murdering a schoolteacher during a 1968 robbery. He spent 27 years in prison before his conviction was overturned after prosecutors were found to have concealed exculpatory evidence. His godmother, Assata Shakur, was convicted in 1977 of the first-degree murder of a New Jersey State Trooper, escaped from prison in 1979, and appeared on the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list as late as 2013.

    At age 11, the boy named after an executed revolutionary was already writing poems dedicated to incarcerated Black Panther members at Leavenworth Prison, signing at least one with the phrase "Tupac Shakur, Future Freedom Fighter."

  • In 1984, when Tupac was 13, his family moved from New York City to Baltimore, Maryland, settling into the Pen Lucy neighborhood at 3955 Greenmount Ave, a two-story rowhouse subdivided into rental units, with the Shakur family on the first floor. His mother was struggling to find work and battling drug addiction.

    What happened in Baltimore complicated and deepened him. He moved through Roland Park Middle School, then Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, before transferring to the Baltimore School for the Arts for tenth grade. There he studied acting, poetry, jazz, and ballet, performed in Shakespeare plays, and played the Mouse King in a production of The Nutcracker. He identified patterns in Shakespeare's work that mirrored what he saw in gang warfare.

    At that school he befriended actress Jada Pinkett. He wrote poems for her, including ones titled "Jada" and "The Tears in Cupid's Eyes." His friend Dana "Mouse" Smith beatboxed while Tupac rapped, and the pair won competitions for the school's best rapper. He was known for his humor and was popular across different student crowds. The music he listened to ranged widely: Kate Bush, Culture Club, Sinead O'Connor, and U2.

    He also connected with the Baltimore Young Communist League USA and dated Mary Baldridge, daughter of the director of the local Communist Party chapter. In 1988, his family moved to Marin City, California, an impoverished community in the San Francisco Bay Area, and he attended Tamalpais High School in nearby Mill Valley, where he continued performing in theater. He never graduated from high school, but later earned his GED.

    Jada Pinkett Smith later donated $1 million to the Baltimore School for the Arts in 2006, naming the new theater in his honor. After his death, the block of Greenmount Avenue where he had lived was renamed Tupac Shakur Way.

  • Shakur debuted as 2Pac on Digital Underground's January 1991 single "Same Song", released on Interscope Records. The song appeared on the soundtrack to the film Nothing but Trouble. His own debut album, 2Pacalypse Now, arrived that November. U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle publicly criticized it, stating, "There's no reason for a record like this to be released. It has no place in our society."

    Shakur's response captured something essential about how he understood his own role: "I just wanted to rap about things that affected young black males. When I said that, I didn't know that I was gonna tie myself down to just take all the blunts and hits for all the young black males, to be the media's kicking post for young black males." The album reached No. 64 on the Billboard 200 and was certified Gold. Nas, Eminem, Game, and Talib Kweli have cited it as an influence.

    Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z..., released in February 1993, debuted at No. 24 on the Billboard 200. It carried "Keep Ya Head Up", a women's empowerment anthem that charted at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "I Get Around", which reached No. 11. The album was certified Platinum by April 1995.

    Me Against the World was released in March 1995 while Shakur sat in prison. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and sold 240,000 copies in its first week, setting a record at the time for highest first-week sales for a solo male rapper. It is now considered by many critics to be his magnum opus. The album's lead single, "Dear Mama", was later added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry on the 23rd of June 2010, making it only the third rap song to receive that honor.

    All Eyez on Me, released on the 13th of February 1996, was rap's first double album. It sold 566,000 copies in its first week and generated the singles "California Love" and "How Do U Want It", both of which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Music journalist Kevin Powell noted that after his release from prison, Shakur "seemed like a completely transformed person." The album was posthumously certified 10 times Multi-Platinum in July 2014.

    The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, recorded under the name Makaveli, was written and recorded in three days, with mixing taking four more. According to George "Papa G" Pryce, Death Row Records' then director of public relations, the album was meant to be "underground" and was not intended for release before the artist was murdered. It peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and was certified 4 times Multi-Platinum in June 1999.

  • On the night of the 7th of September 1996, Shakur attended the Bruce Seldon vs. Mike Tyson boxing match at the MGM Grand in Paradise, Nevada, alongside Suge Knight. Afterward, in the hotel lobby, a member of Knight's entourage spotted Orlando Anderson, a South Side Compton Crip, and told Shakur that Anderson had tried to rob them earlier that year. Surveillance footage captured what followed: an assault on Anderson in the lobby.

