Charlie Rich

His son, Charlie Rich, Jr., is also a noted musician. There is also a new clothing line based on Shakur, called "Makaveli Branded.". Charlie Rich died in Hammond, Louisiana in 1995 at the age of 62. Proceeds will go to a charity set up by Afeni. In the latter part of his life, Rich acquired the nickname "The Silver Fox" in reference to his full head of grey hair. On November 14, 2003, a documentary about the rapper entitled Tupac: Resurrection, was released under the supervision of Afeni Shakur and narrated entirely in Pac's voice with archival footage. Other than his music, he is famous for his antics at the 1975 Country Music Association awards ceremony, when he set fire to the envelope that announced John Denver as his successor for CMA Entertainer Of The Year. Though he did not live to realize these dreams, his mother Afeni is currently attempting to carry on his work by raising money for a Center for the Arts.

Rich was born in Colt, Arkansas to rural cotton farmers. He ran an earlier project called "The Underground Railroad" that aimed to keep youths off drugs by getting them involved in music. Charlie Rich (December 14, 1932 - July 25, 1995) was an American country, jazz, and blues musician. Pac also desired to give back more to the community, suggesting a Little League to encourage young black kids to keep on the right path. 1974 CMA Entertainer of the Year. Shakur indicated after getting out of jail that he had lofty future plans, including mostly getting out of the rap scene by releasing high-quality, deep albums only once every five years or so. 1973 Grammy Award - Best Country Vocal Performance. His music is still being actively released and remixed.

1973 CMA Album of the Year, Behind Closed Doors. Much of his work was only dug up and edited after his death. 1973 CMA Male Vocalist of the Year. Shock G remembered fondly that Pac would spend entire days in the studio, drinking Hennessy, smoking marijuana, and experimenting with new raps. Conspiracies notwithstanding, Shakur was extremely dedicated to his work during his short career. Oddly, Shakur has released more songs posthumously than while he was alive.

When asked "Who killed Tupac?" in a BBC Radio interview dated March 7, 2005, Broomfield stated "The big guy next to him in the car...Suge Knight.". The Biggie Smalls killing, it is suggested, was a cover-up in order to make the murder look like a simple product East-West rivalry. The crux of this argument is that Tupac was planning to leave Death Row Records, taking tapes with him, and in order to stop this, he was killed by police officers who also worked for Death Row as security. The theory that Shakur's death was orchestrated by Suge Knight is explored in the 2002 film Biggie & Tupac by Nick Broomfield.

Further clouding Shakur's death, Orlando Anderson, the man later suspected of being the shooter, was killed in an unrelated gang shootout in May 1998. Although many hoped that Shakur's death would help heal the East Coast/West Coast rivalry, his rival, Notorious B.I.G., was gunned down under similar circumstances six months later. Indeed, the many believers who expected him to return after seven years in September 2003 were proven wrong. Those who knew him personally find the idea that he is still alive laughable.

Tupac was known for making many allusions to his own impending death in his music and even depicted himself in the music video of "I Ain't Mad at Cha" as an angel in Heaven with other dead celebrities after being shot in a public place, a music video which was released only two days after Shakur's death. The executive producer was mysteriously listed as "Simon" instead of Suge Knight. Its cover eerily depicted him crucified and was recorded under the pseudonym "Makaveli", an allusion to the Machiavelli of old who suggested faking one's death to fool enemies. Shakur's last album before his death was The Don Killuminati: The Seven Day Theory.

Weak evidence for some of these theories can be found in the following examples:. The theory has attracted a considerable following on-line and is referred to as the Seven Day Theory, a reference to the fact that much of the evidence supporting it stems from the Makaveli album. Conspiracy theories about his death abound: they usually insist that he faked his death, that the shooting was a government assassination, that Suge Knight arranged the killing, or that Biggie was involved. Why he did not on the fateful night remains a mystery.

