Tupac Shakur may be hip-hop's most legendary rapper of all time, but little did his fans know that he also enjoyed listening to other genres of music and considered a surprising female singer as one of his favorites.
According to Grunge, the musician rose to fame because of his gangsta rap genre songs that told stories from his personal point-of-view.
Before revealing some of the rapper's favorite musicians outside his genre, let's take a deep dive into his early life, education, and career.
Per Carrie Golus' 2006 book titled "Tupac Shakur" that tackled his personal story when he was still alive, the hip-hop artist spent time in Baltimore, Maryland.
In the city, the rapper was educated more and became versed in the field of arts as he attended the Baltimore School for the Arts.
Unfortunately, Tupac wasn't able to continue his studies because of his family's financial status and his mother's problems with substance issues.
While studying in the institution, the rapper also surprisingly performed in a Shakespeare play and even did ballet dancing. The school was one of the reasons why he pursued arts.
During his teenage years in the 80s, Tupac loved listening to several artists from the United Kingdom as their music rose to fame in the United States.
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Some of Tupac Shakur's Favorite Musicians
Surprisingly, the rapper reportedly loved British singer Kate Bush, popularly known for her song "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)" which re-emerged this year after being featured in the hit Netflix series, "Stranger Things."
In addition, he also loved other music acts like U2, Sinead O'Connor, Culture Club, and many more.
Although some of the artists mentioned above sounded very different from Tupac, Billboard noted that the main common ground of his music to theirs were themes of social justice.
His favorite singer of all time was revealed in a letter that he wrote to a crush when he was in high school at the age of 17, saying he loved Prince.
"We both love Prince we have both had heartbreak and we both adore candles," he wrote.
According to HipHop Hero, the written letter was sold in an auction for $33,000.
His love for the singer was also backed by his cousin, Jamila Barnes, who recalled that the rapper would set up home concerts and they would perform Prince songs in the living room using a spoon as a microphone.
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