308 words · 1 min
2Pac Lives: The Death of Makaveli / The Resurrection of Tupac Amaru
Self-published book (2003/04) claiming Tupac survived, a product of the "Tupac lives" conspiracy wave, not a work of non-fiction.
- Publisher
- Hard Evidence Research, a self-publishing outfit
- Year
- 2003 or 2004, dealer and catalogue records disagree
- Length
- about 194 pages, paperback; later also released as an e-book
- ISBN
- 0-615-12771-1
- Language
- English; no German edition is known
2Pac Lives: The Death of Makaveli / The Resurrection of Tupac Amaru is an English-language paperback built around a single claim: that Tupac Shakur survived the Las Vegas shooting. The author is credited as “Drah Cenedive”. Read backwards, that spells “Hard Evidence”which is also the name of the tiny imprint that put the book out. The person behind the pseudonym has never been identified.
The facts
What it’s about
According to its description, the book offers a look at the supposed evidence that Tupac is alive and at where he might be hiding. The subtitle spells out the idea: the persona Makaveli, the name Tupac used on the posthumously released album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, “dies”while the man, Tupac Amaru, “rises again”. It draws on the readings that have circulated on fan forums since the late nineties: hidden clues in lyrics, album art and number games.
Verdict
This is a speculative book and belongs to conspiracy literature. Tupac Shakur was shot in Las Vegas on 7 September 1996 and died of his injuries on 13 September 1996. There is no solid evidence of a staged escape, and the book does not supply any. We found no reviews in the music or mainstream press.
At most, it is worth reading as a period piece, a record of how badly many fans wanted to believe Tupac was still out there. What is actually known about the shooting and the investigation is covered in the Death section. More titles on Tupac are listed under Books.