Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), known by his stage names 2Pac (or simply Pac) and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He has sold 75 million albums to date and is one of the best-selling music artists in the world. In addition to his status as a top-selling recording artist, Shakur was a promising actor and a social activist. Most of Shakur's songs are about growing up amid violence and hardship in ghettos, racism, problems in society and conflicts with other rappers. Shakur's work is known for advocating egalitarianism. Shakur was initially a roadie and backup dancer for the alternative hip hop group Digital Underground.

 

Shakur became the target of lawsuits and experienced other legal problems. He was later shot five times and robbed in the lobby of a recording studio in New York City. Following the event, Shakur grew suspicious that other figures in the rap industry had prior knowledge of the incident and did not warn him; the controversy helped spark the East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry. Shakur was later convicted of sexual assault and sentenced to one and half to four and a half years in prison.After serving eleven months of his sentence he was released from prison on an appeal financed by Marion "Suge" Knight, the CEO of Death Row Records. In exchange for Suge's assistance, Shakur agreed to release three albums under the Death Row label.

 

On the night of September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot four times in a drive-by shooting in the Las Vegas metropolitan area in Nevada. He died six days later of respiratory failure and cardiac arrest at the University Medical Center.

 

 

Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), popularly known as Biggie Smalls (after a fictional gangster in the 1975 film Let's Do It Again), "The Black Frank White" (based on a fictional drug baron from the 1990 film King of New York), and by his primary stage name The Notorious B.I.G., was an American rapper.

 

Raised in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, Wallace grew up during the peak years of the 1980s crack epidemic and started dealing drugs at an early age. When Wallace released his debut album with the 1994 record Ready to Die, he was a central figure in the East Coast hip hop scene and increased New York's visibility at a time when West Coast artists were more common in the mainstream. The following year, Wallace led his childhood friends to chart success through his protégé group, Junior M.A.F.I.A.. While recording his second album, Wallace was heavily involved in the East Coast-West Coast hip hop feud, dominating the scene at the time.

 

On March 9, 1997, Wallace was killed by an unknown assailant in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles. His double-disc set Life After Death, released fifteen days later, hit #1 on the U.S. album charts and was certified Diamond in 2000. Wallace was noted for his "loose, easy flow", dark semi-autobiographical lyrics and storytelling abilities. Since his death, a further two albums have been released. MTV ranked him at #3 on their list of The Greatest MCs of All Time.

 

 

Jason William Mizell (January 21, 1965 – October 30, 2002), also known as Jam-Master Jay and Jay Gambulos, was the DJ of the influential hip hop group Run-D.M.C.

 

On October 30, 2002, Mizell was shot and killed in a Merrick Boulevard recording studio in Jamaica, Queens. The other person in the room, 23-year-old Urieco Rincon, was shot in the ankle and survived.

 

The New York Daily News reported that authorities investigated whether Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, a convicted drug dealer and longtime friend of Murder Inc. heads Irv and Chris Gotti, targeted Mizell because the DJ defied an industry blacklist of rapper 50 Cent that was imposed because of "Ghetto Qu'ran", a song 50 Cent wrote about McGriff's drug history. A 2003 affidavit says: "Law enforcement agents are investigating the possibility that [Jason] Mizell was murdered for defying the blacklist of 50 Cent."

 

In April 2007, federal prosecutors named Ronald "Tenad" Washington as an accomplice in the murder. Washington also is a suspect in the 1995 murder of Randy "Stretch" Walker, a close associate of the late rapper Tupac Shakur. According to court papers filed by the prosecution, Washington “pointed his gun at those present in the studio, ordered them to get on the ground and provided cover for his associate to shoot and kill Jason Mizell

 

 

 

Lamont Coleman (May 30, 1974 – February 15, 1999), also known by his stage name Big L, was an American rapper who made significant contributions to the New York City music scene in the 1990s as a member of the hip hop collective D.I.T.C. He was shot and killed in February 1999 before releasing his second album. Members of the hip-hop community consider him to be one of the most skilled MC's of all-time. Lamont was killed in the doorway of 45 West 139th Street in Harlem on February 15, 1999, after being shot 9 times in the face and chest. Gerard Woodley, one of Big L's childhood friends, was arrested in May 1999 for the crime. At the time of his death, L had two brothers in prison. "It's a good possibility it was retaliation for something [Big L's] brother did, or [Woodley] believed he had done," said a spokesperson for the NYPD.[3] Woodley was later released and the murder case remains unsolved.

 

Big L's brother was later murdered in the same neighborhood while searching for clues relating to his brother's murder.

 

 

 

Eric Lynn Wright (September 7, 1963 – March 26, 1995), better known by the stage name Eazy-E, was an American rapper, producer, and record executive from Compton, California. Widely regarded as one of the founders of the gangsta rap subgenre, he rose to fame as the founder and member of the group N.W.A and later achieved critical and commercial success as a solo artist.

