On this date in 1996, Tupac Amaru Shakur was gunned down on the Las Vegas strip while riding in the passenger seat of Suge Knight’s BMW, which was the lead car in a ten car entourage. Knight also suffered a bullet wound to the head in the shooting, but Shakur passed away less than a week later from the injuries sustained from the shooting. He was only 25 years old.
There are several theories as to who killed’Pac, why he was killed and who would profit from Shakur’s death, but no one can deny his unprecedented contribution to Hip Hop culture, regardless of how much controversy came along with it. His death, along with the death of Pac’s friend turned rival Biggie Smalls, sent shockwaves through the Hip Hop community that’s still healing from their losses.
In the past two decades, several rappers and Hip Hop notables lost their lives in the streets due to gun violence, sadly more than any other genre of music in existence. As it was foretold about three decades ago, the Hip Hop community is “headed for self destruction.”
