Is Tupac Dead?

If a tree falls in the middle of a forest and no one is around to hear it, did it make a noise?

Or better yet, if a man is shot to death and no one sees him die, is he really dead?

Believers of legends say they live forever. But rap-world legend Tupac Amaru Shakur was only a mortal, and every mortal has their day to die. The question is, was Friday, Sept. 13 really Tupac's day to die, or is he still among the living?

The story of Tupac's death is like a puzzle that doesn't fit. Some believe the great and late Notorious B.I.G. and the Los Angeles Crips played God and carried out the Sept. 7, 1996 shooting.

Others say Suge Knight was behind the fatal set-up. There is even speculation that the drive-by shooting was a government-style assassination countered by the CIA. The world may never see the face behind the .40 caliber pistol that claimed the life of one of hip-hop's most profound rappers. But they can certainly theorize.

In a recent survey, 83 percent of fans said Tupac's death was a scandal and believe he is still alive, partly because there was no funeral after his death. But why wasn't there? He made several references to his funeral in songs such as "Life Goes On."

"Bury me smilin'/ with G's in my pocket/ have a party at my funeral/ let every rapper rock it," he writes. But instead of having an after party for his death, Tupac was cremated without an autopsy only a day after he died. Strange how someone who lived a life of intrigue would chose such a boring ending.

Even stranger - there were no pictures of him after the shooting. Does this mean to say that the nosey paparazzi and obsessive fans who could probably catch Tupac sitting on the toilet reading the Sunday comics couldn't even get one shot of him at ultimately his worst moment? Any fame-starved reporter would have killed to have the first dibs on a shot of Tupac's bloodied face.

These facts alone instilled doubt in the minds of fans, but it was the eerie presence of the number seven that convinced them there was still life for Tupac. The cover of "The Seven Day Theory," the album made public just weeks after his "death," showed Tupac being crucified like Jesus Christ.

He was shot Sept. 7.

He survived for six days from the time of the shooting and died on the seventh day.

He died at age twenty-five. Two plus five equals seven.

The number even appears in some of his music videos from previous albums, once as a hotel room number. Another video shows him breaking a mirror, which is a well-known superstition prophesizing seven years of bad luck.

Perhaps the most eerie part of Tupac's death - a digital clock in the music video "Wonder if Heaven Got a Ghetto," says the time is 4:03a.m. Tupac supposedly died at exactly 4:03a.m. Creepy. Not to mention, four plus three equals seven.

As if his death couldn't get any more bizarre, "The Seven Day Theory" was released under Tupac's alias "Makaveli." The chances are slim to none that Tupac did not know the sixteenth-century Italian philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli faked his death to dodge his enemies and essentially disappear.

Tupac was clever. But was he really clever enough to fake his own death and get away with it? Are all of these facts simply coincidences, or do they mean something more?

Those who don't believe in the "seven-day theory" have their own ideas about who killed Tupac. The Los Angeles Times claimed to have solved the case, pinning the murder on the Los Angeles Crips and Notorious B.I.G., also known as Christopher Wallace.

Less than an hour before the shooting, Tupac, along with members of the Bloods and Suge Knight, attended the Tyson boxing match at the MGM Grande Hotel in Los Angeles. Caught on surveillance cameras in the hotel lobby, a melee ensued between Crips member Orlando Anderson and Tupac over a stolen chain.

Police officials said members of the Crips divulged information to them while being questioned about the shooting. The informant told officials Orlando Anderson was riding passenger in a white Cadillac, and pulled up alongside Tupac's BMW 750, sending a spray of 12 bullets in his direction. The getaway car sped off and was never caught.

Informants of the Crips told officials that Wallace paid them $1,000,000 to make the hit, and even supplied them with his own Glock, saying he wanted the bullet to come from his gun. However, the police could not make an arrest because there was not enough evidence, and Wallace was later killed, also by an unknown assailant.

Maybe an arrest will never be made, but the truth is out there.

If Tupac did fake his death, it was a complete contradiction of everything he stood for. He was a man of bravery. He said things everyone else in the rap game was afraid to say. He represented hope and black unity.

Before his "death," Tupac rapped about getting out of the limelight and even considered ending his rap career due to the pressures of fame. His enemies were countless and invisible. Not surprisingly, witnesses to the murder were left with bullet wounds in their backs. Even Orlando Anderson was later killed.

Tupac knew his adversaries were out for his blood. He rarely made a public appearance without a bulletproof vest. Strangely, he was not wearing one the night of his murder.

Maybe he faked his death to escape his enemies. He was paranoid that he would soon reach his demise. In the song "Only Fear of Death," Tupac writes, "Everybody's dyin' am I next, who can I trust?/ Will they be G's, and they look at me before they bust?/ Or will they kill me while I'm sleepin', two to the head/ while I'm in bed, leakin' blood on my satin sheets?/ Is there a heaven for a baller? I'm getting suspicious..."

When Tupac rapped, people clung to his words because they understood his struggle. They needed him. Maybe that's why his fans find it so hard to accept his death. He was a leader and a hero to so many people. It just doesn't seem right that he would chose to leave them all behind. Maybe all the sevens were just a coincidence. We may never know.

Either way, Tupac Shakur will never be forgotten, dead or alive.