| Tupac was born on June 16,1971 in Brooklyn, New York and was
named Tupac Amaru Shakur. His Mother Afeni, a member of the Black Panthers
had just been released from jail.His mother wanted a special name for her
child,so she named Tupac Amaru, whose name meant "Shining
Serpent". His mother had taken the name Shakur which in Arabic means
thankful to God, and his mother was very thankful of her son.
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| From the begining of Tupac's life it wasn't easy.
Tupac once said that growing up his role model was the drug dealer on the
corner. His father was a Black Panther who left his mother. His mother was
a single mother doing the best she could. Which often meant living on the
streets or in shelters in the Bronx and Harlem.
At the age of 12, Tupac found something he liked which was performing. He joined a Harlem theater group and appeared as Travis in "A Raisin in the Sun." He loved acting, the stage, the applause, and the spotlight. He was a natural.
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| In 1986,tupac and his family moved to Baltimore and there Tupac was enrolled in The School of Performing Arts. His teachers remember him as a bright kid with lots of potential, and it was there that Tupac wrote his first rap. Mc New York was born and he started performing his lyrics. His talent was evident , but even though he was happy and doing well in Baltimore his family moved once again in 1988 to Marin County, California. | His talent was evident , but even though he was happy and
doing well in Baltimore his family moved once again in 1988 to Marin
County, California.
It was there that Tupac admitted he started hanging out in the streets, hustling and doing whatever to survive. It was the path that he would never realy stray far from despite his fame. Thug life became a way of life and he never really left it. His stepfather had been sentence to 60 years in prison for armed robbery and times were rough. Tupac would survive the only way he knew how. |
| There was a positive, too. In Northern Cali, he eventually hooked up with the popular rap group, Digital underground. The year was 1990 and he was suddenly on tour as a dancer and rapper. He loved it and the fans started to notice him as well. he made his recording debut on D.U.'s This Is An EP release, with "Same Song." In 1992 his solo career got under way with 2Pacalypse Now. |  |