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Tupac Shakur

Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971–September 13, 1996) was an American hip hop artist, poet and actor. He is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the best-selling rap/hip-hop artist ever, having sold 67 million albums worldwide (mostly posthumously), including 37 million sales in the United States alone. He has had 17 Top Ten singles in the U.S. He is consistently ranked by fans, critics and industry insiders as one of the greatest rappers of all time.

Most of Shakur's songs are about the hardships of growing up around violence in United States ghettos, poverty, racism, and sometimes his feuds with fellow rappers. He is known for the messages of political, economic, and racial equality that pervade his work. His music features extensive use of metaphors and shows a high degree of lyrical structure.

Tupac's next album is scheduled to be released on September 13, 2006 exactly 10 years after the day he died.

Early life
Tupac Amaru Shakur was born in the East Harlem section of Manhattan in New York City.[1] He was named after Túpac Amaru II, an Incan revolutionary who led a Peruvian uprising against Spain and was subsequently sentenced to death. It has been reported by many sources that Shakur's birth name was Lesane Parish Crooks. Shakur's mother Afeni was an active member of the Black Panther Party in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was born just one month after his mother's acquittal on more than 100 charges of "conspiracy against the United States government and New York landmarks" in the "New York Panther 21" court case.[2]

Shakur was raised under difficult circumstances. His godfather, Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt, was convicted of murdering a schoolteacher during a 1968 robbery. His stepfather, Mutulu Shakur, was found guilty of the attempted robbery of a Brinks armored car in which two police officers and a guard were killed.[3] He has a half-sister, Sekyiwa, who is two years his junior & his step-brother Mopreme Shakur (aka,...