2Pac was a legend in the 1990s and one of the world’s most well-known rappers. He began his career as a roadie for the Oakland collective Digital Underground, led by the emcee Shock G. 2Pac (real name Tupac Shakur) was a local phenomenon and soon signed with Interscope.
Shakur’s first two albums, 2Pacalypse Now and Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. The latter became a platinum-certified project, and before long, the musician had moved to Los Angeles and quickly signed with Suge Knight and Dr Dre at Death Row Records.
Shakur had a lot of ups and downs while on Death Row, including an attempted murder. In 1994, while in New York to work on music, the rhymer was shot at Quad Studios in Manhattan while exiting the building. This sparked a fiery feud.
The exact details of who shot 2Pac while he was in New York are still unknown. For years, the Las Vegas Police Department has been investigating who murdered the emcee in the infamous drive-by that took his life. However, his 1994 could have seen the West Coast artist staring death in the face.
That year, Shakur planned to work on his album Me Against The World and collaborate with East Coast artists, so he took a trip to New York. According to several police reports, Shakur was invited by a man by the name of Ron G to record some tracks with two upcoming rappers named Booker and Lil Shawn.
He had been told it was all to be recorded at Quad Studios, located on Seventh Avenue between 48th and 49th Street near the famous Times Square. A fairly busy, downtown location.
Shakur turned up for the recording as arranged, and all went as planned; however, upon his exit from the building while in the lobby, the rapper was ambushed and shot. According to the rapper, the shooters were wearing labelled garments worn by gangs in Brooklyn.
The attackers thieved his jewellery, then shot him, hitting him in the chest. Shakur was shot five times. Twice in the head, twice in the groin area, and once in his left hand. According to the rapper, he recognised two of the three men as associates of his friend, The Notorious B.I.G.
2Pac wouldn’t have survived the shooting if he wasn’t rushed shortly after to Bellevue Hospital Centre, which, luckily for the 2Pacalyspe Now lyricist, wasn’t too far away from the robbery’s location. Shakur was eventually operated on and treated for gunshot wounds to the head, groin, arm and thigh.
In his Biggie Smalls diss track ‘Hit ’em Up’, Shakur exclaims, “Five shots couldn’t drop me, I took it and smiled.” However, he was evidently angry about it as it wildly escalated his beef with Biggie.
You can hear ‘Hit Em Up’ below