    Shakur then headed with Knight toward Death Row's Club 662 in a black BMW 750iL sedan. Bicycle-mounted police stopped the car on Las Vegas Boulevard at around 11 p.m. for its loud music and missing plates. The plates were found in the trunk, and the car was released without a ticket. At around 11:15 p.m., at a stop light, a white four-door Cadillac sedan pulled alongside the passenger side. An occupant fired rapidly. Shakur was struck four times: once in the arm, once in the thigh, and twice in the chest, with one bullet entering his right lung. Shards struck Knight's head. Frank Alexander, Shakur's bodyguard, was not in the car. He had been assigned to drive Kidada Jones, Shakur's girlfriend.

    Shakur was taken to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada. He died in the intensive-care unit on the afternoon of the 13th of September 1996, from internal bleeding. He was pronounced dead at 4:03 p.m. Official causes of death were respiratory failure and cardiopulmonary arrest associated with multiple gunshot wounds. He was 25 years old. His body was cremated the following day.

    For decades, the killing went unsolved. On the 29th of September 2023, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police arrested Duane "Keefe D" Davis in connection with the murder. Davis pleaded not guilty on the 2nd of November 2023, in Las Vegas. As of early 2025, Davis remained incarcerated at the Clark County Detention Center, and his trial had been delayed to the 10th of August 2026. In September 2025, Davis received an additional 16-to-40-month sentence for a separate conviction stemming from a jailhouse fight.

  • Greg "Shock G" Jacobs, one of Shakur's early producers, offered a precise description of his vocal delivery in the documentary Tupac Shakur: Thug Angel: "Slick Rick rhymed from the nasal palate, Nas from the back of his throat, and Pac from the pit of his stomach, which is where his power came from." Shakur's influences included the oratory of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.

    He was known for stacking and layering vocals, overlaying multiple vocal lines to emphasize particular words and phrases. The technique is audible on "Dear Mama", where his voice shifts from full to husky within a single line. His background in jazz, poetry, and theater gave him rhythm control that allowed the layering to stay coherent.

    Before and during his music career, Shakur wrote dozens of poems. Many were collected in the posthumous book The Rose That Grew from Concrete, released in 1999. The collection features 72 handwritten poems written when Shakur was 19. In 2021, Jada Pinkett Smith shared a previously unreleased poem titled "Lost Soulz" on Instagram, marking what would have been his 50th birthday.

    In April 2022, a collection of handwritten poems Shakur wrote at age 11 was offered for sale at $300,000 and ultimately sold for $90,000. The poems were dedicated to Jamal Joseph and three other Black Panther members incarcerated at Leavenworth Prison. The collection included a self-portrait showing Shakur asleep with a pen in his hand, dreaming of the Panthers being freed, signed with a heart.

    As an actor, he secured his first starring film role in Juice in 1992 by accompanying a friend to the audition, asking to read for the director himself, and being given 15 minutes to rehearse. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone called him "the film's most magnetic figure." Director Allen Hughes, who had Shakur removed from the cast of Menace II Society after an assault on set, later reflected in 2013 that Shakur would have outshone the other actors "because he was bigger than the movie."

  • In 1997, Afeni Shakur founded the Shakur Family Foundation, later renamed the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation. It launched with a stated mission to support students who aspire to develop their creative talents, sponsoring essay contests, charity events, a performing arts day camp for teenagers, and undergraduate scholarships. In June 2005, the foundation opened the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts in Stone Mountain, Georgia. It closed in 2015.

    In 2006, on the 10th anniversary of his death, Afeni transported his ashes to Soweto, describing it as the "birthplace of his ancestors" and the "birthplace of the South African struggle for democracy and against apartheid." The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality donated a five-acre plot in the Zola area of Soweto for a memorial. Singer Macy Gray and members of the Outlawz were among the attendees.

    At Harvard University in April 2003, a symposium titled "All Eyez on Me: Tupac Shakur and the Search for the Modern Folk Hero" examined his influence across entertainment and sociology. Music scholar Emmett Price, calling him a "Black folk hero", traced his persona to Black American folklore and assessed him as having surpassed the legacies of John Coltrane and Mahalia Jackson within the tradition of Black music. The Norwegian University of Oslo organized its own course on Tupac, hip-hop, and cultural history in 2012.

