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Tupac Shakur: Albums
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Tupac Shakur (June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996)... known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rap artist, poet and actor. He is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the best-selling rap/hip-hop artist ever, having sold over 73 million albums worldwide, including 44.5 million sales in the United States alone. He has had 17 top ten singles in the United States. He is consistently ranked by fans, critics and industry insiders as the greatest rapper ever.
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While in prison Shakur read and studied Niccolò Machiavelli and his works, which inspired his pseudonym "Makaveli" under which he released the album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. The album presents a stark contrast to previous works. Throughout the album, Shakur continues to focus on the themes of pain and aggression, making this album one of the emotionally darker works of his career. Shakur wrote and recorded all the lyrics in only three days and the production took another four days, combining for a total of seven days to complete the album (hence the name). The album was completely finished before Shakur died and Shakur had complete creative input on the album from the name of the album to the cover, which Shakur chose to symbolize how the media had crucified him. The album debuted at number one and sold 663,000 copies in the first week.[33] Shakur had plans of starting Makaveli Records which would have included the Wu-Tang Clan, The Outlawz, Big Daddy Kane, Big Syke, and Gang Starr.
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By 1991, Tupac had made the next step in his career by moving away from the group that overshadowed his blossoming talent and went about establishing his solo career. After Interscope executives Tim Fields and Tom Whalley took an interest in a demo tape of Pac’s they signed him to a recording contract. With continued help from his mentor Shock G who produced the project and picked the beats for Tupac’s lyrics as Tupac did not have the flair for the mechanics of creating music. He managed to release his debut album, 2Pacalypse Now by November 12, ‘91. The album was received with pressure from public criticism with his violent portrayal of the urban struggle against police brutality and was translated as inciting police hatred. After a young man had killed a Texas trooper claiming he was inspired by Tupac’s album, the success was limited and sold not as many as he hoped with no singles released on the charts.
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Shakur's music and philosophy is rooted in many American, African-American, and World entities, including the Black Panther Party, Black nationalism, egalitarianism, and liberty. His debut album, 2Pacalypse Now, revealed the socially conscious side of Shakur. On this album, Shakur attacked social injustice, poverty and police brutality on songs "Brenda's Got a Baby", "Trapped" and "Part Time Mutha". His style on this album was highly influenced by the social consciousness and Afrocentrism pervading hip hop in the late 1980s and early 1990s. On this initial release, Shakur helped extend the success of such rap groups as Boogie Down Productions, Public Enemy, X-Clan, and Grandmaster Flash, as he became one of the first major socially conscious rappers from the West Coast.
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By this point... Shakur was having serious problems with the law. In 1994 he was found guilty of sexual assault, accused of abusing a female fan, and was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison. While in jail, his third album, "Me Against the World," hit number one, making 2Pac the first artist to reach the top of the charts while incarcerated.
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Tupac was eventually cast in several feature films andrecorded several chart topping albums. Infact, he released the first ever double hip-hop CD and remains the top selling Hip-Hop artist of all time!Tupac accomplished a lot before his murder at the age of 25. Today, years after his physical departure, Tupac's gift- hiscreative talent-continues to inspire others around the world!
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