he was born in east harlem, new york. tupac moved to baltmore in 1984. then, he moved to the san francisco bay area in 1988. later in his music career, this experience in school becomes his personality of his own music style. he was the son of afeni shakur and billy garland, who were members of the black panther party. his family was struggling with poverty. they moved homes often, sometimes they even had to stay in shelters.