By Gio Gennero | Sports Writer
Tupac Amaru Shakur is still alive. My opinion is not based on pictures of Tupac look-alikes in Cuba; this is based on actual evidence surrounding his death that raised questions that haven’t been answered.
The legendary artist was shot four times on Sept. 7, 1996, and he “died” in the hospital six days later. Tupac was riding shotgun in a car driven by then-Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight when a car pulled next to them at a stop light and fired many shots into Tupac’s vehicle. Moments before the incident, a fan captured a picture of Tupac and Knight in the car, which is known as the final photo ever taken of Tupac.
However, the picture itself raises questions. Despite being moments before the incident, there are seemingly no keys in the ignition, even though the two were supposedly at a stop light. The date is also in the picture, but it is dated Sept. 8, 1996, and Tupac was shot and admitted to the hospital on Sept. 7.
Furthermore, the official coroner report for his death listed him at 215 pounds — 50 pounds heavier than what he actually was. Tupac was typically listed at 165 pounds, which for a 5-foot-9-inch male who was in good shape was much more reasonable than 215 pounds. To add fuel to the fire, there is lots of controversy surrounding his autopsy, which is not available to anyone. No one has been able to find the man who cremated the rapper, and in an interview with TMZ, Knight claimed he paid a man $3 million in cash to cremate Tupac, and the man proceeded to disappear. Knight also claimed that nobody has ever seen Tupac dead and went as far as to say Tupac is not dead.
Less than two months after his death, his final album, “The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory,” was released under the alias Makaveli. The name change was an obvious nod to Niccolò Machiavelli — an Italian philosopher whom Tupac studied closely. Tupac even called Machiavelli his tutor in the song “Tradin War Stories.” In his book “The Art of War,” Machiavelli lists many ways to stay ahead of your enemies, which Tupac had no shortage of. Many believe these writings are what inspired Tupac to fake his death.
The cover art for the album shows Tupac nailed to a cross with a disclaimer at the bottom clarifying it meant no disrespect to Jesus Christ. However, this was not the only time Tupac depicted himself as a parallel of Jesus, furthering the argument he faked his death and will come back one day as a way of resurrection. The album was also originally named “The 3 Day Theory” as a reference to Jesus’ return. However, it was changed because it took Tupac a week to die.
Knight was the executive producer of the album, but the album’s credit list says the executive producer is Simon — the same name as the man who carried Jesus’ cross on his way to be crucified, and Knight was the one driving when Pac was shot.
Now, why would Tupac fake his death? What would his motive be? My guess is because he had a lot of enemies. He believed he was set up by a friend to get him imprisoned. He was shot five times in 1995 and believed it was staged by his good friend the Notorious B.I.G. and also received a constant hard time from the government and authorities. There have been many theories on who killed Tupac. Many people believe it was Knight, others believe it was Biggie or people close to him and still others believe it was the government. The fact that so many different people had reasonable motives tells me he had a reasonable motive to fake his death to stay ahead of his enemies.
