Chase Joyal
April 2nd,
2021
ENG-200
Professor Molony
The
Death of Tupac Shakur
Conspiracy
theories drive lots of research in the world today and there are theories for
almost everything. A conspiracy theory is a belief that something is influenced
or happens because of some sort of organization or greater power. There are people
called conspiracy theorists that constantly study and spend most of their time researching
conspiracy theories and coming up with possible outcomes how things happen
apart from what most people believe. A conspiracy theory that is controversial and
still talked about to date is the death of famous rapper and actor Tupac Shakur.
Nearly
25 years ago, a young, successful, and famous rap artist well known as Tupac
was supposedly killed in a drive by shooting on September 13th,
1996. He was only 25 years old when he died. The shooting happened shortly
after a mike Tyson fight in Las Vegas, Nevada. Shakur was with his producer and
owner of Death Row Records, Suge Knight. The shooter that ended the life of
Tupac is still unknown to this day and it is also unknown if Tupac was shot and
killed. He is known to be dead, but many believe in the conspiracy that he
faked his own death. There is lots of evidence leading toward this conspiracy
also making it very interesting. There are lots of possibilities when it comes
to the death of Tupac Shakir. It is popular for people to believe that rappers
or other famous people will get sick of the attention and fame, and they will
fake their death to leave it all behind. With lots of evidence to prove it,
Tupac did not die from the drive by shooting in Las Vegas, he used it as a
great time to fake his own death.
Tupac Shakur and Suge knight were attending a mike Tyson
fight in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 7th, 1996. As they were
leaving the fight and walking through the lobby, where Tupac got in a fight
with a member of the Crips gang by the name of Orlando Anderson. After the
fight was split up, Tupac and Suge got in their car and left. They pulled up to
a red light at East Flamingo Road and Koval Lane where a car pulled up beside
them and shot Tupac four times. He was shot 2 times in the chest, once in the
arm, and once in the leg. The unidentified shooter fled the scene after firing
14 rounds from a .40 caliber handgun into their vehicle. Tupac was rushed to the
hospital where he would supposedly be kept alive for 6 days and eventually die
from cardiac arrest.
Many people including law enforcement believe that Orlando
Anderson was the one that should have been responsible for the murder of Tupac.
There was a ten car entourage following Tupac and Suge knight the night of the
shooting and they said that it was without a doubt, Orlando that committed the
murder. Especially after knowing about the confrontation in the lobby after the
boxing match. The police were in the middle of their case when Orlando was shot
and killed by someone. This left the police with no leads at all, and they were
left empty handed. Rolling Stones Magazine published how once Anderson died,
the blame started to shift more toward famous rapper Biggie, also known as The
Notorious B.I.G.
This
came as a surprise considering that the two rappers were increasing fame
together also mentoring each other through the beginning of their careers. They
were very close until the rivalry of west coast and east coast rappers started
and become enemies. Biggie wrote a song basically calling out Shakur, saying he
was going to shoot him. The songs name was “Who Shot Ya?”. They believed that
he was the one who shot Tupac after lots of feud between biggie and Tupac. Tupac’s
“Hit ‘Em Up” anthem suggested that he had sex with Biggie’s wife, R&B
artist Faith Evans. There had been rumors of him sleeping with Biggie’s wife which
was R&B artist Faith Evans. They believe that Biggie had heard about this
and decided to retaliate against Tupac by attempting to kill him.
Many people and conspiracy theorists do not believe that
Tupac ever actually died after those 6 days in the hospital. Suge knight
reported that Tupac was doing much better right before his death. Suge says
that he is not convinced at all that Tupac is dead and says it is hard to
believe especially after seeing him get better. Knight spoke to the media
saying “I mean when I left that hospital, me and Pac was laughing and joking.
So, I don’t see how someone can turn from doing well to doing bad.”. Suge was
also known for saying lots of different outcomes for Tupac. He reports that he
mourns the loss of Tupac but also thinks he is not dead. Right now, Suge knight
is serving 28 years in prison for running over 2 men in a parking lot in
Compton, California.
