[3][4] Shakur claimed to have reformed in prison, joined the Republic of New Afrika movement, and wrote a 1993 memoir called Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A.

Monster describes how Shakur was drawn into gang life, his experiences as a gangster both on the street and in prisons, and eventually his transformation into a Black nationalist.

Shakur believed it was probable that he was the son of former Los Angeles Rams running back Dick Bass and that he was conceived during an adulterous affair that his mother was having with the football star, a claim for which there is no compelling evidence.

Ernest Scott held a bitter resentment toward Birdie's affair and physically abused his wife regularly throughout Shakur's early childhood.

It was around this time that he began hanging around his neighbor Stanley Tookie Williams, the leader of the West Side Crips street gang.

On the evening of June 15, 1975, the day of his sixth-grade graduation, Shakur was courted into (also known as being "jumped in," when gang members beat up the new recruit to see if he or she is brave enough to fight back and defend himself or herself) the ETGs.

Shakur, armed with a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun and instructed not to return to the car unless he used all eight rounds of the weapon, shot several Brims gang members that evening.

In 1977, at the age of 13, Shakur and Tray Ball attempted to rob an older black man who was walking through their neighborhood.

The man punched Shakur in the face and, after being physically restrained by Tray Ball when he attempted to run, was kicked and stomped by Kody for approximately twenty minutes.

According to Shakur, Crips present at the crime scene overheard police officers saying that whoever assaulted the man was a "monster" and reported this back to him.

On January 14, 1979, Shakur was arrested for assault and grand-theft auto and served nine months at Camp Munz in Lake Hughes, California.

During Shakur's stay at Camp Munz, several major events occurred on the streets of South Central Los Angeles that involved the Crips.

Shakur, along with his best friend Deautri "Crazy De" Denard, were deeply involved in this gang war and were responsible for shooting and assaulting dozens of members of the Rollin' 60s.

Perhaps what saved his life was the fact that earlier that evening Shakur had been drinking a cheap brand of low-end fortified wine called Night Train and smoked PCP with other members of the ETGs as the gang celebrated New Year's Eve, and the level of inebriation that Shakur was under at the time of the shooting prevented him from going into shock.

When he was released from the hospital, he continued gang-banging and would spend the remainder of the 1980s in and out of the penal system for numerous violent offenses.

Shakur was incarcerated during the 1992 Los Angeles riots that occurred after the acquittal of the four police officers accused of beating Rodney King following a traffic stop.

On September 13, 1996, Tupac Shakur died after being shot in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada, seven days earlier, allegedly by members of the South Side Compton Crips.

After being captured by police, Shakur was sent to Pelican Bay State Prison, where Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight was also incarcerated for a parole violation that stemmed from his participation in the assault on Anderson.