Tupac Shakur Was Obsessed With the Afterlife and Predicted His Death
Tupac Shakur is considered one of the most insightful rappers in history. His music was filled with powerful messages. But sometimes, his lyrics were grim. The Juice star often rapped about death, foreshadowing his own demise.
He’d come close to death before
Two years before Tupac was murdered, he was ambushed by assailants at Quad Studios in New York. He refused to hand over money and other items to the unknown assailants and was shot five times, including once in the head. The rapper reportedly became so paranoid that he checked himself out of the hospital against the doctor’s orders.
The incident forever changed him. He accused his former friend, The Notorious B.I.G., of having a hand in the attack, kicking off the infamous East Coast vs. West Coast beef. Tupac was also distraught because as an activist and champion of his community, he never imagined that he’d be robbed or shot by a Black person.
The rapper predicted his death in several songs
Within the last few years of his life, Tupac mentioned death in many of his songs. Some fans and close friends believe that after surviving the 1994 shooting in New York that he felt death was always close by.
In his song “If I Die Tonight,” he predicts being murdered, rapping: “I hope they bury me and send me to my rest / Headlines readin ” Murdered to death ‘/ My last breath.” Tupac raps about being ready to die since the day he was born in “Open Fire.”
In “So Many Tears,” Tupac appears to be growing more tired with the stresses of life. He raps: “My every move is a calculated step, to bring me closer / To embrace an early death, now there’s nothing left.” The song was featured on Me Against The World, the final album he released before his death. Me Against The World is also considered to be his most introspective body of art by music critics.
He also spoke openly about not being afraid to die in a 1995 interview with MTV News. “We look at death from a selfish side, you know like, ‘That guy died, oh it’s so sad.’ Why is it sad? He’s away from all of this bad stuff that’s here on earth,” he said at the time. “At the worst, he’s just somewhere quiet, no nothing. At best, he’s an angel or he’s at the next existence or he’s a spirit somewhere. What is so bad about that? It’s only bad for the people who he left. Because you guys are mad and that’s just some crabs in a bucket-type stuff.”
No one has ever been charged for his murder
A year after Tupac’s murder, the late rapper’s mother Afeni filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Orlando Anderson, the man who is accused of killing Tupac. Days before the fatal shooting, Tupac and Anderson fought at a strip mall and Anderson allegedly stole Tupac’s gold chain from around his neck.
Hours before the fatal shooting, Tupac and his entourage were captured by MGM Hotel and Casino cameras jumping Anderson in alleged retaliation.
Per Afeni’s lawsuit, Tupac’s shooting was the direct result of the fight between his entourage and Anderson. The lawsuit also notes that Anderson was seen carrying a Glock .40-caliber handgun – the same weapon determined to have killed Tupac, and there were also reportedly witnesses.
But charges were never filed. The LA Times reports that Anderson was killed in a 1998 gang shootout at a carwash in Compton. Anderson was 23-years-old.
