From Publishers Weekly
Since his untimely death in 1996, rapper Tupac Shakur has been memorialized in a wide range of books and documentary films, but few are as exhaustively researched and contextualized as this latest, unauthorized biography from author McQuillar (When Rap Music Had a Conscience) and history professor Johnson. Seeking to understand the enigmatic performer, McQuillar and Johnson have enlisted a psychologist to profile Shakur, looked into a century of his family history, and paid particular attention to the political background of his mother, Afeni, a former Black Panther. The result is insightful, enjoyable and expansive, even if it doesn't answer the questions that still linger regarding Shakur's celebrity lifestyle and still-unsolved murder. For casual fans with no prior exposure to Shakur's life, this biography will prove thorough and accessible, with lengthy but informative tangents that cover seemingly all of Tupac's collaborators and associates. Readers looking for glitzy speculation will not find it here, and Tupac enthusiasts may not learn much new, but this undeniably solid biography will deepen anyone's appreciation of the hip-hop legend. END
In September 1996, musician and actor Tupac Shakur was gunned down on a Las Vegas street. His murder has never been solved. Although he released his first album only in 1991, by the time of his death Shakur was at the top of his field, a smash-hit recording artist who had also received acclaim for acting in such movies as Juice and Poetic Justice. He had also seen his share of controversy: an armed robbery in which he was shot several times; the murder of a former friend (in which some observers tried to implicate Shakur); a conviction and prison sentence for sexual assault. The authors acknowledge Shakur’s deeply troubled childhood—his mother, a former Black Panther, was tried (and acquitted) for conspiracy to commit murder; his stepfather was on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list—but they also celebrate the rapper’s intelligence and his gifts as an artist who wrote about love and respect, not hate and violence. The Shakur who emerges here is no illiterate gangster-turned-gangsta but, rather, a bright, artistic, driven man whose life and career continue to inspire many people. --David Pitt
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