2Pac Shooting Was Our JFK Assassination

CLEVELAND - Tupac Shakur was an incendiary star in the world of rap and hip-hop music in the 1990's and, through his timeless music has remained so in the 21st century. He was also a brilliant intellect blessed with the wisdom of a visionary and cursed with a follower's flaw to fit in.

In short, he was hopelessly complicated.

Today is the 13th anniversary of Shakur's shooting on the Las Vegas strip. Though it was the second time he'd been shot in two years, it was far more serious. He died from his injuries six days later, forever changing music history and the landscape of hip-hop.

2Pac's shooting was a huge event. Since it resulted in his death at age 25, it became a flash point for urban America akin to President John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963. I'm not suggesting that a musician's death was as important or historic as the president of the United States, I'm simply saying that 2Pac had become a major symbol to black youth who emulated his aggressive and emotional lyrics and lifestyle -- for better and worse. Just like JFK's assassination, 2Pac was gunned down without the presence of the news media filming the event. Another JFK parallel is the multitude of conspiracy claims that have swirled around the murder. The Warren Commission concluded that Kennedy was murdered by Lee Harvey Oswald, though many people have never accepted such a simplistic hypothesis. With Shakur, no one has ever been officially named and with the cryptic nature of his first posthumous album (Makaveli: The Don Killuminati), many have suspected that the rap star faked his death just as Italian philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli did.

Shakur has been deified in the 13 years since his demise. He is hip-hop's foremost icon and continues to inspire a new generation of MCs who marvel at his brazen lifestyle and legendary bouts with the law, not to mention his signature lyrical style and subject matter.

In the final estimation, Shakur was a legitimate legend and inspirational force in spite of his flaws and erstwhile belligerence. It is a shame that he apparently felt compelled to kow tow to a "thuggish" image rather than expose the true genius that resided inside him.

He was greater than perhaps even he knew himself.