was himself killed six more months later. West coast against East coast, 2Pac against Notorious B.I.G., the Bloods against the Crips, tensions were just too high, as illustrated by the legendary diss track Hit ‘Em Up. He wasn’t going to survive the next attempt in September 1996 yet. The singer was already shot 5 times a year earlier, surviving his injuries. The following months were an escalation of violence. Hopes were gone though when Suge Knight, Death Row Records co-founder and CEO, but also a murderer who got all his deals off intimidations and violence, took 2Pac off prison by paying his bail of $1.4 million to get his signing to the label in exchange. Selling over 200,000 copies in a week of Me Against the World in 1995, the singer had a chance to move on from the harshest parts of a street life. While these days it has become the norm, in the early 90s it made him stand out of the pack. His songs reflected this, written with a disconcerting sincerity, using precise details of his personal life if it serves the message of his text. He made no compromise, no adjustment to look better or more gangsta, he was 100% him, day in, day out. Apart from his obvious bright mind and talent, 2Pac was a complex person, as we all are, who never hesitated at shown every parts of him. Then he got his first Hot 100 top 10 single with Dear Mama, a tribute to his mother, not something to expect from a gangsta rap singer back then.

One of his first hits, Keep Ya Head Up, was a feminist anthem shooting at absent fathers and misogyny. Unlike the remaining gangsta rap pioneers though, his main point wasn’t about portraying an image full of machismo. He was no angel, he knew all the codes of the thug life that he defined so well on his songs. Obviously, he was also surrounded by criminals, the only ones who cared about him when he needed it as he said himself. He grew up infused with self confidence and very clear ideas about social justice, developing himself as a bigger-than-life charisma and a natural born leader. In fact, both parents of the singer – his biological father never lived with him – were significant members of the Black Panthers Party in their youth. Afeni Shakur may have gone through a lot of difficult times, and had next to no money for most of her life, she also had strong beliefs. On surface, 2Pac was one of many, a black kid raised by a single mother with addictions.

Tupac end of time