'''Tupac Amaru Shakur''' (June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names '''2Pac''' and '''Makaveli''', was an American rap artist, actor, and poet. He was listed in the ''Guinness Book of World Records'' as the best-selling rap/hip-hop artist ever, having sold over 73 million albums worldwide
[XXL Magazine October 2006], including over 44.5 million sales in the United States alone
[http://top40-charts.com/news.php?nid=17242&string=2Pac One of many articles naming Tupac as the greatest selling rap artist]. Most of Shakur's songs are about growing up around violence and hardship in ghettos, racism, and sometimes his feuds with fellow rappers. Tupac is known for the political, economic, and racial equality messages in a lot of his work. He has been ranked by many fans, critics, and industry insiders as the greatest rapper ever.
[http://www.vibe.com/news/news_headlines/2006/06/tupac_shakur_legacy_continues/ ''Vibe.com'', Tupac Shakur's Legacy Continues][MTV2 Presents: 22 Greatest MC's broadcast July 2003] Born in New York City, Tupac frequently found his family changing place of residence. In 1988, his family moved to California, where he would reside for the rest of his life. In 1990 he was hired as a backup dancer for the alternative rap group Digital Underground. Tupac's debut album, ''2Pacalypse Now'', gained critical recognition and backlash for its controversial lyrics. Shakur became the target of various lawsuits and experienced legal troubles—most notably, he was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman in 1993 (although he vigorously denied the claims). The day before the guilty verdict was issued, Shakur was shot five times in a recording studio lobby in Manhattan. Following the incident, Shakur grew suspicious that other rappers were involved in his shooting; the controversy would help spark the later East Coast-West Coast feud. After serving eleven months of his sentence, Shakur was bailed from prison by Marion "Suge" Knight, the CEO of Death Row Records. In exchange, Shakur would release three records under the label, his fifth, double disc album ''All Eyez on Me'' counting as two. On September 7, 1996, Tupac was shot four times in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. On September 13, 1996, six days after the shooting, Tupac died of respiratory failure and cardiac arrest at the University Medical Center in Las
