Tupac Shakur And Suge Knight example essay topic

Tupac Shakur: Dead or Still Breathing? In the same fashion that Elvis defined Rock 'n' Roll; Tupac Shakur defined the hip-hop music scene, as we know it today. What made Tupac (also known as 2 Pac, or Makaveli) so special were his enormous talent, his on screen friendly looks, and the sense that he was "real" and talked the talk, while walking the walk. Tupac was born on June 16, 1971, Tupac Amaru Shakur. He was named after Tupac Amaru, the Inca Indian that was sentenced to death by the Spaniards. He was originally from Brooklyn, New York.

Tupac spent a lot of time moving around as he was growing up. He was the son of a Black Panther activist Afe ni Shakur and Billy Garland. Tupac moved from Harlem, to Baltimore, to Oakland. The constant moving caused Tupac to fit into his new communities by joining gangs, and his lengthy rap sheet was created even before his entry into music and film.

He was arrested eight times before even turning twenty (MTV. com). Tupac's first big break came when he joined the group Digital Underground as a dancer and roadie. During that time, Tupac spent a lot of the time composing his own poetry and lyrics to launch his own career. In 1991 he signed with Interscope records and a year later he released his first album 2 Pacalypse Now, which immediately landed him into "gangster" rap stardom.

That year he also starred in Juice with Omar Epps and Samuel L. Jackson. It was the beginning to a bright acting career, which also landed him parts in other urban and African American oriented films such as Poetic Justice (1993), Above the Rim (1994), Bullet (1996), and Gridlock'd (1996). His main notoriety was through music, and he followed up his successful debut with Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. (1993), which also was a success. In 1995 he released Me Against the World, and in 1996 came All Eyez On Me (Smith 15-18). Shakur's post celebrity run-ins with the law were almost as frequents as when he was growing up. In 1992 he was arrested when a stray bullet killed a six-year old child during a scuffle between Shakur and two others.

The charges were later dropped. In 1993 Tupac was arrested for allegedly shooting two off duty Butts County Atlanta police officers who were harassing a black motorist, but the charges were again dropped. Ironically one of the officers was shot in the butt. That same year Tupac was accused of sexual abuse against a nineteen-year-old woman in a New York City luxury hotel. Shakur's legal troubles continued in 1994 when he punched out Menace II Society co director Allen Hughes and served a fifteen-day sentence for his actions. The sexual charge came back to haunt Shakur in 1994 and he was convicted and sentenced to four and a half years in prison.

The same day that Tupac was convicted, he was shot five times and robbed of his jewelry in a mugging Tupac claimed that the Notorious B.I.G., rapper that Tupac argued with over the past couple of years was responsible for hiring those who shot him. This intensified the East Coast - West Coast feud (Venable 98-99). After going to serve his sentence, Tupac's Me Against the World came out and the song Dear Mama became a hit. Later on, Marion "Suge" Knight the CEO of Death Row Records- record label that Tupac would sign to later on, posted $1.4 million dollars in bail to get Tupac out of prison. He immediately flew off to Los Angeles to record his fourth album.

In an apparent attempt to further enrage the Notorious B.I.G., Tupac said that he had slept with the rapper's wife, Faith Evans. She denied this allegation. Tupac added more fuel to the Bad Boy (B.I.G.'s record label) vs. Death Row feud when he released the music videos 2 of Americas Most Wanted and later Hit 'Em Up, which both assassinated the character of Bad Boy Records, B.I.G., Sean "Puffy" Combs (B.I.G.'s best friend), and others on the Bad Boy label. He returned to New York in 1996 for the MTV Video awards where he got into another fight. This was three days before he was gunned down in Las Vegas (Coker 39). His troubles in Las Vegas occurred after attending a heavyweight-boxing match between Mike Tyson and Bruce S eldon.

Tupac and Suge Knight got into an argument outside of the MGM Grand Hotel with a man named Orlando Anderson. Anderson was associated with Bad Boy Records. Tupac and his entourage started to beat up Anderson in the lobby of the hotel. Security cameras caught the fight, and Anderson was held to see if he wanted to press charges. When he declined to press charges, he was released (Marriot 116-119).

