Tupac Is Legend, Folk Hero and a Guevara-Like Idol

September 13th marks the 20th anniversary of the death of rapper Tupac Shakur, who was murdered in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles at the age of 25. Ben Ortiz, Assistant Curator of the Cornell Hip Hop Collection at the Cornell University Library Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, reflects on Tupac’s legacy and says that while the way we remember Tupac continues to evolve; his life and work will be studied for decades to come.
Materials in the Cornell Hip Hop Collection relating to Shakur can be found in the Ernie Paniccioli archive, which features photographs of Shakur at the start as well as the pinnacle of his recording career, and in the Bill Adler archive, which includes press clippings about Shakur.
Ortiz says:
“The way we collectively remember Tupac Shakur continues to evolve. He's literally become a legend, a notorious folk hero, and a Guevara-like idol in the two decades since his untimely death in 1996.
“Active attempts to keep him in the public consciousness by artists, authors, scholars, educators, music appreciators, and – yes - record companies have all been highly successful. I find it interesting and heartening that not one college student today remembers a world in which Tupac was alive (this year's freshman class was born in '98), and yet they all seem to know his name, if not a song or two. To me, that's proof his life and work will be studied for decades to come.”
Cornell University has television, ISDN and dedicated Skype/Google+ Hangout studios available for media interviews.
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