A new museum exhibit celebrating Tupac Shakur’s life and legacy to open next year

The rapper’s handwritten song lyrics, clothes, poetry and many never-before-seen artefacts will go on display

Tupac Shakur (AP1996)

A new museum exhibit in rapper Tupac Shakur’s memory will open in Los Angeles next January.

The website for the show titled “Tupac Shakur. Wake Me When I’m Free” described the exhibition as a “fully immersive, thought-provoking experience that explores the life and legacy” of the late artist and activist.

The exhibit is located at The Canvas @ LA Live in “a newly built, temporary 20,000-square-foot space”, according to The New York Times.

Shakur, one of the most prolific figures in hip-hop, died in 1996 after he was fatally injured in a drive-by shooting. He was 25.

The museum exhibit is expected to spend six months in downtown Los Angeles with the hopes of touring to other cities.

It will showcase the rapper’s handwritten song lyrics, clothes, and poetry and many never-before-seen artefacts.

Arron Saxe, the President of Kinfolk Management +Media who helped produce the show along with Shakur’s estate, Universal Music GroupCAA, and Round Room Live said: “There are thousands of pieces of paper, handwritten pieces of paper – which is everything from his lyrics to all of the songs and poetry that you know down to a grocery list for a birthday party.”

Saxe has previously worked with the estates of other iconic music artists including Otis Reading and Donny Hathaway.

He said: “The whole point of this exhibit was to not only show the kaleidoscopic nature of Tupac, but also show how he is relatable.”

One of the galleries will be dedicated to the rapper’s late mother, Afeni Shakur, the former Black Panther who inspired the work of her son, and the museum’s “guiding light”, Saxe said.

Afeni died in 2016.

Shakur’s godfather and special advisor to the rapper’s estate said: “Afeni was the baddest Black woman to walk the planet. She raised awareness and shifted the atmosphere wherever she went. Tupac’s brilliance shined brighter than the sun. He lived and moved with creative, revolutionary, fearless, and passion-fuelled speed of a comet.”

He added: “Afeni and Pac challenged, re-imagined, and transformed history.”

Tickets will go on sale at wakemewhenimfree.com at 10am on 12 November. Fans can now sign up online for access to pre-sale tickets.