Have we finally figured out who killed 2Pac?

2Pac was one of the most influential and revered rappers of all time, but his death, which occurred as a result of a shooting, had remained an unsolved case for several decades. Recently, the Las Vegas prosecutor's office announced that they had charged an African-American man named Duane Keith Davis with the murder of the rapper. Davis admitted to participating in the attack that led to 2Pac's death on September 13, 1996. For nearly three decades, investigations into his murder had made little progress until last July when the Las Vegas police conducted a search related to the case, but without disclosing further details. It was later revealed that the investigation involved the last surviving person among the four suspects in 2Pac's killing, namely Davis, also known as Keffe D. The man, now sixty years old, is believed to have masterminded the murder and, according to the prosecutor, played a leadership role in organizing the shooting. He himself confirmed that he was in the white Cadillac that approached 2Pac's car and from which the shots were fired that killed him. Davis has been charged with murder, with the aggravating factor of conspiracy, and faces up to twenty years in prison.

How 2Pac's Death Occurred

When 2Pac died, he was 25 years old, and his career, though short, made him one of the most influential rappers ever. His career was closely associated with the criminal culture of Los Angeles, particularly between 1994 and 1996, when he was involved in violent conflicts between the hip-hop and criminal circles of Los Angeles and New York, representing the West Coast versus the East Coast of the United States. This feud was primarily between Marion "Suge" Knight's gang, the producer and manager of 2Pac, and Sean "Puffy" Combs' gang, who produced Notorious B.I.G. The rivalry between the two rappers was one of the most famous and controversial in music history, marked by numerous diss tracks aimed at each other. Due to the environment he frequented, 2Pac had stated in various interviews that he believed he would eventually be killed, as he was convinced it was the fate of all "African-Americans who change the world." On the night of September 7, 1996, 2Pac, Knight, and their gang encountered Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson, a member of the Crips, a Los Angeles criminal group led by Sean "Puffy" Combs, in the lobby of the MGM hotel in Las Vegas. Knight's group was in open conflict with the Bloods, to which Knight belonged. Some months earlier, Anderson had robbed some of Knight's associates, leading to a brawl that night, during which Knight and 2Pac assaulted Anderson. Later, the two drove in a car to a club owned by Knight. Shortly after 11 PM, while stopped at a traffic light, a white Cadillac pulled up next to their car, and the occupants opened fire on Knight and 2Pac. Both were taken to the hospital, but six days later, on September 13, 1996, 2Pac died due to complications from his injuries. According to an investigation published by the Los Angeles Times in 2002, the attack was ordered by some members of the Crips as retaliation for the brawl at the MGM hotel in Las Vegas. Duane Keith Davis, now accused of 2Pac's murder, was himself a member of the Crips and confirmed that among others, his nephew Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson had fired the shots, making it a reprisal for the earlier altercation in the MGM lobby.

Why 2Pac is so revered

Although his career was centered around the Los Angeles culture and the broader West Coast, 2Pac was born in New York, in the East Harlem neighborhood, on June 16, 1971. He was initially named Lesane Parish Crooks until his mother changed his name, inspired by Tupac Amaru II, who led the 18th-century Peruvian indigenous uprising against Spanish colonizers. 2Pac's only father figure was his mother's lover, known as "Legs," who was involved in Harlem's drug trade. 2Pac claimed to have inherited his thug lifestyle from Legs. In a 1997 Vanity Fair article, it was revealed that when 2Pac was ten years old, a priest asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, and he responded, "a revolutionary." 2Pac sold millions of records and was one of the leading figures in the gangsta rap genre, which had emerged in Los Angeles in the late 1980s. However, most music critics argue that 2Pac managed to elevate this music subculture, turning it into a mainstream phenomenon. 2Pac was a great lover of poetry, particularly that of Shakespeare, which made him an atypical rapper. He is still celebrated today for the quality and musicality of his lyrics, as well as for his social activism in support of civil rights. Additionally, 2Pac recorded several tracks considered anomalies in the world of hip-hop, such as "Keep Ya Head Up," which criticizes violence and abuse against women, directly opposing the prevalent sexism in the Los Angeles hip-hop scene of the 1990s. At the height of his career, 2Pac even became a topic in political campaigns. Dan Quayle, the Republican Vice President of the United States, stated that there was "no place in our society" for his music—he was wrong.