When Sally and I starting looking for information about Tupac Shakur, we were stunned by the amount we found. There's so much, we couldn't possibly get through it all.
So we decided to compile a list of the best sources -- as a guide for anyone who doesn't know where to begin. We hope it saves you some of the hours we spent as information gatherers.
(By the way, don't forget to listen to my 1991 interview with Tupac -- with insight from hip-hop experts about his impact -- on I Couldn't Throw It Out: 2Pac episode.)
WEBSITES
2Pac.com
Official site: discography, news, videos, and merch store
HitEmUp
The "official unofficial" 2Pac site: A terrific source of news, message boards, interviews, timeline - since 1995
2PacLegacy
A treasure trove for fans: Music, videos, news, photos, and more
The Tupac Shakur Foundation
Supporting mental wellness, creative arts, prison reform, and social justice
PODCASTS
Slow Burn: Season 3 - Biggie and Tupac
Slate examined the unsolved murders in this 2019 series -- highly recommended
Guide to the Most Recent Podcast Episodes about Tupac
Listen Up shares the latest episodes about the 2023 arrest of Keefe D, and more
Into America: Street Disciples
Brilliant journalist Trymaine Lee traces the rise of rap - including 2Pac -- in this five-part series
NEWS ABOUT THE 2023 ARREST
Body cam video of the arrest of Duane Keith Davis
(NBC News)
Conspiracy theories about Tupac’s killing
(NBC News)
An timeline of key events in the murder investigation
(ABC News)
Reaction to the arrest from Tupac’s brother
(TODAY Show)
Grand jury witness testimony in the murder case
(New York Times)
Car in which Tupac was shot, now on sale
Youtube video about Las Vegas Celebrity Cars putting a $1.75 million price tag on the vehicle
FROM THE PAST
Snoop Dogg inducts Tupac into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame, 2017
Very entertaining, informative, and heartfelt -- with the unexpected context of Joan Baez watching
Press conference where Tupac talks about case against Oakland police
Youtube video of his 1991 statements
The complaint Tupac filed in 1991
See the actual document, detailing his charges against the Oakland police
Mayor of Oakland’s 2016 proclaimation Tupac Shakur day
25 years after Tupac sued Oakland, the city honors him
Tupac's 1992 interview with MTV News
Among many other topics, he talks about Trump - in a way that definitely predates recent history
Tupac's 1995 interview with MTV News
Tupac chats with Tabitha Soren about a variety of topics, while strolling on the Venice CA boardwalk
40 Facts You Didn't Know About Tupac
Some fun facts and photos from CBS News in 2011
TV
Dear Mama
This moving and informative five-part FX series can now be seen on Hulu - highly recommended
We Own This City
Though this superb HBO series (now streaming elsewhere) doesn't mention Tupac, it exactly matches Tupac's description of the Baltimore police
MUSIC VIDEOS
2Pac's top videos
Watch a choice selection of videos on 2Pac.com
Hit ‘Em Up
Tupac's angry aggressive attack on Biggie Smalls' East Coast rap entourage (653 million views, Youtube)
Dear Mama
A respectful tribute to Tupac's Black Panther mother Afeni Shakur (416 million views, Youtube)
Brenda’s Got a Baby
A compassionate -- and horrifying -- portrait of an unwed teenage mother (56 million views, Youtube)
Keep Ya Head Up
A song of encouragement during life's challenges (33 million views, Youtube)
2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted
2Pac, Snoop Dog and others act out a revenge drama against Biggie Smalls (30 million views, Youtube)
California Love
A party tune about the state where Tupac settled, featuring Dr. Dre (90 million views, Youtube)
Trapped
This is the official video for the song Tupac recited to me in 1991 (4.5 million views, Youtube)
Changes
Released after Tupac's death, this became a song of hope during the protests after George Floyd's death (353 million views, Youtube)
BOOKS
More than 40 books have been written about Tupac, who did a lot of reading himself. Here's a sample...
A comprehensive list of books about Tupac
From bookshhop.org, which supports independent booksellers
Books Tupac read
There are many similar lists on the Internet -- this one is from the Livermore California library
Tupac Shakur: The Authorized Biography
Just out in 2023, by Tupac's high school friend Staci Robinson
The Rose That Grew From Concrete
A book of poetry written by Tupac in his late teens, just before he started his solo rap career
Changes: An Oral History of Tupac Shakur
By New Yorker writer Sheldon Pearce, with interviews from many who knew Tupac (2021)
Holler if you Hear Me
By hip-hop scholar Michael Eric Dyson (2001)
Tupac Shakur: Spirituality and Politics
William Whalen consider Tupac in relation to Carl Jung, Friedrich Nietzsche, Emerson , Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity (2023)
The FBI War on Tupac Shakur: The State Repression of Black Leaders from the Civil Rights Era to the 1990s
John Potash shares theories about Tupac's death (2021)
More Like Barack, Less Like Tupac: Eradicating the Academic Achievement Gap by Countering Decades of Hip Hop Hoax
Alfonzo Porter makes a counter argument against Tupac's influence (2010)
What Pac Says: Tupac Shakur Speaks From the Other Side
Medium Kristine Carlson says this book was dictated to her by Tupac after his death (2015)
MOVIE DOCUMENTARIES
Tupac: Resurrection (New York Times review)
2004 documentary that got an Oscar nomination, directed by Lauren Lazin. Resurrection received better reviews than another Tupac documentary, 2002's Biggie and Tupac
All Eyez on Me (Hollywood Reporter review)
Fictional 2017 movie directed by Benny Boom, based loosely on Tupac's life
MOVIES STARRING TUPAC
Tupac had roles in six movies. Here are some for starters...
Juice
In Tupac's 1992 film debut, which he completed filming just before we spoke, he plays the villain Bishop
Poetic Justice
Tupac plays a mailman who falls in love with a poet, played by Janet Jackson, in this gentle 1994 romance directed by Jon Singleton
Gridlock'd
This 1997 film, released after Tupac's death, earned raves for his performance opposite Tim Roth as performance artists who are trying to kick heroin.
If there's an important link we left off this list, please click the Contact link in our navigation -- and send it to us. Thank you!
