Jacob Hoye is the author of seven books, including Tupac: Resurrection, Cash, and The World According To Pretty Toney.​ Tupac Shakur was born in June 1971. After spending time in the 127th Street Ensemble, a Harlem theater group, Tupac Shakur eventually ended up at the Baltimore School of Arts, where he honed his already impressive rap skills. At the age of nineteen he released his first album, SEX PACKETS, with a band called Digital Underground. After one more DU record, he went solo, and the following five years were his most fruitful artistically. He released a number of classic records, including 2Pacaalypse Now and Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. In 1995, after recovering from being shot five times during a robbery, he released the two-million copy hit Me Against the World and followed that up with the double CD All Eyez on Me, which sold 3 million records. Shakur also appeared in a number of films, including the John Singleton picture, Poetic Justice. In September 1996, Tupac Shakur was murdered in Las Vegas. He was 25 years old.​ Afeni Shakur ran the Tupac Amaru Shakur foundation, an organization that fulfills one of Tupac's dreams by providing opportunities for youth to pursue their creative and artistic endeavors. She was a political activist and former member and section leader of the Black Panther Party. She later worked as a paralegal in New York City. She passed away May 2016.