    In 2017, Shakur was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. On the 7th of June 2023, he received a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; his half-sister Sekyiwa "Set" Shakur accepted the award in his honor. That same year, Billboard ranked him fourth among the top 50 rappers of all time.

    On the 15th of April 2012, at Coachella, a projection of Shakur appeared alongside Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre to perform "Hail Mary" and "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted." The technology drew widespread attention and briefly returned his Greatest Hits album to the Billboard 200 chart, where it reached No. 129, nine years after it had left the chart. In 2008, his estate earned approximately $15 million.

Common questions

When and where was Tupac Shakur born?

Tupac Amaru Shakur was born on the 16th of June 1971, in East Harlem, Manhattan, New York City. He was born Lesane Parish Crooks and was renamed Tupac Amaru Shakur at age one, after Tupac Amaru II, a descendant of the last Inca ruler who was executed in Peru in 1781.

How did Tupac Shakur die and when?

Tupac Shakur died on the 13th of September 1996, at the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, six days after being shot four times in a drive-by shooting in Paradise, Nevada, on the 7th of September 1996. He was pronounced dead at 4:03 p.m. Official causes of death were respiratory failure and cardiopulmonary arrest associated with multiple gunshot wounds.

How many records did Tupac Shakur sell worldwide?

Tupac Shakur sold more than 75 million records worldwide. His Diamond-certified album All Eyez on Me was rap's first double album, and his posthumous Greatest Hits is one of only nine hip-hop albums to be certified Diamond in the United States.

What was Tupac Shakur's connection to the Black Panther Party?

Shakur's parents, Afeni Shakur and Billy Garland, were both active Black Panther Party members in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s. His godfather, Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt, was a high-ranking Black Panther wrongly imprisoned for 27 years, and his godmother, Assata Shakur, was a former Black Liberation Army member who escaped from prison in 1979.

Who was arrested for Tupac Shakur's murder?

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police arrested Duane "Keefe D" Davis on the 29th of September 2023, in connection with Shakur's 1996 murder. Davis pleaded not guilty on the 2nd of November 2023, in Las Vegas. His trial was subsequently delayed to the 10th of August 2026, while Davis remained incarcerated at Nevada's High Desert State Prison.

What awards and honors has Tupac Shakur received posthumously?

Shakur was inducted into the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame in 2002 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on the 7th of April 2017, in his first year of eligibility. On the 7th of June 2023, he received a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2009, the Vatican added his posthumous track "Changes" to its online playlist, and the Library of Congress added "Dear Mama" to the National Recording Registry on the 23rd of June 2010.

