
In a better universe, Tupac Shakur would have turned thirty-seven years old today. Already the biggest rapper on the planet when he died on September 13, 1996, one wonders what Tupac would be doing now if he were still alive. Would he have attained and sustained the sort of cross-cultural success his former Death Row labelmate Snoop Dogg enjoys? Would he sell more copies than Tha Carter III, or would he be beefing with Ice Cube over family film scripts and box office money? Based on the arc of his career at the time he died, Pac seemed to be more interested in acting than in rap music, and his work in Gridlock’d proved that he could hang with a heavyweight like Tim Roth. It’s impossible to tell how his music might have changed as time went on, as his posthumous work is wildly inconsistent (though not without a handful of gems). He almost certainly would have retired from recording only to put out a comeback record, a la Jay-Z. And he definitely would have appeared on The Wire. Sadly, we’ll never get to know, as Shakur’s still-unsolved murder remains one of the heavier gone-too-soon moments in music history. So on the day that Tupac Shakur would have turned 37, we assume he would have celebrated by doing one or more of the following:
• Announcing that he would take part in a Digital Underground reunion.
• Polishing his Best Supporting Actor Oscar.
• Charging $500,000 a verse to appear on the next 50 Cent record.
• Signing a 360 deal with Live Nation that trumps Jay-Z.
• Recording with Notorious B.I.G.
• Chill with Kobe Bryant on the Lakers’ jet on their way to Game 6 of the NBA Finals.
• Coaxing Dr. Dre to finally release Detox.
[Photo: Retna]

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- Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC.