Tupac Shakur (1971-1996)

Tupac Shakur (1971-1996)

Tupac was an American rapper and actor. He is considered by many as one of the best rappers of all time. Shakur was born in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, but relocated to Los Angeles in 1988. When he released his debut album 2Pacalypse Now in 1991, he became a central figure in West Coast hip hop, introducing social issues in the genre at a time when gangsta rap was dominant in the mainstream.Shakur achieved further critical and commercial success with Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z... (1993) and Me Against the World (1995).

Accomplishments: 

In 2003, MTV's "22 Greatest MCs" countdown listed Shakur as the "Number 1 MC", as voted by the viewers. In 2004, at the VH1 Hip Hop Honors Shakur was honored along with DJ Hollywood, Kool DJ Herc, KRS-One, Public Enemy, Run-D.M.C., Rock Steady Crew, and Sugarhill Gang. A Vibe magazine poll in 2004 rated Shakur "the greatest rapper of all time" as voted by fans. Editors of About.com ranked him No. 5 on their list of the Top 50 MCs of Our Time (1987–2007). In 2012, The Source ranked him No. 5 on their list of the top 50 hip-hop lyricists of all time. In a 2005 Rolling Stone magazine vote, Shakur was named No. 86 of the "100 Immortal Artists of All Time" behind Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, and John Lennon. MTV ranked him at No. 2 on their list of The Greatest MCs of All Time. Shakur was inducted into the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame in 2002. VH1 ranked him 69th on the VH1 100 Greatest Artists of All-Time. At the First Annual Turks & Caicos International Film Festival held on Tuesday, October 17, 2006, Shakur was honored for his undeniable voice and talent and as a performer who crossed racial, ethnic, cultural and medium lines; his mother accepted the award on his behalf.

In 2008, The National Association Of Recording Merchandisers in conjunction with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame recognized him as a very influential artist and has added him in their Definitive 200 list.[198]

On June 23, 2010, Shakur was inducted to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry.[199] The seat of the Catholic Church released a list of 12 songs onto the social networking Web site's streaming music service. Among the artists included are Mozart, Muse, and Dame Shirley Bassey; the list also includes Shakur's song "Changes", which was released two years after his shooting death on a greatest hits album in 1998.[200]

His double album, All Eyez on Me, is one of the highest-selling rap albums of all time, with over 5 million copies of the album sold in the United States alone by April 1996; it was eventually certified 9x platinum in June 1998 by the RIAA. In July 2014 it was re-certified 10x platinum.

Shakur's hit song "Dear Mama" is one of 25 songs that were added to the National Recording Registry in 2010. The Library of Congress has called Dear Mama "a moving and eloquent homage to both the murdered rapper's own mother and all mothers struggling to maintain a family in the face of addiction, poverty, and societal indifference." The honor came seven days after what would have been Shakur's 39th birthday. Shakur is the third rapper to enter the library, outside of the copyright office, behind Grandmaster Flash and Public Enemy.

In 2016, Shakur was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, when on December 20, 2016, it was announced that he and 5 others would be inducted into the Hall on April 7, 2017. At the ceremony, Shakur was inducted by his friend and fellow hip hop artist Snoop Dogg, who shared several stories about their time together and of the time Shakur spent in the hospital before his death.

Charity: Shakur Family Foundation