One of the books I read from first semester was LAbyrinth by Randall Sullivan. The book consists of 336 pages describing the events of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls' murders, the Los Angeles police scandal of the 1990s, and the implication of Death Row Record's CEO Suge Knight. The genre of this novel falls under true-crime non fiction. Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G. were both influential rappers from the 1990s, but at the ages of 24 (Tupac) and 25 (Biggie), they were murdered. This is universal knowledge as both murders were unexpected and affected many fans of the rappers. The murders occurred close to one another causing suspicions of whether they were connected. The author, Randall Sullivan, is a journalist who interviewed and gathered as much information as he could for this book about the possible reasons behind the demises of these rappers. He also discusses disturbing information about Death Row Record's CEO Suge Knight who Sullivan believes is tied with the murders of both Tupac and Biggie.
Throughout the book, the author builds his information starting with the alleged connections between Suge Knight and the corrupt LAPD, as well as detailing how Tupac and Biggie started as unknown men to becoming the top rappers of their time. Back in the 1990s, there were unsettling tensions between African Americans and the LAPD since the LA riots of Rodney King and the O.J. Simpson murder case emerged during this time. It was hard to believe that black LAPD officers could be corrupt and connected to gangs and Suge Knight because racism had been reaching its peak.
I recommend this book to anyone who takes interest in rap music, unsolved murder cases, or are curious to know how Los Angeles was in the 1990s.
- Stephanie Ballesteros / Period 2
This book sounds like a very good book and I am very interested in reading it. I have watched many documentaries on these very topics and I feel like this book brings up some very good facts and points about the cases of Tupac and B.I.G. Also about all of the corruption going on in the LAPD and Death Row Records during this time.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your thorough and well-organized review, I definitely want to give this book a read. Not only are these specific cases intriguing, but true crime in general interests me a lot. Over the years I have seen videos, read, and heard talk about both of the murders. Hopefully I'll read this book soon, so I can learn more!
ReplyDelete