2Pac
- Tupac Shakur’s real name was Lesane Parish Crooks. He was renamed, at age one, after Túpac Amaru II (who was executed in Peru in 1781 after his failed revolt against Spanish rule.
- Shakur was born in New York City to parents who were both political activists and Black Panther Party members.
- Shakur was shot five times in the lobby of a New York recording studio.
- Shakur debuted under the stage name 2Pac on Digital Underground on the group’s January 1991 single “Same Song”. The song was featured on the soundtrack of the 1991 film Nothing but Trouble.
- Shakur’s artistic sensibilities were enriched by his passion for theater and admiration for the works of William Shakespeare.
- In 1993, while visiting Los Angeles, the Notorious B.I.G. asked a local drug dealer to introduce him to Shakur and they quickly became friends.
- Shakur became close friends with Jada Pinkett while attending the Baltimore School for the Arts. He helped Pinkett land her first movie role in the film Menace II Society.
- Me Against the World hit number one on the Billboard 200, making Shakur the first artist to accomplish this feat while serving a prison sentence.
- Shakur is considered one of the most influential rappers of all time.
- Shakur is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold over 75 million records worldwide. In 2002, he was inducted into the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame. In 2017, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.