Tupac

TS Exhibitions, LLC. Tupac Shakur would have turned 51 years old this Thursday (June 16). But a celebration of the late rapper-activist's life, career and ...

Now chief curator at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Onwusa tells Billboard, “To celebrate while educating audiences on the significance of Tupac Shakur could not have been done without looking at his mother, Afeni Shakur. Behind every strong man is a woman. The café stems from a down-home Southern restaurant concept that Shakur visualized many years ago: a comfortable gathering spot for family and friends with a menu he created that includes meatloaf, gumbo and his cousin Jamala’s fried chicken wings. In between are stationed colorful tidbits such as a handwritten haiku penned by an 11-year-old Shakur: “A dream is lovely/ You drift to another land I dream in the night” complete with a drawing of himself in bed. The influences that helped shape Shakur in his formative years are compellingly portrayed in the next room. Shakur’s “unapologetic messaging and music are relevant, influential, and reflective of the hard lives led by many,” says Hodges, who has collaborated with Drake and Lady Gaga, among others. More than 150,000 visitors have participated in the immersive and memorable experience, which begins in a stark white lobby that immediately sets the tone for the 60-to-90-minute tour.