He was known to always wear a bulletproof vest in public. The previous robbery led Shakur to seek protection, and he employed bodyguards after getting out of jail in October 1995. He, too, was killed shortly thereafter in New Jersey. Shakur's close childhood friend -- and a member of the Outlawz -- Yafeu "Kadafi" Fula, was in the convoy when the shooting happened and told police he might be able to identify the assailants.

Compton Police were disappointed with the lack of initiative showed by Las Vegas police in pursuing the killing. It was noted by the Compton Gang Unit that the Crips were bragging about the killing soon after returning to Compton. An investigation by the Las Vegas Times, while not naming its gang-member sources, stated that Biggie (who was also in town for the fight) offered to pay the Crips in exchange for Shakur's death. It is appropriate to note that Shakur and the crew at Death Row generally depended on members of the Bloods gang for security, while Biggie and the Bad Boy Crew depended on Crips members for security when visiting California.

Anderson and others were interviewed by police later in connection to the murder, though no suspects were ever publicly named. Shakur started the fight when he noticed the 21 year old "Baby Lane" Anderson, who had beaten up one of his bodyguards in a shopping mall a few weeks earlier, lingering in the lobby. Hours before, Tupac had been involved in a fight between the Death Row entourage, mostly made up of Bloods and a Southside Crip by the name of Orlando Anderson in the lobby of the MGM Hotel after the Tyson-Seldon fight. The Las Vegas Metro Police and Compton police, although they never officially solved the case, concluded that Shakur was shot by Southside Crips after the Tyson fight.

Earlier acts of violence were said to have spurred antagonism between him and other East Coast rappers (namely Notorious B.I.G.), bred by gangsta rap. He died in the University of Nevada Hospital six days later from the four gunshot wounds. Shakur was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 7, 1996 after attending the boxing match between Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon. See hip hop rivalries for more information..

was member. 2Pac also frequently insulted popular New York rapper Jay Z, Chino XL, Lil Kim, Junior Mafia and other artists of Bad Boy Records, of which the Notorious B.I.G. Shakur also mocked Mobb Deep for snubbing him at a concert and remarked on their small stature in the controversial track Hit 'Em Up, remarking, "Don't one of you niggaz got sickle cell or something?". After his death, Mobb Deep changed tack and apparently showed respect for Shakur. There was also some animosity between Tupac and Nas.

Shakur disliked LL Cool J, whom he thought was a poser and had had an album produced by Puff Daddy. In addition, Shakur made hints in songs that he thought Dre was gay, and Suge Knight concurred in the Thug Immortal documentary. Shakur got angry when Dre refused to show up and testify in defense of his friend, Snoop Doggy Dogg, in a trial. Pac claimed that Dre did nothing at Death Row and was taking credit for other people's work.

Dre, who was, for a while, the in-house producer for Death Row. Pac also had some disputes with Dr. On November 30, 1995, exactly one year after the shooting of Shakur in New York, Walker was gunned down and killed in Queens, New York. In addition to his enemies at Bad Boy Records, Shakur suspected his former friend Stretch (real name Randy Walker) of being involved in the robbery.

After Biggie's death six months after Shakur's, Faith and Puffy released a hit single in memory of Biggie called "I'll Be Missing You". As part of the ongoing feud between Shakur and his former friend Biggie, Pac bragged about having slept with Biggie's estranged wife, Faith Evans, in "Hit 'Em Up". In a later interview, Shakur said that he had met Janet in an immature time of his life, and hoped that he could one day make amends with her. However, Janet took offense, and stopped talking to him immediately after the filming was completed.

Shakur stated that other men had made love to Janet on stage before without taking a test, and he didn't feel it necessary. While filming Poetic Justice with Janet Jackson, Tupac created quite a stir when he refused to take an AIDS test as a prerequisite for a love scene with Janet. After all his legal troubles, Tupac claimed he "wanted to get out the [rap] game", but Biggie's remarks spurred him to come back. While Shakur was in jail, he was incensed by Biggie and Puffy's derogatory remarks about him in Vibe Magazine.

