Tupac Shakur
We know thousands of rappers. But Tupac Amaru shakur’s life stands above those alone. He was an influential, best selling hip hop artist, considered by many to be the greatest rapper of all time. His nicknames include 2pac, Pac and Makaveli. Among his fans, he is known as simply “ Tupac”. The names “ Tupac Amaru” and “ Shakur” mean Shining Serpent in Arabic, respectively. Tupac wasn’t his given name; his mother renamed shortly after birth. He was born under Lesane Parish Crooks in Bronx, New York city on June 16th, 1971 to Afeni Shakur, a member of Black panthers. Shakur said, “ I never knew where my father was or who my father was for sure”. His father left his mother when he wasn’t even born. And his stepfather was imprisoned for car robbery when he was two years old , leaving his family to struggle frequently under conditions of extreme poverty. Much of Tupac’s upbringing revolved around the Black Panther philosophy. Impoverished during most of his childhood, Tupac, his mother and half sister skyway moved between homeless shelters and cheap accommodation around New York City. As a result, he relied on poetry and diary entries to keep himself busy. At the age of 12, Shakur joined a Hormel theatre group , that is when he started developing an interest in performing. Later in 1984 Tupac’s mother brought him and his sister to live in Baltimore, Maryland. He went to Roland Park middle school, there, he was disliked because of his looks, name and untrendy clothes. In his sophomore year Tupac was accepted to the Baltimore School for the Arts. That’s where all it started. He fell in love with music, acting , poetry , performing, beauty of art and dance. He studied hard there. Tupac was an avid reader, delving into books on eastern religions, and even whole entire encyclopedia sets. Hiding his love of literature from his peers, he gained the respect of his peers like a tough guy. He composed his first rap in Baltimore under the name “ MC new York” and wrote