Inside a Thug's Heart

Book excerpt: UPDATED 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION Offering an intimate and indispensable window onto the gifted and impassioned, yet vulnerable and uncertain human behind the hip-hop legend of Tupac Shakur, this collection of original poems, letters, and conversations from his time spent incarcerated in 1995 reveals the artist and activist as never seen before. With a new introduction and closing note from Angela Ardis, as well as a foreword by writer, activist, and television personality Kevin Powell In 1995, one year before Tupac Shakur was shot dead in Las Vegas, he was jailed for two months inside New York City’s notorious Rikers Island. While there, he received a letter from a stranger—Angela Ardis, acting on a casual bet with her friends. She included her photo and phone number . . . and soon found herself answering a call from Tupac himself. Remarkably, their near-daily contact grew into a complex kinship of souls that neither could define—and touched both in unexpected ways. Alive in letters and original poems—some available nowhere else—Tupac’s ever-relevant heart beats within these pages. Playful, sensual, and serious, he gives insightful observations on music, prison, and life’s uncertainties—and his dreams for a future that would soon be tragically cut short. In this moving, one-of-a-kind tribute, generations of fans can experience a profound connection to the mind and unbroken spirit of a passionate, unpredictable musical icon.