All sources

323 references cited across the entry

  1. 5VideoTupac Shakur – Thug Angel (The Life of an Outlaw)2002
  2. 6Encyclopedia of African American HistoryABC-CLIO — February 28, 2010
  3. 7BookHow to Rap: The Art & Science of the Hip-Hop MCPaul Edwards — Chicago Review Press — 2009
  4. 82Pac – All Eyez on MeSteve Huey — n.d.
  5. 9BookTupac Shakur: Hip-Hop IdolCarrie Golus — Twenty-First Century Books — August 1, 2010
  6. 10BookEssays on Hip Hop's Philosopher KingJay-Z — McFarland & Company — 2011
  7. 17Magazine100 Greatest ArtistsDecember 3, 2010
  8. 18Tupac Shakur posthumously receives star on Hollywood Walk of FameSimrin Singh — CBS News — June 7, 2023
  9. 20From Thug Life to Legend: Realization of a Black Folk HeroEmmett G. III Price et al. — Harvard University — April 17, 2003
  10. 21BookHistorical Dictionary of Popular MusicNorman Abjorensen — Rowman & Littlefield — 2017
  11. 22BookIcons of Dissent: The Global Resonance of Che, Marley, Tupac and Bin LadenJeremy Prestholdt — Oxford University Press — 2019
  12. 23BookDemocratic Empire: The United States Since 1945Jim Cullen — John Wiley & Sons — 2017
  13. 24BookTupac: Resurrection 1971–1996Atria Books — 2003
  14. 25Tupac Shakur and Tupac AmaruCharles F. Walker — February 26, 2014
  15. 2622-year-old arrested in Tupac Shakur killingCathy Scott — October 2, 1996
  16. 28Book chronicling Shakur murder set to hit storesDebra D. Bass — September 4, 1997
  17. 33Rare Interview With Tupac's Biological FatherPower 107.5 — December 30, 2013
  18. 34BookThe Killing of Tupac ShakurCathy Scott — Huntington Press — 2002
  19. 35Afeni Shakur2Pac Legacy
  20. 36BookLAbyrinth: A Detective Investigates the Murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., the Implication of Death Row Records' Suge Knight, and the Origins of the Los Angeles Police ScandalRandall Sullivan — Grove Press — January 3, 2003
  21. 38NewsElmer G. Pratt, Jailed Panther Leader, Dies at 63Douglas Martin — June 3, 2011
  22. 42BookAn Autobiography of Assata ShakurAssata Shakur — Lawrence Hill Books — 1987
  23. 44Tupac Was HereJohn Lewis — September 6, 2016
  24. 50NewsTupac Shakur: 'I am not a gangster'Chuck Philips — October 25, 1995
  25. 51BookThe rose that grew from concreteTupac Shakur — Pocket Books — 1999
  26. 52BookBack in the Day: My Life and Times with Tupac ShakurDarrin Keith Bastfield — Da Capo Press — 2002
  27. 53BookTupac ShakurCarrie Golus — Lerner Publications — December 28, 2006
  28. 55The Hip-Hop Road to SocialismDean Van Nguyen — May 18, 2021
  29. 56BookHow Long Will They Mourn Me?Candace Sandy et al. — Random House Publishing Group — 2010
  30. 57BookTupac Shakur: The Life and Times of an American IconTayannah Lee McQuillar et al. — Hachette Books — 2010
  31. 59Tupac Shakur's Life in MarinZack Ruskin — 2019-08-23
  32. 60NewsShots Silence Angry Voice Sharpened by the StreetsMichel Marriott et al. — September 16, 1996
  33. 61BookTupac Shakur: The Authorized BiographyStaci Robinson — Random House — 2024-10-22
  34. 63These Were Tupac's Startling Last WordsJames Chung — February 25, 2020
  35. 64Leila SteinbergAssemblies in Motion
  36. 65BookHow Long Will They Mourn Me?: The Life and Legacy of Tupac ShakurCandace Sandy et al. — Random House Publishing Group — December 8, 2010
  37. 66MagazineI Get Around: The Oral History of 2Pac's Digital Underground YearsChristopher R. Weingarten — April 6, 2017
  38. 70NewsRapper slain after chase in QueensCharisse Jones — December 1, 1995
  39. 73Quayle Calls for Pulling Rap Album Tied to Murder CaseJohn Broder — September 23, 1992
  40. 74Tupac Shakur Interview 1995Chuck Philips — September 13, 2012
  41. 75News20 Years Ago, Tupac Broke ThroughYenigun Sami — July 19, 2013
  42. 812Pac biographyAlleyezonme.com
  43. 86The Feminism of TupacOffshelf — September 17, 2011
  44. 88NewsJohn Singleton on That Tupac AIDS Test: 'That Was a Joke!'Stereo Williams — February 3, 2019
  45. 93Sex & Negrocity by Greg TateGreg Tate — Villagevoice.com — June 26, 2001
