Makaveli

Makaveli is more myth than man. Tupac Shakur was inspired by Nicolo Machiavelli, the Renaissance-era political scientist who detailed war strategy in The Prince. The West Coast rapper adopted the Makaveli alias at the height of his beef with the Notorious B.I.G. and Bad Boy Records for the highly controversial The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. He finished the album shortly before his still-unsolved murder in November 1996. It shot to No. 1 on the charts upon its release, and featured "Hail Mary," one of the greatest dis records in rap history, as well as hits like "Toss It Up" and "To Live and Die in L.A." Meanwhile, Tupac fans recalled that Machiavelli wrote about faking his death for seven days to evade his enemies. This led them to wonder: is Tupac/Makaveli still alive?