Shakur was born in New York City to parents who were both political activists and Black Panther Party members. Raised by his mother, he relocated to Baltimore in 1984 and to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1988. With the release of his debut album 2Pacalypse Now in 1991, he became a central figure in West Coast hip-hop for his conscious rap lyrics. Shakur achieved further critical and commercial success with his follow-up albums Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z... (1993) and Me Against the World (1995). His Diamond certified album All Eyez on Me (1996), the first double-length album in hip-hop history, abandoned his introspective lyrics for volatile gangsta rap. In addition to his music career, Shakur also found considerable success as an actor, with his starring roles in Juice (1992), Poetic Justice (1993), Above the Rim (1994), Bullet (1996), Gridlock'd (1997), and Gang Related (1997).
During the later part of his career, Shakur was shot five times in the lobby of a New York recording studio and experienced legal troubles, including incarceration. In 1995, Shakur served eight months in prison on sexual abuse charges, but was released pending an appeal of his conviction. Following his release, he signed to Marion "Suge" Knight's label Death Row Records and became heavily involved in the growing East CoastโWest Coast hip hop rivalry. On September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot four times by an unidentified assailant in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas; he died six days later. Following his murder, Shakur's friend-turned-rival, the Notorious B.I.G., was at first considered a suspect due to their public feud, but was also murdered in another drive-by shooting six months later in March 1997 while visiting Los Angeles.
Five more albums have been released since Shakur's death, all of which have been certified Platinum in the United States. In 2002, Shakur was inducted into the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame. In 2017, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Rolling Stone magazine ranked Shakur among the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
Shakur was born on June 16, 1971, in the East Harlem section of Manhattan in New York City. While born Lesane Parish Crooks, at age one he was renamed Tupac Amaru Shakur. He was named after Tรบpac Amaru II, the descendant of the last Incan ruler, Tรบpac Amaru, who was executed in Peru in 1781 after his failed revolt against Spanish rule. Shakur's mother explained, "I wanted him to have the name of revolutionary, indigenous people in the world. I wanted him to know he was part of a world culture and not just from a neighborhood."
Shakur had an older stepbrother, Mopreme "Komani" Shakur, and a half-sister, Sekyiwa Shakur, two years his junior.
Street Life
2Pac Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Neither lost nor found
Hear the lonely sound
Of music in the night
Nights are always bright
That's all that's left for me, yeah
I play the street life because there's no place I can go
Street life, it's the only life I know
Street life, until you play your life away
You let the people see
Just who you wanna be
And every night you sang
Just like a superstar
The type of life that's played
A temptin' masquerade
You dress and walk and talk
You're who you think you are
Street life, you can run away from time
Street life, for a nickel, for a dime
Street life, but you better not get old
Street life, or you're gonna feel the cold
There's always love for sale
A grown up fairy tale
Prince charming always smiles
Behind a silver spoon
And if you keep it young
Your song is always sung
Your love will pay your way
Beneath the silver moon
Street life
Street life
Street life
Oh, street life
I play the street life because there's no place I can go
Street life, it's the only life I know
Street life and there's a thousand cards to play
Street life, until you play your life away
You let the people see
Just who you wanna be
And every night you sang
Just like a superstar
The type of life that's played
A temptin' masquerade
You dress and walk and talk
You're who you think you are
Street life, you can run away from time
Street life, for a nickel, for a dime
Street life, but you better not get old
Street life, or you're gonna feel the cold
There's always love for sale
A grown up fairy tale
Prince charming always smiles
Behind a silver spoon
And if you keep it young
Your song is always sung
Your love will pay your way
Beneath the silver moon
Street life
Street life
Street life
Oh, street life
Oh, street life
Yeah, street life
Street life
Oh, street life
In the song "Street Life" by 2Pac, the singer expresses his feelings of being stuck in a lifestyle he cannot escape. He sings about the loneliness he feels, without direction or purpose, and the only solace he finds is in the music of the night. The street life is the only world he knows, and he plays it because he has nowhere else to go. He speaks of the thousand cards to play, the many ways to live the street life, yet warns against playing it too long or too hard.
