Rapper Tupac Shakur was born in East Harlem, New York City, on June 16, 1971. The rapper’s parents, Afeni Shakur and Billy Garland, were active members of the Black Panther Party and Afeni officially listed Tupac’s birth name as Lesane Parish Crooks so that the family’s political enemies would not target their new child. Tupac’s mother officially changed his name after her second marriage to former FBI Ten Most Wanted fugitive Mutulu Shakur. After completing two years of high school in New York, Shakur transferred to the Baltimore School for the Arts where he was close friends with Jada Pinkett-Smith. It was around this time he became active in rap, winning many competitions. After a breaking into the music industry as a guest alongside Digital Underground, Shakur rose to become one of the biggest names in rap. He also moved to the forefront of the East Coast/West Coast gangsta rap rivalry. He was gunned down by an unknown assassin after a boxing match in Las Vegas on September 13, 1996.