On September 7 in 1996, at 11:15 p.m., 14 bullets left a white Cadillac and entered the black BMW Suge Knight and Tupac Shakur rode in.
Shakur and Knight sat stopped at a red light as they drove east on Flamingo Road in Las Vegas. At the intersection of Flamingo and Koval Lane, the Cadillac pulled alongside their vehicle and opened fire, hitting Shakur four times and grazing Knight. Looking at the picture above, the two vehicles would be facing the camera, motionless.
Shakur succumbed to his injuries on this day 15 years ago at University Medical Center.
It is absolutely unnecessary to mention the hole ripped in hip-hop and American culture that day. There is very little to add to this story; we know little more now than we did then. In the face of this lack, we can only remember and embrace his music as completely as we did in those trying moments after his death.
(For more on the history of West Coast hip-hop, check out our Oakland Rap Atlas, a first-person walk through the Bay's most significant locations.)
DREGstudios September 13th, 2011 at 02:56 PM
It’s tragic to lose a voice so young, whose violent passing mirrored the culture he was so influenced by. I honored the memory of the poet and artist on my artist’s blog today on the anniversary of his passing with a new portrait inspired by his poem, “The Rose that Grew from Concrete.” You can see it and tell me how his music affected you at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2011/09/in-memoriam-tupac-shakur.html