Tupac at the Crossroads

Today marks the 15th anniversary of the death of Tupac Amaru Shakur, perhaps the most enduring hip-hop icon of all time, and surely the most tragic and tortured artist of them all. His murder was a loss for his family, friends, fans, and for the world. So it’s only natural to wonder whether he could have lived, and what it would have taken to make that so.

What is a man, in the end, but the sum of his circumstances and choices? Tupac could never have controlled the abject environment into which he was born — his loose-knit family of Black political activists persecuted by the police and the government, his mother’s poverty and addiction. But he did indeed have choices.

In Tupac At The Crossroads, we take a look at some of the key turning points in Tupac’s journey, the moments that determined the course of this legendary artist’s life, and in some ways, our own.

Written by Dan Charnas (@DanCharnas).