He was labelled a thug and an intelligent hoodlum but ‘Pac, as he was also called, was not a thug.
Behind the façade of being a gangster was a sensitive, loving poet who was the complete opposite of the persona he used to sell records.
Tupac and classmates in Baltimore
Tupac and classmates in Baltimore
On September 12, 1986, Tupac enrolled in the Baltimore School for the Arts High School located in Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Maryland, United States.
While there, he studied acting and some ballet. Yeah, you heard that right, Tupac studied ballet and one of his mentors at the institution was award-winning American theatre director Donald Hicken.
Donald Hicken
Donald Hicken
Hicken recalls that 2pac was very funny, something even his nemesis Notorious BIG confirmed later in life.
Hicken adds, quite surprisingly, that Tupac was the “class clown, used to be funny. On probation, because he didn’t take academics seriously. Didn’t have study skills, trouble paying attention.”
Who would have thought that Tupac had a nerdy, sophisticated white guy as a mentor?
It gets more interesting when one realises that this man was not Tupac’s only guiding spirit.
Leila, Tupac’s mentor
Leila, Tupac’s mentor
While living in the San Francisco Bay Area, Leila Steinberg held poetry classes in Oakland. Among her students was a young Tupac.
After he came to her poetry class in spring 1989, they hit it off. For a time he lived with her and her family, and read and wrote under her encouragement.
Leila and ‘Pac
Leila and ‘Pac
She served as a mentor and manager until he needed more professional help. He would sign with Atron Gregory in 1989.
Steinberg and Shakur further developed what they called The Microphone Sessions (TMS), a writing workshop that developed and staged spoken word, poetry, musical, hip-hop, pop and dance, jazz, rock n’ roll singing, and dramatic performances.
‘Pac’s poetry
‘Pac’s poetry
Where was the thug, you ask?
Stay with us, there is more. On what would have been Pac’s 50th birthday in 2021, American actress and talk show host Jada Pinkett Smith shared a handwritten poem from Pac titled “Lost Soulz”.
Tupac’s words
Tupac’s words
Pac wrote: “4 yearz. I wanted peace of mind I dreamed I was in love/ I prayed 4 someone I could care 4, someone 2 love a thug/ I tried 2 heal my [loneliness] but one-night standz were not the cure/ then I came across a woman who was all I was lookin 4.”
Tupac was evidently a romantic, deeply passionate and hypersensitive.
Musician Madonna and Tupac were romantically involved
Tupac is said to have broken up with Madonna because dating her, as a black man who espoused ‘Thug Life’, would contradict his gangster image.
In his own words
In his own words
In July 2017, a letter Tupac wrote when he was imprisoned at the Clinton Correctional Facility was sold for $170,000.
The letter is dated January 15, 1995 and was addressed to his ex, Madonna, or “M.”, explaining why he split with her to preserve his image.
“For you to be seen with a black man wouldn’t in any way jeopardize your career. But for me, at least in my previous perception, I felt due to my ‘image’ I would be letting down half of the people who made me what I thought I was,” he wrote.
Star crossed lovers: ‘Pac and Madonna
Star crossed lovers: ‘Pac and Madonna
It is clear now that, like a typical Gemini, ‘Pac was truly two persons in one and the one person he hid from the public was who he truly was.
https://www.pulselive.co.ke/…/little-known-soft…/bnjcfjs
