Both Tupac and Amaru are words of Inca origin. Together they mean, "shining serpent." Shakur means "thankful to God," from the Arabic language. Tupac, commonly known as America's most controversial rapper was labeled a gangster rapper and one of the largest figures in the rap community. He was always known for doing what he wanted and not caring what others thought of him. His life symbolized what a lot of people have gone through. Through his music and movies he showed how hard life can be.

On June 16, 1971 Tupac was born to Alice Faye Williams in Brooklyn, NY. His mother was a "revolutionary" as she called herself "Afeni Shakur." For many years she associated herself with members of the well-known Black Panther Party. She joined a New York chapter of the Panther Party in 1964 and fell in love with an organizer, Lumumba Abdul Shakur. After four years with Lumumba, Afeni started to see another party member, William Garland who was another activist working with the party members to support their causes. Around this time things were going downhill for Afeni. In 1969 she and other members of the Panther were arrested and charged with several felony count

...They wanna bury me, I'm worried -- no need to lie. I pray to God I don't scream when it's time to fry. Nowhere to rest I'm losin homies, ain't that a bitch. When I was rich I had clout, now a nigga's lonely. I put the pistol to my head, and say a prayer. I see visions of me dead, Lord are you there? Then tell me am I lost cause I'm lonely. I thought I had friends but in the end a nigga dies lonely. Nowhere to run I'm in terror, and no one cares. A closed casket at my funeral and no one's there. Is there a future for a killer? I change my ways... But still that don't promise me the next day... They wonder if I'm hell bound... well Hell can't be worse than this, cause I'm in Hell now... Never will I die, I'll be back Reincarnated as a mother*censored*in mack... I love it cause in heaven there's no shortage on G's. I'm tellin you now, you mother*censored*ers don't know me...(Tupac)

Castro, Peter and Ken Baker. "All Eyes on Her; Afeni Shakur Tends to Her Son Tupac's Fortune-And Some of His Troubles A Once-Wayword Mother Defends Her Son's Legacy." People 1 December 1997: 151+.

By the time Tupac was born, Afeni had already lined up a job as a paralegal and things started looking up. However, soon after his birth, Afeni started snorting cocaine. For a while she was a very loving mother. Afeni started to see a man by the name of Mutulu as she tried to bring a father figure into Tupac's life. He was also a member of the Panther party. Soon after, Afeni was pregnant with her second child, Sekyiwa. A few months before her due date, Mutulu had been sentenced to sixty years for a fatal armored car robbery. Afeni was once again a single mother raising Tupac along with his sister. A couple of years later his mother decided to move her family to Baltimore, Maryland, for a fresh start. While in Maryland the world got its first true taste of the life and works of Tupac Amaru Shakur.

Tupac was not happy recording under Death Row Record label and worked hard to fourfold his contact. By September of that year he had recorded over 2 albums for Death Row but was also mysteriously shot. On Friday, September 13, 1996, at 4:03 p.m. PDT, Tupac Amaru Shakur was pronounced died of respiratory failure and cardio-pulmonary arrest at University Medical Center, Las Vegas, after lingering in a coma for days. He died of bullet wounds to the abdomen and chest received seven days prior. Tupac was only 25 years old. To date, police still have no suspects in his murder.

"Tupac Shakur." Contemporary Black Biography. Volume 14. 1997.

Thug life to me is dead. If it's real, let somebody else represent it because I'm tired of it. I represented it too much. I was Thug Life. I'm going to show people my true intentions, and my true heart. I'm going to show them the man that my mother raised. I'm going to make them all proud. I see my incarceration as a gift--straight up. It's God's will. Being getting clean after years of incessant marijuana smoking has cleared my head and given me a new perspective on my work. If we're really saying rap is an art form then we got to be true to it and be more responsible for our lyrics. If you see everybody dying because of what you saying, it don't matter that you didn't make them die, it just matters that you didn't save them. (Vibe, 1995)

Tupac ended the song with the emphasis of being resurrected. The final chorus continuously repeated "Only fear of death is comin back reincarnated." This further lead people to wonder who the song was directed.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2885
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)