Tupac Selected Bibliography

Tupac Shakur was one of music's most successful, controversial, and enigmatic artists. His untimely passing, however, left many questions unanswered about his life; the line between the image and the reality of his "thug" lifestyle remains blurred at best to this day. Yet, the mark that Shakur left on hip-hop culture is indelible, and the popularity among his fans is unquestionable.

From the editors of VIBE magazine comes Tupac Shakura compelling tribute to one of music's most profound talents. Published in time to commemorate the anniversary of Shakur's death (September 13, 1996), Tupac Shakurtraces the pivotal moments in the artist's short but brilliant life from his tough-love upbringing as the son of a former Black Panther and introduction to rap as a backup dancer and roadie, to 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 on and interviews with Tupac along with more than 100 full-color photographs, Tupac Shakur is a telling portrait of Shakur's mercurial life. In the book, 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. Also published for the first time, is an extremely candid interview VIBEonlineconducted with Shakur in June 1996. 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 an insider's perspective on one of music's most mythological talents from many in the entertainment industry who knew him the best. Tupac Shakur is a lasting testament to the many faces of this young artist a man who was built, even in death, to last.

On September 13, 1996 Tupac Shakur was shot and killed in Las Vegas. Millions of fans wept, while many critics claimed it was the inevitable result of a thugged-out lifestyle. The mystery surrounding the shotting -- a suspect has yet to be named-- has increased, and rumors of gang wars, disloyalty, and government conspiracies continue to linger. Only Frank Alexander, Tupac's bodguard during the last year of his life, knows the real story. Got Your Back details the exploits of one of the most famous rappers of all time. The drugs, the women, the violence, the money-- al provided fuel to the fire that was Tupac's life. As his platinum-selling, posthumously released albums prove, Tupac lives on through his music. Complete with exclusive new interview material with Tupac's mother, Afeni, Got Your Back provides an insider's view of a life gone awry.

BACK COVER: A legend after a bullet killed him at the age of twenty-five. Tupac Shakur was the most compelling-- and controversial-- rap musician of his day. Far from being the insolent "gangsta" the press put forth, Shakur was fiercely intelligent, fearless, polarizing, and determined to make his mark. Darrin Bastfield grew up with him in a rough Baltimore neighborhood. In this vivid memoir, Bastfield reveals Tupac Shakur as the teenager he really was: mysterious and enigmatic; passionate and hungry for knowledge; as enamored with Shakespeare as he was with Salt 'N Pepa; destined for greatness. In tight, edgy prose, Bastfield recalls seven years of friendship. Shakur, new in town, a skinny thirteen-year-old in shabby clothes may have looked uncool, but when he blew the school away at a talent show, it was just the first in a series of increasingly electrifying performances. Later, at the Baltimore School for the Arts, Shakur hit the stride that would carry him to international stardom. Unforgettable shows, a new love for theater, the wild night of the 1988 senior prom-- Shakur and Bastfield lived through it all together, and here it all comes alive again.

Blackman and her cool, musical poetry and prose weave a magical spell around you, daring you to break her hypnotic hold. Toni's themes are: the paradoxes of love; the inspirations and hypocrisies of brothers who rhyme; quiet internal wisdom versus the incessant necessity to have her life saved by a DJ. She explodes on the mic and blooms on the page.

Rap star Tupac Shakur had a glittering four-year music and movie career before his untimely death in 1996 after an auto-shoot out. Ironically, Shakur"s death and the circumstances surrounding it only seemed to fuel his mystique with a steady flow of greatest hits and previously unheard material which has kept him in the public eye. Tupac is one of the best selling rap artists of all time. His first two albums 2Pacalypse Now and Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. both went platinum spawning a string of Top 10 hits. His 1995 follow-up, Me Against the World went straight in at No. 1 as did 1996's All Eyez On Me, which went on to sell more than six millions copies. Tupac also made acting appearances in the movies Juice, Poetic Justice, Bullet and Gridlock"d and there is a high profile biographical Hollywood film about his life currently in development. The latest 2Pac best-of compilation Until The End Of Time has seen enormous sales. A single from this album Letter 2 My Unborn has just been released. Maximum 2Pac now gives the complete account of his troubled childhood, early musical leanings and subsequent rise to fame. With the full story behind the mysterious circumstances surrounding his tragic death, it provides an ideal compliment to the 2Pac re-issue CD's that are keeping the man and his music alive in the twenty-first century.

Since the sixties, musicians have been outspoken and powerful proponents for social change, making them a threat to those eager to maintain the status quo. Typically fond of drugs, they also make easy targets for investigation and exploitation. In this comprehensive look at more than a dozen suspect rock star deaths, conspiracy researcher Alex Constantine delves into the secrets that the record industry, organized crime, and even the FBI and CIA don't want uncovered. Unearthing recent - and successful - assassination plots against Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. as well as new information on the tragic deaths of Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and John Lennon, this long-overdue report offers disturbing evidence that there may be more behind these deaths than accident, psychosis, and indulgence.

Essays. More than twenty young Black writers are gathered in this collection to offer a compelling blend of insightful and critical observations of the life and death of Tupac Shakur, hip-hop's premier "gangsta" rapper.

Michie's account of learning to teach in a big and often unwieldy public school system deals honestly with the critical moral issues all teachers must face. While not shying away from hard truths, he lends a measure of hope, humor, and practical insight about the difficult work of teaching for social justice.

Describes the life and early death of the rap musician and actor Tupac Shakur.