There are several different conspiracies that are
associated with Tupac’s death. One of these conspiracies is considered because of
the 6 days tat he spent in the hospital. Only a select few nurses and doctors
were able to see Tupac and check up on him along with his mother and close
family and friends. The 6-day lockdown while he was in the hospital was a driving
reason for many to believe that something was going on. This gave Tupac plenty
of time to be moved and recovered without anyone noticing. Another concerning
part of Tupac’s murder was that the person who performed his cremation has not
been seen since it happened. This is by far one of the most mysterious things
that had happened in the whole case. Suge Knight reported that he had paid for
the rapper to have a private cremation. It became suspicious when he said he
paid 3 million dollars for the private cremation. When Tupac died, he was only
worth around $100,000 which was shocking to many considering how popular his
music was and the acting that he did. The 3 million dollars that Suge allegedly
used for the private cremation is believed to actually have been for Tupac to
start a secret life.
Another popular conspiracy is that Tupac faked his death
and fled to Cuba. Alex young at Consequence News says that he was trying to
escape his “immense fame” so he fled to cuba after his fake death to where his
aunt lives. Suge knight is quoted saying “Why you think nobody been arrested if they said they the one that killed
Tupac? Because Tupac not dead.” He continues by saying “If he was dead,
they’d be arresting those dudes for murder. You know he’s somewhere smoking a
Cuban cigar on an island.” Suge Knight makes a great point when he
mentions that this is the reason that no one has been convicted of the murder. If
Tupac was really dead, there would been at least someone questioned and
convicted of this. It also seems like Suge knows a lot more about Tupac’s death
then he claims.
There is lots of evidence supporting that Tupac is still
alive and there has many sightings of him since his so called “murder”. He was
thought to have been noticed in famous rapper, Chillo’s “Amsterdam to L.A.”
music video where he was smoking a cigarette in the back seat of a car. He has been spotted at multiple music award
shows and tours. One of which was at the BET awards where he was up close with
a camera and got a perfect picture taken. He was also spotted in 2014 at a
Boston Celtics game against the golden state warriors. Tupac has also been
spotted at bars in New Orleans and hanging out with his friends.
In 2012, there was a holographic performance of Tupac
with Snoop Dogg at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Tupac performed
two of his hit songs and one happened to be a post death single called “Hail
Mary”. Tupac and Snoop collaborated to perform the second song which was a 1996
hit called “2 Of Americaz Most Wanted”. Many people believe that this was not
just a hologram and that it was Tupac performing on the stage or the hologram
was a recent performance that Tupac had done. Many of the attendees at
Coachella explained that it was almost too good to be true. After the creators
of the hologram heard everyone saying it was proving that he was still alive,
they quickly explained to everyone that the hologram took months to prepare and
produce.
Although there is lots of evidence that proves he may
still be alive, it is very hard to believe that he has not been found and
exposed completely to the public. It seems weird that he would not go about
showing himself in a careful manner rather than being out in public at an NBA
basketball game where everyone could see him. It also seems like he would not
want to photobomb people at music awards or that he would even want to go to
music awards where everyone more than likely knows him. If all these sightings
are true, then it does not make sense why no one has tried to confront Tupac
when they saw him. It is almost as if people are making these videos and
pictures seem real or they are videos and pictures from the past.
Many say that the conspiracy of Tupac Shakur still being alive
is true, but many people believe that it is still very possible that he died,
and that the shooter was never found or died. Conspiracy theorists may be the
most convincing and mind changing people when it comes to this and they could
be leaning completely away from the truth. Even if Tupac did die that day, it is
still very convincing that he faked his death considering all the evidence that
is given. It would be interesting to know if anyone would or will come clean
about his death and if it happened the way sources are saying it did.