After the robbery, though, Tupac publicly accused Biggie, Puff Daddy, and Andre Harrell of having a hand in his attempted murder. The two were originally close friends when Biggie was still largely unknown. and his cohorts at Bad Boy Records. Most famous of all is probably his rivalry with The Notorious B.I.G.

During his life, Shakur had a number of rivals. He had also been slated to star in the Hughes brothers' "Menace II Society" but was replaced by Larenz Tate after assaulting the directors. From 1991-1996, Shakur acted in seven films, including the critically acclaimed Juice, Poetic Justice with Janet Jackson, and Gridlock'd with Tim Roth. It was eventually filmed with Tyrese Gibson in his place and released in 2001, five years after Shakur's death.

John Singleton wrote the film Baby Boy with Shakur in mind for the leading role, but Shakur died before it was made. At the time of his death, Tupac was also building on his acting career. The entire album is said to have been created in only seven days, and one of the more popular songs off this album, "Hail Mary", was reportedly made in only thirty minutes. The album has sold over five million copies. Released two months after his death, this album was portentous and dark, and it predicted his own death in many songs.

Shakur's last album created while alive was The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. Dre left his post as house producer and Suge Knight became more involved in illegal activites. He continued his prolific recordings, despite the impending troubles at Death Row as Dr. It went on to sell more than nine million copies and is considered by many to be among the best albums in the genre.

It was the first double-disc of original material in hip-hop history. In 1996, he released his fourth solo album, All Eyez on Me. Immediately after his release from prison, Shakur began work on his next album. The singer was unrepentant and grew even more embittered against the authorities, which showed in his music.

Suge posted a $1.4 million bail for Shakur, and in exchange Shakur was obliged to release three albums under Death Row. In October, after almost eight months in prison, Shakur was released on parole largely due to the help of Suge Knight, the head of Death Row Records. He also had time to pursue reading, delving into the works of Niccolò Machiavelli, and even wrote a screenplay titled Live 2 Tell while incarcerated. From jail, he married his long-time girlfriend, Keisha Morris.

Shakur has the distinction of being the only artist with an album at number one on the charts while serving a prison sentence. Soon after, his multi-platinum album, Me Against the World, was released. Shakur began serving his prison sentence later that February. He showed up in court soon afterwards in a wheelchair to face his verdict in the sexual assault case.

He survived, and left the hospital a day after, against doctor's orders because he was feeling harassed by phone calls and the doctors. Roll me some weed.". His first words after realizing how severe his wounds were, having been shot in the head and testicles, were "Oh, shit. Shakur described his friends as acting very strange, almost surprised at his being alive.

He was dragged into an elevator and taken upstairs to safety, where his then-friends Biggie, Puffy, Little Caesar, and others were waiting. Tupac alone was shot a total of five times while he played dead on the ground and also robbed of thousands of dollars of gold jewelry he was wearing. Their aggression was focused almost exclusively on Tupac, although they did threaten to shoot Stretch as well. The two men, who Shakur described as looking like they were from New York, came at him with identical 9mm handguns, and forced him and his friends to the floor.

(aka Biggie), whom he was still friends with at the time. Shakur simply assumed they must be security for The Notorious B.I.G. He noted that he was less wary of them than he should have been because he "had just finished smoking chronic". When they got to the studio, Tupac was suspicious of two black men in their thirties, both dressed in army fatigues, because neither of them seemed to acknowledge his presence.

They arrived at a studio so Shakur could do some recordings for an acquaintance, Booker, whom he didn't quite trust. He was with his close friend Stretch, manager Freddie Moore, and one other friend on the night of November 30, 1994. Tupac recalled the circumstances in an interview shortly afterwards with Vibe. Shortly before his verdict was announced, in an apparent robbery attempt outside a music studio in New York, Shakur was shot five times.

On February 7, 1995, Shakur was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for "forcibly touching the buttocks", though he vehemently denied any wrongdoing. The girl, disagreeing with his account, accused him of encouraging the three men, pulling her hair, and sodomy. Some friends who were with him that night interrupted the couple, wanting to enjoy the woman's attentions themselves. Shakur claimed to have left the room disgusted and went to take a nap. The next night, she visited him before he was set to do a show and was giving him a massage in a hotel room.