There is a lot of speculation about what happened afterwards. At 11: 15 p. m., Tupac Shakur and Suge Knight were driving in Suge's black BMW, followed by an entourage of about five cars. These five cars were full of bodyguards and friends of Tupac and Suge. The cars were stopped at a red light, when a white late model Cadillac with California license plates pulled up next to them. Two of the four men in the car got out and continued to let off thirteen rounds from a forty-caliber handgun into Suge's car. The car was shot at right on the Las Vegas Strip.

The Cadillac headed south, Suge made a u-turn and headed for the hospital. According to police reports Tupac was shot five times, including shots to his right lung, and abdomen. He was then ambulance d to the University of Nevada Medical Center, after police and ambulances chased down Suge's car (Tire lla 94-96). And this is where the speculation really begins. There is much controversy on whether Tupac Shakur is dead or still breathing. Most of the controversy may come from fans not willing to let go.

But are people just trying to hold on to the past? As for the theories on Tupac still being alive and well, there are many. And I will explain them all to you. But as for Tupac being dead, the only evidence is what the news reports broadcast ed, and what we read in the papers. But I don't believe that in this day and age, we are at a guaranteed trust level with the government, or the newspapers, or even the news shows. They say things, and we believe them, why- because that seems to be how the world works.

But should we really believe what they tell us. I will lay out all of the facts for you and you can decide for yourself what you believe. Tupac Shakur is alive and well according to the government. While looking through the internet I came upon a website which lets you search for the deceased.

It will give you the dates they were born and the dates they died. This is a government website, which you could use to trace your genealogy. To test it out I put in Elvis's name, and his record came up with a death date. However, when putting in Tupac's name, including all aliases they only give a date of birth (Genealogy. roots web). Which brings us into the other theories of the alleged faking of Tupac Shakur's death.

Tupac Shakur's body was supposedly cremated the day after he "died". There was no autopsy done on his body. Since when does a body not have an autopsy done in a murder case? Tupac was also a Muslim. The Muslim do not believe in cremation as a form of burial.

Also why would his mother cremate him to begin with? In a lot of his songs he always talks about how he wants his funeral to be. He describes it as if he was going to be watching it. For example in a song called Life Goes On, Tupac said that when he dies he wanted "every rapper" to rap at his funeral. Why didn't Death Row, his record company that he was making millions of dollars for, fulfill his death wish? But there was no funeral ("Unofficial Tupac").

Another strong argument is the Makaveli theory. Machiavelli was a sixteenth century philosopher and Italian war strategist who advocated faking one's death to fool one's enemies. In 1996 Tupac Shakur changed his name to Makaveli, before releasing his album entitled Makaveli: The Don Kiluminati 7 Day Theory. Although the spelling is different, there are suggestions that Tupac spelled it differently for a reason. The reason being that if you take the letters and rearrange them you are able to spell Mak Alive or make alive.

Tupac studied Machaivelli in depth while in prison and read his books several times. Machaivelli wrote two books before his death. The main idea in these two books was that "a prince who wishes to achieve great things must learn to deceive". The names of these two books were Book 1 and Book 2. The names of the two discs in the album All Eyez On Me were Book 1 and Book 2. All Eyez On Me was the last album released before the Las Vegas incident.

Tupac had many enemies, so why wouldn't he fake his death to fool them after reading Machaivelli's books and admiring his work (Shakur 141). Another possible clue to the Makaveli theory is in his album Makaveli: The Don Kilumunati: The 7 Day Theory. The inside cover reads "Exit: 2 Pac, Enter Makaveli" which could mean that Tupac has died, but he is here as Makaveli. There is also the mysterious 'Simon. ' Simon is listed as the executive producer of the album.

In the recording industry Simon was an unknown producer, until the Outlaw (Tupac's group) came out to say that Suge Knight is Simon (Anson 153-155). Simon is the first witness in the resurrection of Saint Paul. Which would mean that Suge Knight would be the first witness in the resurrection of Tupac into Makaveli because Suge was the one in the car with Tupac that night. Another theory that Tupac is alive is the "theory of seven". Throughout Tupac's musical and movie career there have been many symbols in his works.