Some may say that it is impossible for Tupac to have
faked his own death and got away with it without being exposed or seen at some
point. Which it is very hard to believe that anyone would ever want to fake
their death, but it is very believable in some cases. There lots of conspiracy
theories that have to do with famous people faking their own deaths and they
make it seem like it is what happened. From album names to the way their songs
are listed in the album, there is usually something that hints they will fake
their death or die soon. Taking famous rap artist Juice World for instance, before
he died, he mentioned in one of songs that he would die at 21 and he ended up
overdosing at that age. He also had the song names listed in his latest album where
the first letter in each of them lined up to spell he was going to die. As it
is hard to believe how someone could fake their own death, Tupac and juice
world have much in common where it is hard to believe they did not do it.
To conclude, with lots of evidence to prove it, Tupac did
not die from the drive by shooting in Las Vegas, he used it as a great time to
fake his own death. After the shooting on September 7th, 1996, where
Tupac’s life be supposedly taken next to his producer and close friend Suge
knight, there was a flood of conspiracies related to the case. These conspiracies
were mainly focused on Tupac leaving his fame behind because he could not handle
it. These conspiracies consist of him fleeing to Cuba to live with his aunt where
he could hide and be forgotten. There were even conspiracies about who committed
the murder on that night and if he was even shot. Conspiracies about fake
autopsy photos and a fake cremation were also included. There was lots of
driving evidence in this case which made it easy to see that Tupac did not die
that night after the mike Tyson fight.
If Tupac did fake his death, he is doing a very
impressive job of keeping it under the radar and it is only a matter of time before
he is found. It may not be anytime soon, but it will happen as some point. There
is too much evidence of him alive to conclude that he died in the shooting. The
conspiracy of Tupac Shakur’s death will forever shock fans and motivate
conspiracy theorists until there is an answer.
Citations
“2Pac Alive? 10 Times 2Pac
Was (Supposedly) Spotted Since His Death | Complex.” YouTube, YouTube,
19 Mar. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XODiskRW1o.
Dodson, Aaron, and Michael
Jordan’s. “The Strange Legacy of Tupac's 'Hologram' Lives on Five Years after
Its Historic Coachella Debut.” The Undefeated, The Undefeated, 14 Apr.
2017, theundefeated.com/features/the-strange-legacy-of-tupacs-hologram-after-coachella/.
France, Lisa Respers, and
Stella Chan. “Suge Knight Sentenced to 28 Years in Prison.” CNN, Cable
News Network, 8 Oct. 2018,
www.cnn.com/2018/10/04/entertainment/suge-knight-sentencing/index.html.
“From the Archives: Rapper
Tupac Shakur, 25, Dies 6 Days after Las Vegas Shooting.” Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times, 14 Sept. 1996,
www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-tupac-shakur-obit-20160913-snap-story.html.
Hess, Mickey. “ICONS OF HIP
HOP An Encyclopedia of the Movement, Music, and Culture.” Https://Books.google.com/Books?Hl=En&Lr=&Id=LldOLnIQ66cC&Oi=Fnd&Pg=PA391&Dq=Tupac+Shakur+Conspiracy+Theories&Ots=MM6zAYiIYr&Sig=yTFyGSqTOewCd0eM4ZZ3LawpELA#v=Onepage&q&f=False,
2007.
Lowth, Marcus. “10
Conspiracy Theories That Tupac Faked His Own Death.” Listverse, 9 Dec.
2019,
listverse.com/2019/12/09/10-conspiracy-theories-that-tupac-faked-his-own-death/.
RollingStone. “Tupac
Shakur's Unsolved Murder Conspiracy Theory, Explained.” YouTube,
YouTube, 13 Nov. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIYGfGQtq6I.
“Tupac Hologram, Truth
Behind The Coachella Performance.” O4L Online Network, O4L Online
Network, 12 Nov. 2020,
www.o4lonlinenetwork.com/tupac-hologram-truth-behind-the-coachella-performance/.
Comments
Post a Comment