She allegedly gave him oral sex on the dance floor before Shakur took her back to his hotel room. According to his account, he met a female fan at a club, Nell's, who was described to him as wanting to "more than meet [him]". In December, Tupac Shakur was charged with sexually abusing a woman in his hotel room. The group's lyrical strength undoubtedly lay primarily with Tupac, as the group has had little success after his death.

The group released their first album Thug Life: Volume 1 on Interscope in 1994 with moderate success. In 1994, he formed the group Thug Life with a few of his friends, including Big Syke, Macadoshis, his half-brother Mopreme, and Rated R. The charges against Shakur were dismissed. He faced serious charges until it was discovered that both officers were intoxicated during the incident and were using weapons stolen out of an evidence locker.

Shakur got into a fight with them and shot both officers (one in the leg, one in the buttocks). In October 1993, Shakur came upon two off-duty police officers whom he perceived as harassing a black motorist on the side of the road in Atlanta. When he told the police "fuck y'all," he was choked, beaten, and had his head smashed on the pavement. He subsequently raised a ten million dollar lawsuit against the Oakland police department, which was eventually settled for $42,000. In Oakland in October of 1991, Tupac was stopped by two officers for allegedly jaywalking.

Before he started his recording career, Tupac had no criminal record. Along with Shakur's rise to fame came a series of altercations with the law that further complicated his public image. Shock G would go on to produce the Shakur hits So Many Tears and Temptations. His second CD, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z..., was heavily produced by Shock G, and spurred two number one hits: the emotional Keep Ya Head Up and the playful I Get Around.

Shakur was a talented rapper; producing was not his forte. In confidence, Shakur told Shock G that he wanted Shock to pick the beats. The album did not do as well as Tupac had hoped on the charts, sparking no number one hits. Former Vice President Dan Quayle, as part of his zealous push for morals, publicly denounced the album as having "no place in our society".

2Pacalypse Now quickly attracted public criticism, especially after a young man who killed a Texas Trooper claimed he was inspired by the album. While Shakur claimed (http://www.alleyezonme.com/interviews/5.phtml) his album was aimed at the problems facing young black males, it was also filled with images of violence by and against police. Although produced with the help of his Digital Underground crew, the intent of the album was to showcase his individual talent. Eventually, Interscope records agreed to distribute the record; one can credit executives Ted Field and Tom Whally for giving Tupac the chance.

In 1991, Tupac had trouble shopping his solo-debut, 2Pacalypse Now. He was hailed by Rolling Stone's Peter Travers as "The film's most magnetic figure." Shakur went on to star in Poetic Justice, Above the Rim, Gridlock'd, Bullet, and Gang Related. He starred in Juice in 1991, to much critical acclaim. While never achieving that particular dream, Shakur did become a talented actor, drawing from his theatre roots.

As a child, Tupac had dreams of becoming a Shakespearean actor. In the song, Shock G leads into Tupac's verse by advising Shakur to "Go ahead and rock this.". On a song for the Nothing But Trouble movie soundtrack, Same Song, Tupac was given his first opportunity to rap on a big-time record. His early lyrics were unremarkable, and he was viewed ambivalently for his tendency to act like a diva and for his occasionally violent personality.

In 1990, Shakur joined as a roadie and dancer for Digital Underground. Their neighborhood performances brought Tupac enough acclaim to land an audition with Shock G of Digital Underground. Their recordings were later released in 2001 under the name Tupac Shakur: The Lost Tapes. He made friends with Ray Luv, and with a mutual friend named DJ Dize (Dizz-ee), they started a rap group called Strictly Dope.

Shakur soon moved in with a neighbor and started selling drugs and hustling on the street, but he also made friends who helped spark his interest in rap music. In August of 1988, Shakur's stepfather Mutulu was sentenced to sixty years in prison for armed robbery after being on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list for several years. Shakur's discontent with law officials clearly was rooted in his Black Panther/revolutionary upbringing. He displayed a strong contempt for law enforcement and was hassled occasionally for playing music loudly.

