Tupac Shakur may be hip-most hop’s legendary rapper of all time, but his fans were unaware that he also enjoyed listening to other genres of music and counted a surprising female singer among his favorites.
Grunge claims that the musician rose to prominence as a result of his gangsta rap genre songs that told stories from his personal point of view.
Before we get into some of the rapper’s favorite musicians outside of his genre, let’s take a look back at his childhood, education, and career.
According to Carrie Golus’ 2006 book “Tupac Shakur,” which dealt with his personal story while he was still alive, the hip-hop artist spent time in Baltimore, Maryland.
As he attended the Baltimore School for the Arts, the rapper received more education and became more versed in the field of arts.
Tupac was unable to continue his studies due to his family’s financial situation and his mother’s substance abuse problems.
While studying at the university, the rapper unexpectedly performed in a Shakespeare play and even did ballet dancing. One of the reasons he pursued arts was because of his school.
Tupac enjoyed listening to several artists from the United Kingdom as their music rose to fame in the United States during his adolescence in the 1980s.
Surprisingly, the rapper reportedly adored British singer Kate Bush, best known for her song “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God),” which resurfaced this year following its inclusion in the hit Netflix series “Stranger Things.”
He also enjoyed other musical acts such as U2, Sinead O’Connor, Culture Club, and many others.
Although some of the artists mentioned above sounded very different from Tupac, Billboard noted that the main common ground between his music and theirs was social justice themes.
His favorite singer of all time was revealed in a letter he wrote to a crush when he was 17 years old, saying he loved Prince.
He wrote:
“We both love Prince we have both had heartbreak and we both adore candles.”
The written letter was auctioned off for $33,000, according to HipHop Hero.
His cousin Jamila Barnes recalled how the rapper would organize home concerts in which they would perform Prince songs in the living room using a spoon as a microphone.
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