Tupac Shakur Honored With “Tupac Shakur Way” Street In Oakland

Tupac Shakur has received his own street in Oakland in the neighborhood he lived in prior to skyrocketing to fame.

On Friday (Nov. 3), a ceremony was held in Oakland commemorating the unveiling of Tupac Shakur Way, which replaces a section of MacArthur Boulevard. During the ceremony, many deemed Pac, who was born in New York and spent time in Baltimore as a youth, an adopted son of the city that represented Oakland with pride. The event was attended by the rapper’s sister Sekyiwa Shakur, MC Hammer, Money B, and others.

Tupac Shakur’s music career began in Oakland, Calif. with the group Digital Underground — and now the city has named a street after the rap star, who died in 1996. Sway Calloway led the ceremony. pic.twitter.com/PJlDrW2aHZ

— AP Entertainment (@APEntertainment) November 3, 2023

“He claimed Oakland,” said City Councilwoman Carroll Fife. “He said Oakland gave him his game.” Tupac’s sister also spoke during the event, giving a tearful speech moments prior to the unveiling of the street signage. “Let his spirit live on the rest of these years in these streets and in your hearts,” Sekyiwa told the crowd of supporters.

Tupac Shakur Way was officially renamed one day after Duane “Keefe D” Davis was charged in connection with the 1996 drive-by shooting death of Shakur in Las Vegas. The admitted gang member has plead not guilty after being charged with one count of murder with a deadly weapon. According to Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo, Keefe D, who admitted to being present at the time of the shooting, but not being the triggerman, was the “on-ground, on-site commander” who “ordered the death” of Shakur.

The arrest and indictment of Davis marks the first time a suspect has been charged in Shakur’s tragic passing over 27 years ago. Tupac’s sister didn’t speak directly on the ongoing legal battle, she did acknowledge that her brother “died at 25 years old in gang violence, by the hands of another Black man, by the planning of another Black man, whoever that man may be.”