One of the symbols is the number seven. Tupac Shakur was shot on September seventh and survived seven days, "dying" on September thirteenth. September 13 was exactly seven months to the day of the release of his album All Eyez On Me. In the movie Gridlock'd, Tupac and Tim Roth are eating at a diner. When they look up at the menu, all of the L's are upside down making them look like sevens. Later on when they go to the clinic, Tupac is put into room number seven.

In the movie Gang Related, Tupac plays a cop and his badge number is 115, which add up to seven. The slogan of the movie also being "the best place to hide is behind the badge". The man in the movie goes missing for seven years. If you add up the numerals in the age that Tupac was when he "died" (25) it will equal seven. His time of "death" was 4: 03, also adding up to seven.

In one of his songs on the Makaveli album, there is a voice whispering in the background that says, I'm Alive; I'm Alive, 7 years, 7 years, 7 years (Anson 150-156). In the music video for I Wonder if Heaven's Got a Ghetto, Tupac looks at a clock in the waiting room, and the time was also 4: 03. The next theory has to do with his music videos. The video I Ain't Mad at Cha, was released a few days after Tupac's "death". In the video Tupac is an angel from heaven.

Then in the video it shows Tupac being shot after leaving a theatre with Suge Knight. The video is so close to what happened in Las Vegas. It's almost as if Tupac knew he was going to be shot. In the video for the song Hail Mary, there is a gravestone that reads Makaveli. But the gravestone is cracked, and there is a hole right in front of it, implying that Makaveli rose from the dead. In the video for I Wonder If Heaven Got a Ghetto, Tupac is shown in a town called Rukahs, which spells Shakur backwards ("Unofficial Tupac").

Tupac goes into a room with a girl, the room number is seven. Tupac then looks at a clock in the background; the clock reads 4: 03, the exact time that Tupac "died". Another video is also controversial. It is by another rapper by the name of Scarface. Tupac and Scarface recorded a duet called Smile.

It was recorded in September before Tupac got shot. The video was not released until May of 1997. The video depicts Tupac rapping while he appears to be crucified. At the end of the video, Tupac falls off the cross and stands up, which is another image of resurrection (Powell 79-85). Now I have explained to you many of the theories on why I believe Tupac is alive. Now for the evidence that explains his death.

The only reason anyone really believes Tupac is dead is because that is what the media told us. But why do we believe them? Of course the news reports say he got shot five times, including shots to his lung and abdomen. And they tell us that after many extensive surgeries, he died on Friday the thirteenth at 4: 03 p.m. at the University Medical Center Intensive Care Unit in Las Vegas (Scott 1-2). But how does a dead man not have a death certificate, or an autopsy, especially in a murder case.

I cannot argue that he is dead because I have found no evidence to support this idea. Only the evidence the media offers. And even though it includes photographs of the car after the shooting, I do not believe that that man died that day. Therefore I cannot argue that he did. But despite the evidence we must think about the logics.

How could a man fake his own death so precisely the way that he did? How could a secret that big be kept that long, from so many people? And with all of that, where is he hiding? How is he hiding? But I can answer those questions very easily. The answer is money.

It is what makes the world go round. And if you have enough of it, you can make anyone believe anything or even do anything. Such as convince the world that you are dead. Now if we were to believe everything we heard in the media, we may never hear the truth. What gives them the power to explain things?

Or even take the government. I don't think that there are many people that believe everything they have to say. For example take Bill Clinton, our own President; he stood up and lied straight to all of us saying he never committed adultery. And then what about Watergate?

And we elect these people into office to govern us. I cannot believe the media, they only tell what they get from the government, a system that lies and cheats its way through. I still believe that he is alive. I believe in all of the evidence that I have suggested that he some how in some way faked his own death. I believe that Tupac, his family and some presumably well-paid, official looking stand- ins have conspired to pull of the ultimate scam. But is it really a scam?

A scam to gain what? There is still a multi- million-dollar life insurance policy out there with Tupac's name on it. It's been six years and no one has bothered to cash it. I will tell you why. He had a reason to believe that his life was in danger, and he had to do something to take care of it.

Besides haven't you ever been curious about who would show up at your funeral, and who would really be crying? Tupac was curious, but he never had a funeral, so his questions may never be answered.