MacArthur Boulevard in Oakland, California will honor one of the city's beloved cultural icons, the late rapper, poet, and actor Tupac Shakur, following a unanimous vote by the city council Tuesday. The stretch between Grand Avenue and Van Buren Avenue will soon be renamed "Tupac Shakur Way," an homage to the rapper who credited Oakland as the launchpad for his career. According to KQED, Shakur lived in an apartment at 275 MacArthur Boulevard in the 1990s.
This is the second time the City of Oakland has honored Shakur. In 2016, June 16 was proclaimed "Tupac Shakur Day."
Shakur was born Lesane Parish Crooks in Harlem, New York in 1971. His parents, Afeni Shakur and Billy Garland, were active members of the Black Panther Party. Shakur grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and Marin City, California. But his career took off in Oakland, where he first linked up with the hip-hop group Digital Underground. Later, he worked as a roadie and a backup dancer before launching his own rap records.
Shakur was living in the Bay Area when he produced his ground-breaking album "2Pacalypse Now," which cemented his status as a preeminent emcee of the West Coast. Shakur credited Oakland with giving him his "Game."
