2Pac

2Pac died 18 years ago but is still as popular as he was during his life. He has gotten the Bob Marley treatment by being made into the icon for a whole genre. Whether he was that great is debatable, but the fact of the matter is that he has been immortalized.

2Pac was born in 1971 to parents who were Black Panther revolutionaries and even shares his name with South American revolutionary Tupac Amaru. 2Pac is the biggest West Coast icon, yet ironically, his childhood was spent in Harlem, New York. Here, he took lessons acting, poetry, jazz, and ballet (lol) while dabbling in rap. His family moved to California in 1988. By 1990, he was a roadie and backup dancer with Digital Underground. While in the group, he also started polishing his rap skills.

2Pac’s solo debut 2Pacalypse Now dropped in 1991. It was the world’s first glimpse into his controversial side with tracks like Brenda’s Got a Baby and I Don’t Give a Fuck that have inspired a generation of rappers. He released 4 more solo albums during his life all of which saw commercial and critical success.

2Pac also went to jail a couple of times, for a couple of weeks at a time for physical and sexual assault. He was also looking to make a switch towards acting which was his real passion. However, 2Pac was a workaholic who was in the studio recording so many tracks that there was enough material for 6 posthumous albums.

His death is one of the most controversial subjects in rap. On September 7, 1996, Tupac was in Las Vegas to attend a boxing match between Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon. After the match, a car rolled up to 2Pac’s vehicle with the intention of doing a drive-by. The official story is that it was a gang-related killing. Some claim that he faked his own death, pointing to clues hidden in lyrics and album covers. A documentary on the subject, called Biggie and Tupac has an ex-police officer on record saying that the killing was orchestrated by crooked cops on the behest of Suge Knight. The whole matter is murky and the case is officially unsolved. To date, no one has been arrested in connection to the killing.

2Pac is often called the greatest rapper ever but as a personal opinion, that’s a stretch. 2Pac was extremely skilled and had a commanding voice, but his discography is quantity over quality. Most songs except the album singles are average at best and 2Pac wasn’t the revolutionary that people seem to think he was. His messages are often contradictory and this is the same guy that made the track “Hit ‘em up” dissing Notorious BIG. If you’re not familiar with it, the song’s opening line is “I fucked your bitch, you fat motherfucker.” Not exactly the words of an intellectual. He wasn’t even the greatest rapper of HIS time, much less of ALL time. Nevertheless, he has made a permanent mark on rap and when he wanted to, 2Pac could be a real MC.