  46. 94FILMrapbasement.com — April 10, 2008
  47. 95How Tupac and B.I.G. went from friends to deadly rivalsBen Westhoff — September 12, 2016
  48. 99NewsTimeline: 25 Years of Rap RecordsOctober 11, 2004
  49. 100Dear Mama (US Single #1) at AllMusic
  50. 102So Many Tears (EP) at AllMusic
  51. 103Temptations (CD/Cassette Single) at AllMusic
  52. 1042Pac's Pals Turn Out for Tupac-Less VideoSteve Hochman — September 24, 1995
  53. 105NewsIt's a Soul Train Awards Joy Ride for TLC, D'AngeloSteve Appleford — April 1, 1996
  54. 109The Triumph and Tragedy of Tupac's 'All Eyez on Me'Justin Sayles — February 12, 2021
  55. 110NewsTupac Talks Quad Studios Shooting in Kevin Powell InterviewAlexis Reese — December 15, 2021
  56. 111NewsAs Associates Fall, Is 'Suge' Knight Next?Chuck Phillips — July 31, 2003
  57. 112MagazineTupac's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 HitsKristin Corpuz — June 16, 2020
  58. 114Maxwell, Tupac Top Soul Train AwardsE! Online — March 7, 1997
  59. 11524th American Music AwardsRock on the Net
  60. 118Music News, Interviews, Pics, and Gossip: Yahoo! MusicCa.music.yahoo.com — April 20, 2011
  61. 119The Greatest Hip-Hop Albums Of All TimeMTV.com — March 9, 2006
  62. 121Tupac The Workaholic. (MYCOMEUP.COM)YouTube — February 11, 2010
  63. 124MagazineGridlock'dJanuary 31, 1997
  64. 131BookCheck It While I Wreck It: Black Womanhood, Hip-Hop Culture, and the Public SphereGwendolyn D. Pough — Northeastern University Press — December 1, 2015
  65. 132BookTupac Shakur: The Life and Times of an American IconTayannah Lee McQuillar et al. — Hachette Books — January 26, 2010
  66. 134NewsBig SplurgeLinda Stasi — January 20, 1995
  67. 137Jada Pinkett-Smith reflects on Tupac proposing to her in prisonKyann-Sian Williams — October 13, 2023
  68. 138BookTupac: Resurrection, 1971–1996Tupac Shakur — Simon and Schuster — 2003
  69. 139BookThe intimate sex lives of famous peopleIrving Wallace — Feral House — 2008
  70. 140NewsTupac rememberedMolly Monjauze — 2008
  71. 141BookI Am Hip-Hop: Conversations on the Music and CultureAndrew J. Rausch — Scarecrow Press — April 1, 2011
  72. 143Slow Burn Season 3, Episode 1: Against the WorldJoel Anderson — February 14, 2020
  73. 147BulletDavid Stratton — April 6, 1997
  74. 149NewsThat Time Tupac Visited Mike Tyson in PrisonPaul Meara — BET — November 4, 2015
  75. 155MagazineTupac Shakur Sex Tape Sold to CollectorDecember 19, 2011
  76. 156NewsLove is Not Enough: 2Pac's Ex-Wife, Keisha MorrisTownsquare Media — September 15, 2011
  77. 157Rashida Jones: The I Love You, Man InterviewKam Williams — LA Sentinel — March 12, 2009
  78. 159BookQ: The Autobiography of Quincy JonesQuincy Jones — Broadway Books — 2002
  79. 160BookGot Your Back: Protecting Tupac in the World of Gangsta RapFrank Alexander et al. — Macmillan — January 10, 2000
  80. 161MagazineTo Die Like A GangstaRobert Sam Anson — March 1997
  81. 162NewsRapper Charged in Shootings of Off-Duty OfficersRonald Smothers — November 2, 1993
  82. 163NewsGuns N' Rappers: 3 Arrested In ShootingsRichard Harrington — November 3, 1993
  83. 167Tupac Shakur interview with "The Arsenio Hall Show" in 1994 VIDEOTBTEntGroup on — Hip-hopvibe.com — March 7, 2012
  84. 168NewsWounded Rapper Gets Mixed Verdict In Sex-Abuse CaseRichard Perez-Pena — December 2, 1994
  85. 170MagazineThe Takedown of TupacConnie Bruck — June 29, 1997
  86. 171Doe v. Shakur (civil case)January 22, 1996
  87. 172VideoWho Shot Biggie & Tupac? interview with "Haitian Jack"Critical Content — 2017
  88. 173MagazinePit of snakesJason Rodriguez — September 2011
  89. 175NewsShakur Spending Holiday In Jail WardSalvatore Arena — December 24, 1994
  90. 176NewsSecure ShakurLinda Stasi — January 9, 1995
  91. 177NewsRapper Faces Prison Term For Sex AbuseGeorge James — February 8, 1995
  92. 178NewsRapper Shakur Gets Prison for AssaultHelaine Olan — February 8, 1995
  93. 179NewsShakur UpstateMarch 16, 1995
  94. 180Yo, Niccolo!Wagner James Au — Salon Media Group Inc. — December 11, 1996
