Rebel for the Hell of It: The Life of Tupac Shakur by Armond White

From the Publisher

The ever-controversial Shakur offers a great occasion for a close, passionate reading of rap and ghetto culture. White's understanding of Tupac's art will uncork the bottled up rage and confusion that attends the way hip-hop culture is produced and received. Rebel details each step in Shakur's development, from his early exposure to racism and political activism to his move from New York to the West Coast and his innovative work with early hip hop culture and music. Through connections drawn between Shakur and Public Enemy, Notorious B.I.G., Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, and Sister Souljah, White examines Shakur's life as a prism for the hip-hop world. Photographs, a useful chronology of important dates in the life of Shakur, and an updated discography and filmography of his career as a rapper and actor are included. "Talk about diversity, talk about identity, talk about icons—White's in-depth look at Tupac Shakur talks about all of 'em."—Booklist "White has written a nuanced, expansive and impassioned study of the life and art of Tupac Shakur."—Tyrone Williams, Metro Times Literary Quarterly "Rebel ... is a means of analyzing the rage, fatalism and rootlessness of the contemporary rap scene."—Select Magazine

Library Journal

A chronological scrapbook, Tupac captures the rapper as an infant, a struggling adolescent, an aspiring adult, and as the fiscal-and-musical giant he became. While the candid shots add humanity to the armored persona, the most moving depict the first drafts of his groundbreaking hits. Rebel is a coherent, cohesive, and easily accessible biography, punctuated by quotes from Shakur and his close business and musical associates. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Well-known journalist and author White describes the life of murdered rapper/actor Tupac Shakur (1971-96), attempting to connect Shakur's life with the African American experience during the last three decades. He begins with the rapper's birth to an absentee father and a mother who played a major role in the New York Black Panther movement. The author continues with the young Shakur's impoverished childhood, his constant moves from city to city, and his early interest in drama. Chronicling Shakur's short-lived but influential career, White outlines his stint as a dancer with the Digital Underground, his breakthrough second album, his three subsequent multiplatinum efforts, and his various roles in such movies as Juice and Poetic Justice. He also details the rapper's trouble with the law, his incarceration at Riker's Island prison, and his untimely death. Though clearly showing the change from the political activism and hope of Shakur's mother to Tupac's materialistic cynicism, White has interviewed few subjects and done only modest secondary research in his attempt to place the rap star in a larger social and cultural context. This will appeal mostly to fans of standard rock biography.David P. Szatmary, Univ. of Washington, Seattle

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