About
The son of two Black Panther members, Tupac Amaru Shakur was born in New York City. His parents had divorced/separated before he was born, and his mother moved him and his sister around the country many times during their youth. Often, the family was at the poor people level, but Shakur managed to get acceptedto the acclaimed Baltimore School of the Arts as a teen. While he was at the school, his creative side flourished, as he began writing raps and acting. Before he could graduate however, his mom moved the family to Marin City, CA, when Tupac was 17 years of age. Over the next several years, he lived on the streets and began doing the ‘hustle’. Eventually, he met Shock-G, the leader of Digital Underground. The Oakland-based crew decided to hire him as a dancer and roadie, and as he went on road trips with the group, he worked on his own material as well. 2Pac made his first recorded appearance on the group’s spring 1991 record, This Is an EP Release, and he also appeared on their second album, Sons of the P. The following year, he released his own debut, 2Pacalypse Now. The album became a word-of-mouth hit, as “Brenda’s Got a Baby” reached the R&B Top 30 and the record went gold. However, its blunt and explicit lyrics earned criticisms for moral watchdogs, and Vice President Dan Quayle attacked the album while he was campaigning for re-election that year.
