"Explores every aspect of Tupac's career in a diverse selection of interviews, articles, reviews and essays"--Page 4 of cover.

Read the book that inspired the movie! Sixteen-year-old Starr lives in two worlds: the poor neighbourhood where she was born and raised and her posh high school in the suburbs. The uneasy balance between them is shattered when Starr is the only witness to the fatal shooting of her unarmed best friend, Khalil, by a police officer. Now what Starr says could destroy her community. It could also get her killed. Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, this is a powerful and gripping novel about one girl's struggle for justice.

A passionate, critically incisive cultural biography of hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur and an examination of the forces that shaped him. In 1996 Tupac Shakur, one of the most talented artists of his time, was murdered by an unknown gunman. Fred L. Johnson and Tayannah Lee McQuillar examine the theories surrounding his death and the story of Tupac's lost legacy in this definitive biography. For millions, Shakur gave voice to their stories, but there was also another side to him, revealed as his life spun out of control, as the whispered warnings from friends went unheeded and the denunciations of critics grew louder. Disturbingly, he sang and wrote about his impending death. When it came, it brought the music industry to its knees and ended an era when American rappers were leaders in using their art to speak the truth to corporate, government, and judicial power.

Tupac Shakur is not just a posthumous hip-hop icon. In the years since his September 1996 murder, he has attained a status that led some to coin him 'the Black Elvis'. More successful as a recording artist than at the active peak of his career, his posthumous albums continue to sell in massive quantities around the world. His cultural importance is reflected in a 'Tupac's not dead' myth - the first time a black performing artist has been mythologised on the level of a Presley or a James Dean. Crucial to the iconic appeal of Tupac is the mass of contradictions that define him: the macho gansta-rapper who eulogised the 'thug life'; the erudite young man who hoped for a political and spiritual awakening among his peers; the sexually insatiable star who served a prison term for sexual abuse of a young woman fan; the sensitive son of a politicised single mother, who recorded a sympathetic pain to women. A Thug Life explores all these contradictions, alongside every other aspect of Tupac's life and career. Compiling interviews, articles, reviews and essays on rap music's enduring icon, this extensively illustrated anthology is divided into five distinct sections, covering his early life, his music, film and the dark side of his life - the flirtations with gang culture, accusations of forcible sodomy and rape, his lucky escape from death after a 1994 shooting, and his accusations against former friend, the Notorious BIG, that fuelled the East-West Coast rap wars. The final section examines the murder of Tupac one September night in Las Vegas, and the conspiracy theories it fuelled. Interview transcripts are included of Death Row Records boss Suge Knight, talking of how Shakur died in his car, and Afeni Shakur, describing her legal action against the young gang member she blamed for her son's death - which was halted with the suspect's own shooting.

A collection of deeply personal poems by Tupac Shakur - a mirror into his enigmatic world and its many contradicitions written from the time he was nineteen.

Ten years after his tragic, untimely death, Tupac Shakur remains just as--if not more--popular with fans. He is among the top 40 best-selling artists ever and the best-selling rap artist, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. His six posthumous albums have all gone platinum. Tupac Remembered is an intimate collection of personal snapshots and memories from those who knew him best: from the Blank Panthers he grew up with to Quincy Jones, from his close-knit family to those affected by his legacy. Interviews from influential people include rappers Snoop Dogg, Eminem and 50 Cent.

From one of America’s most celebrated poets, Nikki Giovanni, comes this poignant collection of poetry that celebrates the simple pleasures of everyday life and the bonds we share with those closest to us. “This slim volume delights on every page. There are stories, imaginings, whimsy, and startling images which prove the poet’s power and her command of language . . . Anyone with a love of language will be delighted with this book and the continuing publication of America’s treasured poet.”—San Francisco Book Review The poetry of Nikki Giovanni has spurred movements and inspired songs, turned hearts and informed generations. She's been hailed as a healer and as a national treasure. But Giovanni's heart resides in the everyday, where family and lovers gather, friends commune, and those no longer with us are remembered. And at every gathering there is food—food as sustenance, food as aphrodisiac, food as memory. A pot of beans is flavored with her mother's sighs—this sigh part cardamom, that one the essence of clove; a lover requests a banquet as an affirmation of ongoing passion; homage is paid to the most time-honored appetizer: soup. With Chasing Utopia, Giovanni demands that the prosaic—flowers, birdsong, winter—be seen as poetic, and reaffirms once again why she is as energetic, "remarkable" (Gwendolyn Brooks), "wonderful" (Marian Wright Edelman),"outspoken, prolific, energetic" (New York Times), and relevant as ever.