Keeping the Legacy Alive by Christine Layug

The name makaveli is famous for its popular clothing line among the urban community. But the name makaveli is not only famous because of its clothing line, but because of the legacy it holds. The makaveli branded clothing line is the official clothing line of Tupac Shakur founded by his mother, Afeni Shakur. It was launched seven years after the death of her son. The brand's purpose is keeping the legacy of Tupac Shakur alive through fashion. But why keep his legacy? 2pac or makaveli was an American artist renowned for his rapping and hip hop music, as well as his movie roles, poetry, and his social activism. 2pac is also recognized in the Guinness Book of Records as the highest selling rap artist, with over 75,000,000 albums sold worldwide, including over 50,000,000 in the United States alone. Shakur is also the only artist ever to have an album at number one on the Billboard 200 while serving a prison sentence. Shakur or makaveli is also the first rapper that released a two-disc album in hip hop history All Eyez on M. But aside from fame and the limelight, 2pac or makaveli also gained notoriety for his conflicts with the law. At the time when Tupac was still incarcerated, Tupac read and studied Niccolò Machiavelli and other published works, which inspired his pseudonym " makaveli ". Shakur began serving his prison sentence at Clinton Correctional Facility on February 14, 1995. Shortly afterwards, he released his multi-platinum album “Me Against the World”. Shakur is the only artist ever to have an album at number one on the Billboard 200 while serving a prison sentence. After serving eleven months of his one-and-a-half year to four-and-a-half year sentence, Shakur was released from the penitentiary, due in large part to the help and influence of Marion "Suge" Knight, CEO of Death Row Records. That is also the time when 2pac have started to use the name makaveli. On September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot four times in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada, and died six days later of respiratory failure and cardiac arrest at the University Medical Center. Shakur or makaveli has one of the largest personal legacies of any music artist in the history of music. The music and messages in his work pervaded the styles of the following generations and his music had great impact all over the nation and world. This is why his mother, Afeni Shakur preserved her son’s legacy by founding the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation or TASF in 1997, and the makaveli branded clothing line. If you want some information about the makaveli branded clothing line, then visit www.streetzwear.com.