PAC PORTRAIT BY ME IN PENCIL Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), known by his stage names 2Pac (or simply Pac) and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2007,[2] making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world. Rolling Stone Magazine named him the 86th Greatest Artist of All Time.[3] In addition to his career as a rap artist, he was also an actor.[4] The themes of most of Tupac's songs are the violence and hardship in inner cities, racism, other social problems, and conflicts with other rappers during the East Coast – West Coast hip hop rivalry. Shakur began his career as a roadie, backup dancer, and MC for the alternative hip hop group Digital Underground.[5][6][7] Afeni Shakur and Assata Shakur, his mother and aunt respectively, were involved with the Black Panthers, and 2pac made reference to the organization in the song Changes. 2pac was involved in a West-coast East-coast rivalry after a major feud with East-coast rappers, producers and record-label members of staff.[8] On September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot four times in the Las Vegas metropolitan area of Nevada. He was taken to the University Medical Center, where he died six days later of respiratory failure and cardiac arrest.[9]