Rebel for the hell of it : the life of Tupac Shakur ; an interpretation

Tupac Shakur has been deified as a Renaissance man in gansta rap. Paralleling his fame were a series of court and jail appearances and physical attacks which ended when he was gunned down on a Las Vegas street. In this first, full-length biography of the rapper, critic Armond White attempts to make sense of Shakur's life and death, examining the larger issues of rap and ghetto culture, exploitation in the music industry, and the black struggle for self-expression. Movie rights sold to HBO. 16 photos. This first full length biography of Tupac Shakur details each step in Shakur's development, from his early exposure to racism and political activism to his studies of drama to his move from New York to the West Coast and his innovative work with early hip hop culture and music. Armond White's understanding of Tupac's art will uncork the bottled up rage and confusion that attends the way hip hop culture is produced and received. The ever controversial Shakur offers a great occasion for a close, passionate reading of rap and ghetto culture. His art can be helpful in cross-referencing the ideas of self-expression and the efforts toward survival and resistance that seem so haphazard and conflicted in much of hip hop music. Through connections drawn between Shakur and Public Enemy, Notorious B.I.G., Dr. Dre, Ice-T, Ice Cube, and Sister Souljah, White examines Shakur's life as a prism for the hip hop world.