Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac (or simply Pac) and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He has sold 75 million albums to date and is one of the best-selling music artists in the world. In addition to his status as a top-selling recording artist, Shakur was a promising actor and a social activist. Most of Shakur's songs are about growing up amid violence and hardship in ghettos, racism, problems in society and conflicts with other rappers. Shakur's work is known for advocating egalitarianism. Shakur was initially a roadie and backup dancer for the alternative hip hop group Digital Underground.
Shakur became the target of lawsuits and experienced other legal problems. He was later shot five times and robbed in the lobby of a recording studio in New York City. Following the event, Shakur grew suspicious that other figures in the rap industry had prior knowledge of the incident and did not warn him; the controversy helped spark the East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry. Shakur was later convicted of sexual assault and sentenced to one and half to four and a half years in prison. After serving eleven months of his sentence he was released from prison on an appeal financed by Marion "Suge" Knight, the CEO of Death Row Records. In exchange for Suge's assistance, Shakur agreed to release three albums under the Death Row label.
On the night of September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot four times in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. He died six days later of respiratory failure and cardiac arrest at the University Medical Center.

Studio albums
Year Album Peak chart positions
1991 2Pacalypse Now 64 13 Gold
1993 Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. 24 4 Platinum
1995 Me Against the World 1 1 2× Platinum
1996 All Eyez on Me 1 1 9× Platinum Platinum
1996 The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory 1 1 4× Platinum Gold

Posthumous albums
Year Album Peak chart positions
1997 R U Still Down? (Remember Me) 2 1 4× Platinum
2001 Until the End of Time 1 1 3× Platinum 2× Platinum
2002 Better Dayz 5 1 2× Platinum 3× Platinum
2004 Loyal to the Game 1 1 Platinum
2006 Pac's Life 9 3
2010 Shakurspeare[94]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1991 Nothing But Trouble Himself (Brief appearance)
1992 Juice Bishop First starring role
1992 Drexell's Class Himself Season 1: "Cruisin'"
1993 A Different World Piccolo Season 6: "Homie, Don't You Know Me?"
1993 Poetic Justice Lucky Co-starred with Janet Jackson
1993 In Living Color Himself Season 5: "Ike Turner and Hooch"
1994 Above the Rim Birdie Co-starred with Duane Martin
1995 Murder Was the Case: The Movie Himself (Uncredited)
1996 Bullet Tank Released one month after Shakur's death
1997 Gridlock'd Ezekiel 'Spoon' Whitmore Released several months after Shakur's death
1997 Gang Related Detective Rodríguez Shakur's last performance