  95. 186NewsRapper, Shot and Convicted, Leaves Hospital for Secret SiteLawrence Van Gelder — December 3, 1994
  96. 187What Did Sean 'Puffy' Combs Know?Alison Stewart — Npr.org — March 18, 2008
  97. 195NewsTimes retracts Shakur storyApril 7, 2008
  98. 199NewsOakland Rapper Files Claim Against 2 CopsDon Martinez — November 13, 1991
  99. 201NewsRapper Sues PoliceNovember 14, 1991
  100. 203NewsRapper sentenced for assaultNovember 1, 1994
  101. 207NewsRapper Tupac Shakur chargedMay 6, 1994
  102. 214September 1996 Shooting and Deathmadeira.hccanet.org
  103. 215Tupac Shakur LV Shooting –Thugz-network.com — September 7, 1996
  104. 219Tupac Shakur's Death Certificate DetailsEd Koch — Las Vegas Sun — October 24, 1997
  105. 220NewsTupac's life after deathSmh.com.au — September 13, 2006
  106. 221NewsYes, the Outlawz smoked Tupac's ashesSean O'Neal — August 30, 2011
  107. 222NewsWho Killed Tupac Shakur?Chuck Philips — September 6, 2002
  108. 223NewsWho killed Tupac Shakur?: Part 2Chuck Philips — September 7, 2002
  109. 225NewsNew Theories Stir Speculation On Rap DeathsJohn Leland — October 7, 2002
  110. 231NewsSuspect in Tupac Shakur's murder has pleaded not guiltyAnastasia Tsioulcas — November 2, 2023
  111. 233NewsTupac murder suspect faces new charge for allegedly fighting with inmateSasha Pezenik et al. — ABC News — January 28, 2025
  112. 234NewsMan charged in Tupac Shakur killing sentenced for jail fightMatthew Seeman — KSNV — September 3, 2025
  113. 238NewsDuane 'Keffe D' Davis, 62, serving prison time for jail fightDavid Charms — KLAS — November 18, 2025
  114. 239NewsTupac Shakur murder suspect's trial in Las Vegas pushed to summer of 2026Matthew Seeman — KSNV — November 19, 2025
  115. 240NewsKeefe D's Tupac-Related Murder Trial Pushed To August 2026Cedric "BIG CED" Thornton — Black Enterprise — December 9, 2025
  116. 241Tupac: The Greatest Inspirational Hip Hop ArtistIke Okwerekwu — May 5, 2019
  117. 247MagazineSecrets of Tupac Shakur's Unseen ArchivesAndy Greene — 2022-02-08
  118. 256Magazine8 Ways Tupac Shakur Changed the WorldMosi Reeves — September 13, 2016
  119. 2582Pac biographyStephen Thomas Erlewine — n.d.
  120. 266NewsWho killed Tupac Shakur? —part 1 of 2Chuck Philips — January 30, 2015
  121. 267BookHoller If You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac ShakurMichael Eric Dyson — Basic Civitas Books — 2001
  122. 274NewsRapper's ashes to be buried in SowetoChris Mcgreal — 6 September 2006
  123. 275NewsTupac to be given final resting place in SowetoStaff Reporter — 6 September 2006
  124. 276News20 Years Later: Tupac Shakur's Legacy By The NumbersOgden Payne — September 13, 2016
  125. 279Berkeley University Offers Class On TupacGil Kaufman — September 10, 1997
  126. 280MagazineSymposium analyzes, celebrates 'Thug'Ken Gewertz — April 24, 2003
  127. 282NewBlackMan: Race-ing KatrinaMark Anthony Neal — Newblackman.blogspot.com — September 6, 2005
  128. 284TUPAC'S BOOK SHELFMark Anthony Neal — 2003-05-01
  129. 286Press releaseThe NPD Group Consumer Survey: Top Musical Artists for 2006The NPD Group — Business Wire — February 6, 2007
  130. 287NewsHip-Hop's Cash Kings 2008August 15, 2008
  131. 291Tupac Hologram May Be Coming To An Arena Near YouKara Warner — MTV News — April 16, 2012
  132. 293NewsRapper's De-Light: Tupac 'Hologram' May Go on TourEthan Smith — April 16, 2012
  133. 298Tupac doc up for OscarJanuary 28, 2005
  134. 310NewsTupac Exhibit Opens Next MonthBoom 92 — January 22, 2015
  135. 317Tupac Shakur Finally Receives a Star on the Hollywood Walk of FameDaniel Kreps — Rolling Stone — June 7, 2023
  136. 319NewsTop-Earning Dead CelebritiesAugust 12, 2002
  137. 320VideoMTV2 Presents: 22 Greatest MC'sJuly 2003
  138. 321V community: Greatest rapper of all time?Shelby Stone — July 22, 2005
  139. 323Definitive 200National association of recording merchandisers — The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc. — 2007
  140. 326This Is The Guy Who's Playing Tupac In The N.W.A. MovieBansky — Uproxx.com — June 19, 2015