Tupac Amaru Shakur: 1971-1996

Tupac Shakur, one of music's most successful, controversial, and enigmatic artists, left a lasting impact on the hip-hop culture despite his untimely passing. The line between the image and the reality of his "thug" lifestyle remains blurred, but his popularity among his fans is undeniable. From the editors of VIBE magazine comes a compelling tribute to this profound talent, published in time to commemorate the anniversary of Shakur's death on September 13, 1996.

Tupac Shakur traces the pivotal moments in the artist's short but brilliant life, from his tough-love upbringing as the son of a former Black Panther to his introduction to rap as a backup dancer and roadie, and his meteoric rise to the top of the rap world and a turbulent movie career. Told through VIBE's most poignant and often prophetic articles and interviews with Tupac, the book offers an insider's perspective on one of music's most mythological talents from many in the entertainment industry who knew him the best.

Readers will find extensive interviews with Tupac following his arrests in New York and Atlanta in 1994, a world-exclusive interview from Rikers Island in April 1995, another after his release from prison and being signed to Death Row Records in February 1996, and a final conversation conducted just two weeks before his death in September 1996. Additionally, an extremely candid interview VIBEonline conducted with Shakur in June 1996 is published for the first time.

With an introduction by Editor-in-Chief Danyel Smith, memorial tributes from directors John Singleton and Ernest Dickerson, and rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy, and a foreword by Quincy Jones, Tupac Shakur offers a telling portrait of Shakur's mercurial life. The book is a lasting testament to the many faces of this young artist, a man who was built, even in death, to last.

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