The song paints a picture of life on the streets where there's always love for sale, and the only escape is through music. It highlights the struggles of trying to find oneself in a world of constant movement, where everyone is fighting to survive. The singer speaks of how the street life is a masquerade, a temptation that's hard to resist, and how one can be whoever they want to be on the streets.
Overall, the song is a commentary on the harsh realities of life on the streets, the struggles of survival, and the temptation to escape reality through playing the street life.
Line by Line Meaning
I still hang around
I remain in this place even when I don't fit in
Neither lost nor found
I'm not sure of my place in this world
Hear the lonely sound
I can only hear the sound of my own loneliness
Of music in the night
At night, music is my only solace
Nights are always bright
Despite my loneliness, the city lights make the night seem bright
That's all that's left for me, yeah
Music is the only thing that brings meaning to my life
I play the street life because there's no place I can go
I perform on the street because I don't have a place to call home
Street life, it's the only life I know
I'm stuck in the life of performing on the streets and it's all I know
Street life and there's a thousand cards to play
There are endless opportunities to perform and make money in the street life
Street life, until you play your life away
Performing on the streets may seem exciting, but it's a trap that will consume your life
You let the people see
I put on a show for the people on the street
Just who you wanna be
I present a persona to the people that I wish to embody
And every night you sang
I perform my music every night to survive
Just like a superstar
I try to emulate the success of superstars even though I'm performing on the street
The type of life that's played
Street life is like a game where you have to perform to get paid
A temptin' masquerade
Street life is alluring, but it's not always what it seems
You dress and walk and talk
I try to fit in with my appearance and personality
You're who you think you are
I portray myself how I want to be perceived
Street life, you can run away from time
Performing on the street makes you feel like you can escape time
Street life, for a nickel, for a dime
Performing on the street doesn't guarantee a stable income
Street life, but you better not get old
Performing on the street may seem exciting when you're young, but it's a hard life to maintain
Street life, or you're gonna feel the cold
If you don't succeed in the street life, you'll be left with nothing
There's always love for sale
People on the streets will do anything for money, even sell their love
A grown up fairy tale
The street life may seem like a storybook tale for adults, but it's not all happy endings
Prince charming always smiles
People on the street put on fake smiles to fake happiness
Behind a silver spoon
Wealth is what makes people happy, even if it's not genuine
And if you keep it young
If you stay young and naive, you can keep up the facade of street life
Your song is always sung
As long as you keep performing, you'll always have a song to sing
Your love will pay your way
Performing on the street is a way to make money when nothing else seems to work
Beneath the silver moon
The moon is alluring and symbolic of wealth, but it's still just an illusion in street life
Oh, street life
Street life is the only life I know and it's not always easy
Contributed by Allison T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Don Valdez
Nobody on this earth can bring the aggression, talent, and pain to this verse like pac did. well done Don makaveli
Man Like Bango
real talk
S. ร.
+joseph jatta yes sorry bro i disagree...tupacs verse is not comaparble!
Matty80822
hey hey king kunta was a funk cornerstone
Matt Crono
Fucken ay brotha
Makaveli13Xroy
true, but if you wanna hear his real venom and agression, listen to the OG of "All Out" people consider hit em up the best diss, but All Out straight murdered everyonne on the east , not just the lyrics but the energy anger and agression in his voice on that song is ridiculous
RickyRichReacts
Just the way Pac comes on a track is insane. His voice, his flow, his delivery.. When Pac comes on, you have NO CHOICE but to pay attention and listen to what he's saying.
Brian waller
Fact! Respect!๐ฏ๐๐ช๐ฅโ๏ธ
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMW
ok
Daniel Ramos
Living catching felonies ...
Hardcore