Tupac Shakur was a complex figure who holds a special place in hip-hop history for his raw lyrical genius and charming persona. But a new biography has some disturbing details about his early sexual experiences, and it provides a more profound look at his troubled relationship with intimacy and identity.
According to Jeff Pearlman's "Only God Can Judge Me," Tupac's first sexual encounter was with a cousin when he was 14.
Pearlman writes, "Although he would later become a hip-hop sex symbol, Tupac's earliest sexual experiences were dark ones. ... Tupac's first sexual dalliance had come at age 14, when he had intercourse with a cousin. The girl was also a teenager, and it only happened one time." His sister, Sekyiwa "Set" Shakur, confirmed the account and questioned why anyone would expect her brother to discuss such a traumatic memory publicly, asking, "Would you talk about it? Would you be bragging?"
As per AllHipHop, the biography also describes Tupac's second sexual encounter, which was with a friend of his mother, Afeni Shakur, who had been a Black Panther. Pearlman says Tupac shared the following with his girlfriend Simi Cruise many years later: "The next day I thought I was in love with my mom's friend. And she ignored me. She was a woman, I was a boy. That changed my way of thinking about sex. It wasn't love. It was just sex."
These events occurred while he struggled socially and romantically in school, facing rejections and feeling insecure about his appearance and status in society.
The biography chronicles Tupac's stint at the Baltimore School for the Arts, where he went through somewhat more typical teenaged romantic experimentation. Pearlman describes it as "Not sex, but drunk and/or high party make-outs."
Tupac even formed a serious attachment during this time with 15-year-old ballerina Mary Baldridge. Their exchanged letters mirrored the development of his feelings, as Tupac confessed love and passion in love letters to her.
Pearlman associates Tupac's tumultuous early sexual history with his future legal problems and complicated love affairs. In 1994, Tupac was convicted of first-degree sexual abuse against Ayanna Jackson; he spent nine months in jail, proclaiming his innocence.
Pearlman makes a point to refer to how Tupac's childhood set him up for chaos with women his whole life: "It's heartbreaking. He was 14 years old when he had his first sexual experience, and it was with a cousin. When he was 15, it was with an adult friend of his mother."
Adding to the ongoing saga of Tupac's life, Suge Knight recently made startling claims about the rapper's death. Knight, the former CEO of Death Row Records, alleged during a prison interview that Tupac begged him to end his life after being shot in Las Vegas in 1996.
Knight told People magazine, "He said, 'Kill me. Shoot me,'" describing how Tupac, gravely wounded, pleaded for his life during the aftermath of the drive-by shooting. Knight recounted, "I then was getting Tupac out the car, even when the door was open. I had to go over there bleeding everywhere, take the seat belt off him." He also claimed that Tupac begged him to kill him, saying, "He said, 'Kill me. Shoot me,'" adding a new layer to the mystery surrounding his death.
Furthermore, the arrest of Duane "Keefe D" Davis in 2023, suspected of Tupac's murder, coincides with Suge Knight's recent statement. Davis's legal team has requested a delay until 2026, asserting that new witness testimony could exonerate him.
© 2025 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
