TIMELINE
JUNE 16, 1971
Tupac Amaru Shakur is born in NYC to Afeni Shakur, a member of the Black Panther Party who was pregnant with him while in
jail on bombing charges.
1990
Gets alot of attention when he appears on Digital Underground's "Same Song" off of the album This Is An EP Realease. The
song's video, featuring Pac draped in West African warrior attire, raises a mystery about the identity of this Black knight with the
dope flow and voice.
When Digital Underground's Sons Of The P came out Pac was a full D.U member, Pac is featured on very few songs but still
managed to further the buzz for his upcoming solo album.
1991
Movie career gets underway with "Juice". He plays the violent unpredictable "Bishop", a character that foreshadows the " don't-
give-a-fuck" mythos that Pac would come to embody.
Releases debut solo album, which displays a passion to address the concerns and anxieties of the young black man in an
American society. Songs like "Trapped", "Brenda's Got A Baby", If My Homie Calls" and "Soulja's Story" link the post Public
Enemy and N.W.A audiences.
OCTOBER
Tupac claims officers in Oakland, Cali assaulted him for jaywalking. Files $10 million lawsuit.
SPRING, 1992
A Texas state trooper is killed by a teenager who was supposedly listening to 2Pacalypse Now. Vice President Dan
Quayledemands that the album be withdrawn. Interscope refuses.
1993
Second solo album starts off slow, as Pac's new Thug Life credo creates mixed emotions. But when the singles "Keep Ya Head
Up"(a song for young single mothers) and "I Get Around"(A Classic Party Jam) are released, his record sales and popularity soar.
Pac plays the male lead alongside Janet Jackson, in John Singleton's "Poetic Justice". The film doesn't fare well, but Pac's
portrayal of a single father/postal worker trying to pusue a career in music while seeking the meaning of true love is its saving grace.
Lost in the mix of a weak movie Pac's song "Definition Of A Thug Nigga" was hidden gem on the movie's soundtrack.
MARCH
Charged with beating video director Allen Hughes in LA. Serves 15 days in jail.
APRIL
Charged with threatening a fellow rapper with a baseball bat in Michigan. Sentenced to 10 days in jail.
OCTOBER
Arrested in Atlanta for alledgedly shooting two off duty cops. Charges are later dropped.
NOVEMBER
Charged in the sexual abuse of a fan in a NYC hotel room.
1994
"Thug Life Volume 1" is released. This album initially thought to be a 2Pac solo album when college radio broke the first single,
would never achieve commercial status, it remained an underground treasure.
Tupac's third film roll is in "Above The Rim"
Pac plays Birdie, a neighbourhood drug dealer who attempts to lead a local phenom astray. Although the roll carries its share of
underlying "gangsta" sentiments, it's miles removed from the neurotic menace of the Bishop character from "Juice".
Inscribed as a Thug Life single, "Pour Out A Little Liquor" is clearly a 2Pac song. Though Warren G's "Regulate" and Rage's
"Afro Puffs" are the only singles released from the soundtrack, "Pour Out A Little Liquor" is the choice of many non-commercial
stations.
APRIL
Arrested on charges of gun and marijuana possession in LA.
NOVEMBER
As a NYC jury deliberates the sex charges.
NOVEMBER
Shakur is shot 5 times during a "so-called" robbery attempt while going to record at a New York Recording studio late at night.
Tupac claims that the robbery was a setup and feels it was arranged by Brooklyn rapper, Notorious B.I.G and other
"backstabbing" friends. This was the begining of the East Coast/West Coast war which would later reveal the identities of the
shooters, "Hatian Jack", and Jimmy Henchmen. Tupac can be heard on the Makaveli album reciting his side of the incident while
including the names of his assailants.
DECEMBER
Jury convicts Tupac of sexual abuse charges.
1995
The album "Me Against The World" is released. Critically acclaimed and arguably the best 2Pac album ever recorded; funnels all
of his anger, dreams, pain into this album. Like hip-hop's version of Bob Dylan, the songs--"Dear Mama", "So Many Tears" and
"Temptations"--clutch at the very soul of young black male existence, no matter class or status. While in prison Pac watches his
album maintain a four week hold on the #1 spot on the charts and become his first multi-platinum effort.
OCTOBER
Pac posts $1.4 million bail pending an appeal after serving eight months of a one and a half to four year sentence. Released from
the Clinton-Correctional Facility in NYC and subsequently signs with Death Row Records.
1996
"All Eyez On Me", the most commercially sucessful album in Pac's career, despite (or maybe partly due to) his release from prison
and numerous controversial articles and interviews. a double album with 26 songs, "All Eyez On Me" has sold upwards of 6
million copies. Tupac's content sways more towards the gangsta image of his new label Death Row, abandoning the haunting,
cautionary tone of his previous work.
JUNE
Sentenced to 120 days for probation violations in New York and LA, but allowed to remain free, pending appeal.
MAY-AUGUST
Completes two films, "Gang Related" with John Belushi, and "Gridlock'd" with Tim Roth.
SEPTEMBER, 4
After the MTV awards in NYC, the police are called to break up a scuffle that pits Pac and a few friends against a number of
unidentified individuals.
SEPTEMBER, 7
Tupac is shot four times in Las Vegas after leaving the Tyson /Seldon heavyweigt bout.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER, 13 1996
Tupac Amaru Shakur dies of wounds sustained in the shooting. Pronounced dead at 4:03 am.
NOVEMBER 5
Tupac's fifth solo album recorded under the name Makaveli (after the 16th century war strategist, Nichollo Machiavelli)
the album is called "The Don Killuminati The 7 Day Theory". Singles released were "To Live & Die In LA", "Toss It Up" and
"Hail Mary".
1997
1 In 21/Static a Tupac Shakur story is released it was recorded in 1990-1991 it has 8 songs.
NOVEMBER, 25
R U Still Down(Remember Me)? Tupac's seventh solo album is released it is a double album consisting of 26 songs which were
recorded throughout his career but were not released.