Skip to main content

2Pac 4Ever

2Pac 4 Ever poster 2Pac became the unlikely martyr of gangsta rap, and a tragic symbol of the toll its lifestyle exacted on urban black America. At the outset of his career, it didn't appear that he would emerge as one of the definitive rappers of the '90s -- he started out as a second-string rapper and dancer for Digital Underground, joining only after they had already landed their biggest hit. But in 1991, he delivered an acclaimed debut album, 2Pacalypse Now, and quickly followed with a star-making performance in the urban drama Juice. Over the course of one year, his profile rose substantially, based as much on his run-ins with the law as his music. By 1994, 2Pac rivaled Snoop Dogg as the most controversial figure in rap, spending as much time in prison as he did in the recording studio. His burgeoning outlaw mythology helped his 1995 album Me Against the World enter the charts at number one, and it also opened him up to charges of exploitation. Yet, as the single "Dear Mama" illustrated, he was capable of sensitivity as well as violence. Signing with Death Row Records in late 1995, 2Pac released the double-album All Eyez on Me in the spring of 1996, and the record, as well as its hit single "California Love," confirmed his superstar status. Unfortunately, the gangsta lifestyle he captured in his music soon overtook his own life. While his celebrity was at its peak, he publicly fought with his rival, the Notorious B.I.G., and there were tensions brewing at Death Row. Even with such conflicts, however, 2Pac's drive-by shooting in September 1996 came as an unexpected shock. On September 13, six days after the shooting, 2Pac passed away, leaving behind a legacy that was based as much on his lifestyle as it was his music.


Popular posts from this blog

Danny Ray Horning - The Butcher

Danny Ray Horning robs a Winslow, Arizona bank, and is linked to a gruesome murder that took place months before. But the dangerous criminal manages to walk out of a prison in broad daylight, setting off a massive manhunt with the FBI

Positively Naked

This 2005 HBO documentary shows behind the scenes at a Spencer Tunick art installation of 85 HIV-positive people posing naked at Florent Restaurant for the 10th anniversary cover of POZ Magazine. Featuring: Vinny Allegrini, Gwen Barringer, Shawn Decker, Mark de Solla Price, Elizabeth Perez, Barbara Kemper Powell, Ron Singleton, Sean Strub, Spence Sutton, Julia Tripp, and Spencer Tunick (photographer).

Dark Side of Porn - Debbie Does Dallas Uncovered 18+

Also known as The Curse of Debbie Does Dallas, in the vein of Inside Deep Throat, it examines the history of the production and marketing of the 1978 cult hit, Debbie Does Dallas, and is a study of the porn industry in the 1970s. Interviews with former porn stars also try to uncover the mystery of Bambi Woods, the starlet who disappeared from porn soon after Debbie Does Dallas and was rumored to have connections with the mafia and problems with the FBI. Featuring interviews with Robin Byrd, female actress in the movie and Bill Kelly, a former FBI agent once working on an undercover operation to bust porn producers.