 

Eazy-E's vocal style was marked by his youthful, high-pitched voice and his lyrics focusing on the elements of urban street life such as guns, drugs, relations between residents and the police, and sexual activity.He had also for some time hosted a hip-hop radio show on Los Angeles-based radio station KKBT. On March 16, 1995, Eazy-E checked himself into Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles with what he believed at the time was chronic asthma. Following comprehensive tests, it was discovered that he was suffering from AIDS, and his condition deteriorated rapidly. During the week of March 20, already having made amends with Dr. Dre and Ice Cube, Eazy-E drafted what would be his last message to his fans. On March 26, 1995, ten days after being admitted into the hospital, Eazy-E died at the age of 31. On his death bed days before, Eazy married long-term girlfriend and mother of his child Tomica Woods, and she inherited his share of Ruthless Records. He was buried at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, California.

 

 

Christopher Rios (November 10, 1971 – February 7, 2000), better known by his stage name Big Pun (short for Big Punisher), was an American rapper who emerged from the underground rap scene in The Bronx in the late 1990s. Excluding his adolescence, Big Pun struggled with his weight for most of his life; his weight fluctuated in the early 1990s between obese and morbidly obese. Big Pun enrolled in a weight-loss program in North Carolina, in which he lost 80 pounds, but he eventually quit the program before completing it, returning to New York and gaining back the weight he had lost. On February 7, 2000, Big Pun suffered a fatal heart attack and respiratory failure while temporarily staying with family at a Crowne Plaza Hotel in White Plains, New York during a home renovation. Pun was pronounced dead at the hospital after paramedics could not revive him.

Russell Tyrone Jones (November 15, 1968 – November 13, 2004) was an American rapper and occasional producer, who went by the stage name Ol' Dirty Bastard (often shortened to ODB). He was one of the founding members of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. Leading up to his early death, Russell Jones' legal troubles and odd behavior made him "something of a folk hero", according to The New Yorker writer Michael Agger. However, critic Steve Huey writes that "it was difficult for observers to tell whether ODB's wildly erratic behavior was the result of serious drug problems or genuine mental instability. The possibility that his continued antics were at least partly the result of conscious image-making disappeared as time wore on."

Jones collapsed at approximately 5:29 p.m. on November 13, 2004 (two days before his 36th birthday) at Wu-Tang's recording studio (36 Records LLC on West 34th Street in New York City). He was pronounced dead less than an hour later. His funeral was held at Brooklyn's Christian Cultural Center.

The official cause of death was a drug overdose as an autopsy found a lethal mixture of cocaine and prescription drug Tramadol, a synthetic opiate used to treat severe pain. The overdose was ruled accidental and witnesses say that Jones complained of chest pain on the day he died.

 

 

James Tapp, Jr. (September 9, 1977 – November 26, 2003), better known by his stage name Soulja Slim, was an American rapper who achieved modest success on Master P's No Limit record label. He is known for his U.S. #1 hit "Slow Motion" with fellow rapper Juvenile. On Thanksgiving Eve November 26, 2003 Slim was on route to a performance when he was shot four times, three times in the face, and once in the chest, in front of his mom's home in the 8th Ward/Gentilly area.

 

 

 

Chad Lamont Butler (December 29, 1973 — December 4, 2007), better known by his stage name Pimp C, was an American rapper and producer. He was one half of the influential hip-hop group UGK. Pimp C died on December 4, 2007. According to the Los Angeles County Coroner, Butler suffered respiratory depression caused by an accidental overdose of promethazine and codeine cough syrup coupled with a preexisting sleep apnea condition. Like many other Southern rappers, Pimp C frequently referenced the recreational consumption of "sizzurp" in his music.

 

DeShaun Dupree Holton (October 2, 1973 – April 11, 2006), better known as Proof, was a Detroit rapper and member of the hip hop groups Goon Sqwad, 5 Elementz, Promatic, and D12. He was the best friend of hip hop superstar Eminem. On April 11, 2006, Proof was killed by a gunshot wound to the head at the CCC Club by bouncer Mario Etheridge in Detroit, Michigan after fatally shooting U.S. Army veteran Keith Bender, Jr.

While playing a game Proof and Bender got into a heated argument. After a physical altercation, Etheridge fired his gun into the air to try and stop the situation, but Proof shot Bender in the head. Etheridge, who was Bender's cousin, then shot Proof three times in the head and chest. Proof was killed, and Bender died a week later. Proof's blood alcohol content at the time of his death was .32 percent, four times the level that qualifies someone for a drunken driving conviction; he had no other drugs in his system. Bender's family began a wrongful death suit against Proof's estate. Etheridge was held by authorities to have been acting in lawful defense of another man; however, he was found guilty of carrying a concealed weapon and discharging a firearm inside a building.

Several months later, hip-hop magazine XXL published an alternative account of the evening in a feature article interviewing Proof's friend, Mudd (Reginald Moorer), who accompanied Proof on the night of the shooting and claimed to have brought the gun that was used to murder Bender. Mudd claimed that his group went to the CCC Club after going to a strip club, began drinking and that Proof played pool against Bender. He observed Proof and Bender begin arguing, noting that it was "ordinary for Proof to get drunk and fight", and stated that he saw the two getting into an argument. After they were separated, Mudd claimed Bender hit Proof and a fight between the two broke out. Shortly afterward, Mudd saw Etheridge shoot his gun straight up into the air to break up the fight. Proof then demanded Mudd's gun, and after he refused, pulled the weapon from Mudd's pants and also fired into the air. Mudd claimed that Bender charged Proof, and that in the scuffle shots were fired that hit both Bender and Proof.