Life of Tupac Shakur Tupac Shakur, in my thoughts, is the best rapper there is. Tupac Amaru Shakur was born on June 16, 1971. He was born in New York. Tupac Amaru are Inca words. Tupac Amaru means a "shining serpent." Shakur means "thankful to God," and that came from the Arabic language. When Tupac was 12 years old, his first performance was a play "A Raisin in the Sun." In that play Tupac played Travis. In June of 1986, Tupac's family moved to Baltimore from New York. That is where Tupac wrote his first rap. 3 months later Tupac attended Baltimore School for the arts. That is where he studied ballet and acting. About tw