YEAR
2017
INDUCTED BY
Snoop Dogg
CATEGORY
Performers
Complex. Personal. Fearless. Tupac is authentic and larger than life.
The definitive hip-hop anti-hero, Tupac wrote lyrics that spark conversations about rap, race relations, and young black men in America today.
HALL OF FAME
ESSAY
By Alan Light
Tupac was a lightning rod, a screen onto which millions of people projected their feelings about rap, about race, and about the young black man in America. He may be a legend, but he’s hardly a hero. Many young listeners looked up to him, but he himself often seemed to be searching for a leader.
Though his recording career lasted just five years, Tupac Amaru Shakur (1971-1996) is one of the most popular artists in history, with over seventy-five million records sold worldwide.
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