The section of MacArthur Boulevard — where Shakur once lived — between Grand Avenue and Van Buren Avenue will be known as Tupac Shakur Way
The late rapper will have a stretch of a street in Oakland named in his honor after a unanimous vote by the city council on Tuesday.
The section of MacArthur Boulevard — where Shakur once lived — between Grand Avenue and Van Buren Avenue will be known as Tupac Shakur Way. MacArthur Boulevard will still keep its existing name.
Shakur, who was born in Harlem in New York City, lived in Oakland in the early 1990s. He said in a 1993 video interview that he got his "Game" from Oakland. "When I got to Oakland that's when I learned the Game," he said. "I give all my love to Oakland, if I'ma claim somewhere I'ma claim Oakland."
Commemorative signs and plaques signaling the change will be paid for by the Tupac Shakur Foundation, according to NBC News. A timeline for the renaming has not been announced by Oakland City Council.
The legislation says the commemorative street naming will remind us of Shakur's "contributions to Oakland and our communities through the celebration of art and culture as an awakening tool towards changes in society."
In 2016, the mayor of Oakland declared June 16 — the musician's birthday — as Tupac Shakur Day for his contributions to the community.
Shakur died in 1996 at the age of 25, six days after being shot in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas.
Last June, the star's family honored his legacy by opening up a pop-up restaurant in California. His estate opened Powamekka Café in Los Angeles, where Shakur also lived, on June 16, 2022.
The "Changes" rapper thought of the concept for the eatery before his untimely death in 1996. He dreamed of Powamekka Café being a place for "divaz" and "playaz," per notes later found by his family and shared on his official Instagram page when the L.A. location was announced.
Shakur also wrote that he wanted his restaurant to be "a passionate paradise 4 people with power 2 play and parlay," serving as "the perfect hideout 4 those who wish 2 escape the world'z cold reality."
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