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American Morning

Years After Death, Tupac Shakur Still Draws Huge Following

Aired April 06, 2001 - 10:44   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everyone. I'm Michael Okwu, reporting from New York for Showbiz Today Reports.

Tupac Shakur's at the top of the charts, despite the fact that he died nearly five years ago. An album of the rapper's previously unrecorded material debuted at No. 1 this week, while a show about him is wowing theater crowds off-Broadway. It's a career that continues from a life that met a violent end.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TUPAC SHAKUR, RAPPER: But I'm still a survivor, you know, I'm still smiling, still signing autographs. But soon I'm going to go crazy.

OKWU (voice-over): He never did go crazy. He died in the hail of an assassin's bullets more than five years ago. And yet Tupac Shakur has not only survived, he's thrived. The rapper's new CD has claimed the No. 1 spot on album charts from well beyond the grave.

Emil Wilbekin, of VIBE magazine:

EMIL WILBEKIN, VIBE: He has the kind of icon status that Marilyn Monroe or James Dean had, in terms of dying at a very young age but having a very huge following. Whenever he was on the cover of the magazine, it was always the highest-selling issue.

OKWU: Shakur's posthumous double CD, "Until the End of Time," has sold more than 420,000 copies, according to Soundscan. It's the latest in a string of five posthumous CDs from the rapper, which have sold more than 11 million copies. Fans say his lyrics offer a searing reflection on real life -- truth in hard-knocks poetry.

WILBEKIN: It's not about a lot of jewelry and fast cars. It's about everyday life and kind of surviving in the inner city, and I think that's why people relate to it. When you have someone who's very everyman but who's bigger than everybody, I think those are the kind of people that become icons and legends and that people kind of almost make a mythology about that person; and Tupac has that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "GRIDLOCK'D")

SHAKUR: You ever feel like your luck's running out, man? Lately, I've been feeling like my luck's been running out. (END VIDEO CLIP)

OKWU: A former rising film star -- this was his work in "Gridlock'd" -- Shakur is the subject of chatter on the Internet, where fans spread rumors about Tupac sightings in Cuba and South America. And fans are even flocking to a new off-Broadway play about his life and early death.

His mother Afeni:

AFENI SHAKUR, TUPAC'S MOTHER: I feel confident that Tupac, wherever he is, that he feels good about what his life has wrought.

MICHAEL DEVELLE WINN, PLAYWRIGHT: Society didn't get it -- didn't get what he was talking about; and he was demonized so much.

OKWU: If Shakur was an enigma -- a man who once spat at photographers, did time for sexual assault, and then wrote eloquently about finding peace -- it only adds to his legend among growing fans. Producers say expect more music. The rapper, who was obsessed with dying young, was a prolific writer.

WILBEKIN: There may be a possibility that, knowing this was going to, maybe, come to pass, he recorded a lot of material. It just seems like a lot of material.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OKWU: In our next Showbiz Today Report, Regis is king of the world -- Disney World, that is. Regis Philbin brings some of that "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" magic to the Disney kingdom in the form of an all-new theme park attraction. Regis tells us all about it in the 11:00 hour. Until then, back to Daryn and Stephen in Atlanta.

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