Ayanna Jackson, the woman who accused Tupac Shakur of sexual assault, says that he apologized to her in the courtroom prior to sentencing. She recalls him tearfully saying that he was "sorry" and that he should've acted in a different way. However, he also said, "I'm not apologizing for a crime. I hope in time you'll come forth and tell the truth. I'm innocent." Jackson interpreted the apology to mean that Shakur knew he was luring her to the hotel for the attack but perhaps the people he was around made him unable to stop it. "Maybe the fear, maybe other people, the influence around him, maybe he felt he could not intervene," she surmised.

Released while 2Pac was imprisoned, Me Against the World made an immediate impact on the charts, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 and holding the top spot for four consecutive weeks. It is now hailed as his magnum opus and commonly ranks among the greatest, most influential rap albums.

While imprisoned from February to October 1995, Tupac wrote only one song. Instead, he spent his time reading political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince and military strategist Sun Tzu's The Art of War. In his letters from prison, Tupac discussed plans to start a "new chapter." And music journalist Kevin Powell says that Shakur, once released, became more aggressive, and "seemed like a completely transformed person."

Tupac's first film appearance was in the 1991 film Nothing but Trouble, a cameo by the Digital Underground.

Despite mixed reviews from critics, the film has a cult following due to the chemistry between Tupac and Janet Jackson.

In a 1993 interview published in The Source, Shakur berated Jones for his interracial marriage to actress Peggy Lipton. Their daughter Rashida Jones responded with an irate open letter. Years later, Shakur apologized to her sister Kidada Jones, who he was dating at the time of his death in 1996.

2Pac not only attacked Biggie's street cred, but claimed to have slept with his wife. "Hit 'Em Up" had a large role in exacerbating the East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry, and Shakur was murdered just three months after its release.

On September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot four times by an unknown assailant in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. He died six days later and the gunman was never captured.

Shakur's friend-turned-rival, The Notorious B.I.G., was at first considered a suspect due to the pair's public feud, but was also murdered in another drive-by shooting six months later in Los Angeles, California.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017--his first year of eligibility.