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Tupac Shakur: Baltimore School
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At age 12, Shakur was enrolled in Harlem's famous "127th Street Ensemble". His first major role with this acting troupe was as Travis in the play A Raisin in the Sun. In 1984, his family relocated to the Roland Park section of Baltimore. After his sophomore year he transferred from Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School to the Baltimore School for the Arts. At the School for the Arts, he studied acting, poetry, and jazz, and performed in Shakespeare plays and landing the role of the Mouse King in The Nutcracker. One friend of Tupac, Dana "Mouse" Smith, was Tupac's beatbox in the many rap competitions that Tupac participated in. Shakur won the majority of the competitions he was in and was considered to be the best rapper in his school..
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At age 12, Shakur was enrolled in Harlem's famous "127th Street Ensemble". His first major role with this acting troupe was as Travis in the play A Raisin in the Sun. In 1984, his family relocated to the Roland Park section of Baltimore. After his sophomore year he transferred from Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School to the Baltimore School for the Arts, In school he was one of the most popular kids in his school because of his sense of humor and superior rapping skills, he mixed in with all crowds. One friend of Tupac, Dana "Mouse" Smith, was Tupac's beatbox in the many rap competitions that Tupac participated in. Shakur won the majority of the competitions he was in and was considered to be the best rapper in his school. He ... befriended a young Jada Pinkett (later Jada Pinkett Smith).
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Even at a young age, Tupac was outspoken on the subject of racial equality. His teachers remembered him as being a very gifted student. He was an avid reader, delving into books on eastern religions, and even entire encyclopedia sets. Hiding his love of literature from his peers, he gained the respect of his peers by acting like a tough guy. Tupac composed his first rap in Baltimore under the name "MC New York". The song was about gun control and was inspired by the fatal shooting of one of his close friends.
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Tupac formally trained at the 127th Street Ensemble and Baltimore School for the Arts. At the age of twelve,Tupac experiencedhis first formal stage role as the character "Travis" in the stage play 'Raisin In the Sun.' The play was performed at the prestigious Apollo Theatre in Harlem.
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As volatile as Tupac may have been, those who tell (and retell) his story tend to make it unambiguous, whether in hagiographies or in critiques of his outraged lyrics. (This process of "stabilizing" his legend continues with the film's release, as it is accompanied not only by the requisite cd of tracks "inspired" by Tupac, but ... a coffee table-type book, Tupac: Resurrection, featuring photos and quotations from the movie, edited by Jacob Hoye and Karolyn Ali.) While the movie "allows" Tupac to represent himself, the counterpoint is unavoidable: the film by definition seeks to organize and make sense of chaos. On the surface, this is a matter of correspondence: when he speaks of his friend Jada Pinkett, and you see images of them together; he describes his experiences on a particular movie set or at high school in Baltimore, and you see matching photos and footage.
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