Tupac Shakur to be honoured posthumously on Hollywood Walk of Fame tomorrow

* Under stage name stylised as 2Pac, he released his debut album in 1991

* Went on to enjoy chart success but he died on September 13, 1996

* At the age of 25, after he was shot four times in Las Vegas

BBC Online

Tupac Shakur (2Pac), the hugely influential figure in hip-hop star known for hits including ‘Dear Mama’, ‘California Love’, ‘All Eyez on Me’, ‘Changes’ and ‘I Ain’t Mad at Cha’, is to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, 26 years after the rapper’s death.

He will be honoured with a ceremony on the prestigious Los Angeles walkway on Wednesday, June 7, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce confirmed of the posthumous honour to the LA Times.

Shakur, whose star will be the Walk of Fame’s 2,758th, was a New York-born rapper who heavily influenced hip-hop, particularly the West Coast rap scene.

LA Times reported that Sekyiwa ‘Set’ Shakur, Tupac’s sister, will accept the honour on his behalf at the ceremony to be led by Los Angeles radio presenter, Big Boy — while director Allen Hughes and writer Jamal Joseph will be the guest speakers.

Shakur, whose stage name was stylised as 2Pac, released his debut album in 1991 and went on to enjoy chart success but he died on September 13, 1996 at the age of 25, after he was shot four times in Las Vegas.

In 2004, his posthumous single ‘Ghetto Gospel’, which features a sample from Elton John’s ‘Indian Sunset’, reached number one in the UK singles chart.

Wikipedia records that Tupac was born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 was known by his stage name 2Pac and briefly Makaveli and  is widely considered one of the most influential and successful rappers of all time.

Shakur is among the best-selling music artists, having sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Much of Shakur’s music has been noted for addressing contemporary social issues that plagued inner cities, and he is considered a symbol of activism against inequality.

He was born in New York City to parents who were both political activists Black Panther Party members. Raised by his mother, Afeni Shakur, he relocated to Baltimore in 1984 and to the Francisco Bay Area in 1988 and with the release of his debut ‘2Pacalypse Now’ album in 1991, he became a central figure in Central Coast hip hop for his conscious rap lyrics.

Shakur achieved further critical and commercial success with his follow-up albums ‘Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z’ (1993) and ‘Me Against the World’ (1995).

His Diamond certified album ‘All Eyez on Me’ (1996) — the first double-length album in hip-hop history — abandoned his introspective lyrics for volatile gangsta rap and in addition to his music career, Shakur also found considerable success as an actor, with his starring roles in Juice (1992), Poetic Justice (1993), Above the Rim (1994), Bullet (1996), Gridlock’d (1997) and Gang Related (1997).

During the later part of his career, Shakur was shot five times in the lobby of a New York recording studio and experienced legal troubles, such that he was  incarcerated in 1995, Shakur served eight months in prison on sexual abuse charges, but was released pending an appeal of his conviction.

Following his release, he signed to Marion ‘Suge’ Knight’s label Death Row Records and became heavily involved in the growing East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry that led to his being shot four times on September 7, 1996, by an unidentified assailant in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas and died died six days later.

Following his murder, Shakur’s friend-turned-rival, the Notorious B.I.G was at first considered a suspect due to their public feud and he was also murdered in another drive-by shooting six months later in March 1997 while visiting Los Angeles.

Shakur’s double-length posthumous album ‘Greatest Hits’ (1998) is one of his two releases — and one of only nine hip hop albums — to have been certified Diamond in the United States.

Five more albums have been released since Shakur’s death, including his critically acclaimed posthumous album ‘The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory’ (1996) under his stage name Makaveli, all of which have been certified Platinum in the United States.

In 2002, Shakur was inducted into the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame and in 2017, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. — while Rolling Stone ranked Shakur among the 200 Greatest Artists of All Time.