A street in Oakland has officially been renamed in honor of rap legend Tupac Shakur.
A stretch of Oakland’s MacArthur Boulevard near Lake Merritt -- where Shakur once lived -- will be called "Tupac Shakur Way" after a unanimous vote from the Oakland City Council. Officials said that the rapper's “contributions to the Bay Area community eminently merit commemoration."
Shakur is considered one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time, selling over 75 million records globally. While he was born in East Harlem, New York, Shakur moved to California as a teenager, and was a pillar of the Oakland community.
The rapper sued the Oakland Police Department in 1991 after he was slammed to the ground and arrested for jaywalking. The case was settled for $42,000.
He also filmed the music video for "Brenda's Got a Baby" in the city, one of his most famous songs. It depicts the tragic story of a teenage mother who is murdered.
Shakur was vocal about his connection to Oakland. He once stated in a video interview: "I give all my love to Oakland, if I’ma claim somewhere I’ma claim Oakland, even if I don’t live there."
Shakur was killed in 1996 at the age of 25 in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas. The case remains unsolved to this day.
Oakland declared June 16 Tupac Shakur Day in 2016. The city has also named streets after rapper Too $hort, as well as Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party.
“He cherished his time in Oakland as his home, stating that he got his ‘Game’ from Oakland,” the city resolution continued, saying the new street name “serves to remind us of his contributions to Oakland and our communities through the celebration of art and culture as an awakening tool towards changes in society.”
