I spotted the DVD Tupac Shakur Thug Angel at a used store that I shop at. It looked interesting so I bought it. I love watching DVDs about the personal lives of celebrities. This is a biography of Tupac’s life, which would make a perfect gift for any Tupac fan.

Main Menu:

1. Feature Start
2. Scene Selections
3. Extras

Tupac’s Life:

”I feel like Black Jesus got his hand on me and guides me through life to put me where I’m supposed to be”. –Tupac Shakur

He was born as Lesane Parish Crooks on June 16, 1971 in Bronx, NY. He was born in the ghetto into a life of poverty. His mother, Afeni Shakur, changed his name to Tupac Amaru Shakur. Tupac Amaru is after an Incan-chief meaning “shining serpent” and Shakur is Arabic for “thankful to God”. In 1986 they moved to Baltimore, MD where Tupac began acting and rapping under the name “MC New York”. In 1988 they moved to Marin City, CA. Tupac then became 2Pac.

Tupac said that his mother taught him three things: ”respect, to search for knowledge, and to speak his mind”.He lived in a housing project called “The Jungle” in California. He met Leila Steinberg who would help him find success as a rapper. She was his manager from 1989-1992. He came to live with her and her family because his mother was so addicted to drugs. His first big break is when he recorded ”Same Song” with Digital Underground. Tupac moved to Oakland where he started to learn more about the gangster life.

He had run-ins with cops on numerous occasions and ended up in jail for eight months. After he got out of jail he was shot five times, but he lived through it. He often predicted his own death. He saw it coming and knew that he was not meant to live a long life. He went to a Mike Tyson fight and as he was leaving was shot multiple times. He died after a six-day battle to live on September 13, 1996. He was only 25. There is footage from a memorial service that took place in New York. His private service for family and close friends was by the ocean. They scattered his ashes and also threw in the ocean things that he loved like his cigarettes, liquor, pictures, etc.

I feel like role models today are not meant to be put on a pedestal, but more like angels with broken wings”. –Tupac Shakur

Interviews Included:

Tupac
Karen Lee – Tupac’s Publicist
Leila Steinberg – Tupac’s Manager from 1989-1992
Artron Gregory – Tupac’s Manager from 1989-1995
C Dolores Tucker – a woman who spoke out against Tupac’s music
Quincy Jones
Greg “Shock-G” Jacobs AKA “Humpty-Hump”
Mike Warren – Tupac’s Attorney
Mopreme Shakur – OG “Thug Life”
Edi – The Outlawz
Yanni Stokes
Michael Eric Dyson – Author of “Holler if You Hear Me”
Money “B” – Digital Underground
Henry Fazon – Former Bodyguard
Johnny “J” – Tupac’s Producer
Shock ׄ” – Digital Underground
Dr. Dre

Special Features: Taken from the back of the DVD box

~ Unedited interview with Tupac at seventeen; never-before-seen in its entirety
~ Extended interview with Tupac at the gun range; never-before-seen
~ Interview with Dr. Mutulu Shakur, Tupac’s stepfather, from the Atlanta State Penitentiary
~ Never-before-released audio recordings of Tupac
~ Photo Gallery with never-before-seen pictures
~ Extended Interviews with the people who knew Tupac, including Shock G of Digital Underground and Treach of Naughty by Nature
~ Tupac’s Personal Reading Library

Extras:

Interviews - You can go through a listing of interviews that are included throughout the DVD and go to a specific one instantly.

Rashida Jones Phone Interview - There is an eight minute recording of a conversation between Rashida and Tupac. He talks about a program that he was working on called “A Place Called Home” for children. He also talked about other programs for children that he wanted to start.

Tupac’s Reading Library - This is a listing of books that were read and analyzed by Tupac.

Photo Gallery - This section is over twenty minutes of all kinds of still pictures. There are literally hundreds of pictures of Tupac shown. There are also various newspaper clippings, pictures of typed songs and handwritten songs, a picture of his California driver’s license, his signed contract, a picture of the jail he was in and various drawings.

Biography - His biography is in text for you to read.

Discography - There is a listing of all of his albums, when they came out and how many was sold.

Credits - This section gives you some web links. For more info on Tupac you can visit www.hitemup.com or www.madeniggaz.net.

Directed by: Peter Spirer
Narrated by: Michael Warren
Running Time: 92 Minutes
Color
Not Rated (but I give it a R rating)

Final Thoughts:

I thought this was very interesting. This gave me a deep insight into Tupac's heart and mind. I felt like I learned a lot about Tupac as a person from watching this. I can tell that he really cared about kids. He wanted to do so much to help other people. There is a 1988 interview of Tupac when he was just seventeen years old. He tells of how he wants to change the world. He had so many hopes and dreams. He just got caught up in the wrong way of life.

If you are a Tupac fan you are bound to enjoy this DVD. I must warn you though that is has a lot of bad language. There are parts where is seems like every other word is something bad. I guess what can I expect when watching something about the life of a rapper? That’s what my husband told me anyway. There are many clips of Tupac himself talking and I realize those clips could not be changed. However, almost all of his friends interviewed felt they had to talk trashy the whole way through their part.





Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age