Rapper, writer, producer and performer Mopreme Shakur – brother of Tupac Shakur and the only surviving member of the iconic hip hop groups THUG LIFE and Outlaw Immortalz will be at the Book Tavern June 9 for a conversation about his new memoir.
Mopreme Shakur released THIS THUG’S LIFE in February as an unrepentant memoir of Black activism, brotherly bonds, and life in the music industry. This book reveals never-before-told details about Mopreme’s childhood as the son of noted political activist Mutulu Shakur, the origins of his love for rap off the streets, his rise to hip hop excellence and fame with his brother, and the machine that was the Tupac Shakur business, according to a news release from the Book Tavern.
The release of THIS THUG’S LIFE coincides with the 30 year anniversary of Tupac Shakur’s death. Mopreme has played a crucial role in the production, recording, and release of all of Tupac Shakur’s albums, both during his life and posthumously. Tupac’s lasting legacy of powerful lyricism, Black liberation, and top-notch production quality has impacted the entire rap sphere in the decades since his passing. Furthermore, the trial and legal developments surrounding Tupac’s death continue to receive major media coverage on a weekly basis.
The book talk will feature a conversation with Greater Augusta Arts Council executive director Denise Tucker. It begins at 6 p.m. and is a ticketed event. Go here for ticket information.
THIS THUG’S LIFE: AN UNAPOLOGETICALLY BLACK STORY
In recent years, Mopreme has been featured on Billboard’s Hip Hop 50, Rolling Stone, Piers Morgan, TMZ, NewsNation (Cuomo, Banfield and Jesse Weber), CNN (Anderson Cooper), LA Times, The Today Show, AllHipHop.com, VIBE, Sky News, CBS News, NY Post, Hip Hop DX, The Source, Radar, The Mirror, and Page Six, among other outlets. His commentary covered a diverse array of topical and cultural issues, from the use of AI in music, his brother’s legacy, developments in his brother’s murder trial, the author’s role in hip hop culture and beyond. Mopreme’s song, “Mopogo Lions” is featured in the title sequence of Dave Chappelle’s 2025 Netflix stand-up special, which remained the No. 1 show on the platform for three weeks.
Maurice. Little Mutulu. Mogie. Mocedes. ’Preme. Wycked. Mopreme Shakur has been known by many names. Fitting for a multi-hyphenate like Mo: hip hop artist and sole surviving member of T.H.U.G. L.I.F.E. and Outlaw Immortalz, soldier, writer, husband and father, filmmaker, record producer, and big brother of, and co-collaborator with, the legendary Tupac Shakur, the greatest rapper of all time. The one thing Mo hasn’t done—until now—is to tell his story, one of complex family relationships, fame, tragedy, politics, musical innovation, and brotherly love.
Born in Flushing, New York, in 1967 and raised in South Jamica, Queens, Mo got an early education in what it meant to be a man of righteous New Afrikan values imparted by his activist and healer father, Mutulu. The son of a revolutionary, Mo’s childhood was rife with upheaval, inspiration, dramatic highs and lows, and unbreakable bonds of love. None stronger than when he met his new baby brother, Tupac. Mutulu said, “This is your brother. Hold his hand.” Over the more than two decades that followed, Mopreme never let go. As Tupac rose to transcendent heights in the industry, Mo was on Pac’s team as writer and collaborator, producer, stagehand, and sibling confidante. Everything Pac did, Mo was there—right up until the day Pac’s life was cut short in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas.
In his memoir, Mo shares not just an intimately personal story of family, but also one of resilience, a quest for racial justice informed by decades of struggle for Black liberation long before the Black Lives Matter movement, and of two brothers who rose from the streets to become icons. It’s insightful, inspirational, powerful, and authentically and unapologetically Black. As Mo himself would say: dig that!
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