Many rappers and actors have come and gone throughout the years who have made significant contributions to the industry. However, none have even come close to what Tupac Amaru Shakur has done to revolutionize this controversial business. His love for rap music and his brilliant talent brought him fame and fortune through songs, poetry, and movies. Shakur changed what the public thought of rap and himself through his life and death and his work. This is why he is considered a hero.
             Born on June 16, 1971, to Alice Faye Williams, better known as Afeni Shakur, Tupac grew up in the slums of the Bronx. No matter where his family went, Tupac was seriously distressed.
             "I remember crying all the time. My major thing growing up was I couldn't fit in because I was from everywhere. I didn't have any buddies that I grew up with." says Shakur. The solitude began to wear on him. He withdrew into writing love songs and poetry. He was quoted saying, "I remember I had a book like a diary. And in that book, I said I was going to be famous." His mother enrolled him in the 127th Street Ensemble, a theatre group in the impoverished Harlem section of Manhattan, where he landed his first role at age twelve, that of Travis in A Raisin in the Sun. (Ro, 1) In the city of Baltimore, at the age of fifteen, Tupac took interest in rap. He began writing lyrics, walking with a swagger, and taking advantage of his background in New York for all it was worth. People in small towns were intimidated by Big Apple's reputation, he was known MC New York, and automatically people assumed that he was a thug. By the age of twenty, Tupac had been arrested eight times and had served eight months in prison after being convicted of sexual abuse. After serving his time, Shakur decided to team up with Eddie Humphrey and other rappers from Oakland to create a band intent on immense bass beats and chaotic rhythms called Digital Underground. (Ro, 1)
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