Famed activist and former VIBE magazine senior writer Kevin Powell, will bring his history and archived interviews with Tupac Shakur to life when he releases the late rapper’s authorized biography.
Powell has just signed a two-book deal with publishing powerhouse Simon & Schuster.
The first will be Kevin’s long-awaited memoir, the boy with a mother and no father, due in stores Fall 2012.
Immediately following the completion of his memoir, Kevin will embark on Tupac Shakur: The Authorized Biography.
Speaking on Tupac’s biographical project Powell has released a statement saying,
“It is an honor to write what will be the definitive biography on the life and times of Tupac Shakur, one of the greatest icons in hiphop and pop culture history. Our relationship began when I documented his journey while at Vibe in the 1990s. And I will never forget being there at that Las Vegas hospital when Tupac’s death was announced. He remains, all these years later, one of the most dynamic and complicated humans I’ve ever encountered. I will present Tupac as the very whole and multi-layered being he was, as I remember well his asking me, quite prophetically, to be Alex Haley to his Malcolm X.”
Adds Afeni Shakur, mother of Tupac, and executor of his estate,
“Kevin Powell is doing this Tupac Shakur biography with my full blessings. I trust him and his history of documenting my son’s life, and I know he will do the book from his heart.”