Tupac described this move away from Baltimore and the arts school as "where I got off track". She uprooted the family again and brought Tupac and Sekyiwa to live with a family friend in Marin City, California. Tupac later claimed it was because of her Black Panther history, but it was probably more a result of her drug use. Two years later, a drug-addicted Afeni was having significant trouble finding work.

The song was about gun control and was inspired by the killing of one of his close friends. Shakur composed his first rap in Baltimore under the name "MC New York". Shielding his love of literature from his peers, he gained the respect of Baltimore kids by acting like a tough guy. His teachers remembered him as being a very gifted student. He was an avid reader, delving into books about eastern religions, and even entire encyclopedia sets.

Even at this age, Shakur was outspoken on the subject of racial equality. And it was there he "loved [his] classes" and had the opportunity to study theater, ballet, and other arts. For his sophomore year Tupac was accepted to the Baltimore School for the Arts. The following year he spent his freshman year at Paul Lawrence Dunbar High.

Tupac attended Roland Park Middle School. However, he made a few friends while staying there. The Shakurs lived in the infamous neighborhood, Roland Park, in East Baltimore where Tupac was intensely despised because of his looks, name, and lack of trendy fashionwear of the 80s. In 1984 Tupac's mother brought him and his sister to live in Baltimore, Maryland.

At the age of 12, Shakur joined a Harlem theatre group and acted as Travis in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. As a result, he retained few friends and relied on writing poetry and diary entries to keep himself busy. Impoverished during most of his childhood, Tupac, with his mother and half-sister, Sekyiwa (pronounced Setchua), moved around to homeless shelters and various places around New York City. Much of Tupac's upbringing revolved around the Black Panther philosophy.

His step-father, Mutulu, was a drug dealer who, according to Shakur, was not always around to give him the discipline he needed. Shakur said, "I never knew where my father was or who my father was for sure." His godfather, Geronimo Pratt, was also a high-ranking Panther. Acting as her own attorney, she beat the charges and was released one month before Tupac was born. Serving jail time on bombing charges while pregnant with Tupac, she faced a possible sentence of up to three hundred years in prison.

Tupac Shakur was born Lesane Parish Crooks in Brooklyn, New York City on June 16, 1971 to Afeni Shakur, a member of the Black Panthers. Tupac Amaru is the name of the last Inca royal heir in the captured Tahuantinsuyu, who resisted Spanish imperialism in what is now Peru, and his grandson, who spearheaded the first major anti-Spanish military campaign after colonization. The names 'Tupac Amaru' and 'Shakur' mean Shining Serpent in Quechua and Thankful to God in Arabic, respectively. Some of his aliases include 2Pac, Pac, and Makaveli.

Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971–September 13, 1996) was an influential, best-selling hip hop artist. Tupac: Resurrection (http://imdb.com/title/tt0343121/) -- 2003, directed by Lauren Lazin
. Biggie & Tupac (http://imdb.com/title/tt0303356/) -- 2002, directed by Nick Broomfield
. Gang Related (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118900/) -- 1997, directed by Jim Kouf
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Gridlock'd (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119225/) -- 1997, directed by Vondie Curtis-Hall
. Bullet (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115781/) -- 1996, directed by Julien Temple
. Above the Rim (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109035/) -- 1994, directed by Jeff Pollack
. Poetic Justice (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107840/) -- 1993, directed by John Singleton
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Juice (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104573/) -- 1992, directed by Ernest Dickerson
. Loyal to the Game (2004). 2Pac Live (2004). Nu-Mixx Klazzics (2003).

Tupac Resurrection (2003). Better Dayz (2002). Until the End of Time (2001). The Rose that Grew from Concrete (2000).

Still I Rise (1999). 2Pac's Greatest Hits (1998). R U Still Down? (1997). Makaveli: The Don Killuminati: 7 Day Theory (1996).

All Eyez on Me (1996). Me Against the World (1995). 1 (1994). Thug Life: Thug Life Vol.